Tag: discovery
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Is that lichen killing those trees?
Today’s post comes from Cara Freitag, a past Park Naturalist at Neys Provincial Park. There are many misconceptions about nature: climb a tree to escape bears, moose are friendly, coolers are strong enough to prevent bears getting your food. Before I became a naturalist, I thought that all insects were bugs, not just the Hemiptera…
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Leeches: fearsome, ferocious, and… friendly?
Today’s blog comes from Charlotte Westcott, Discovery leader at Neys Provincial Park. One of the most exciting things about working for Ontario Parks is getting to investigate all the different species that live in your area. Here at Neys, we have a diverse array of boreal forest flyers, runners, critters, and crawlers to investigate. Yet…
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Canadian Geographic’s Ontario Parks Giant Floor Map: bringing parks to the classroom
Calling all teachers… Ontario is one huge place. Most of us spend the majority of our time in one small section of the province. But there is a vast expanse waiting to be explored. We’ve partnered with Canadian Geographic for something big. GIANT, you could say. We’re excited to unfold the Ontario Parks Giant Floor Map, and…
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Fascinating fall fungi at Frontenac
From yeast fungi (responsible for leavening bread) to mold (we’ve all forgotten about food for just a little too long), the world of fungi is a large and fascinating one. But the role fungi play in our natural environment is perhaps one of the most important roles of all. Have you ever wondered how old…
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Bats: The mammal, the myth, the legend
Today’s post comes from Ashley Hanas, a bat technician with the Friends of Pinery Park. Bats are the only true flying mammal. There are currently over 1,400 species and bats encompass 20% of the mammalian species on earth (meaning 1 in 5 mammals are bats!). Bats are essential to the health of our environment, providing…
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(Don’t fear) The Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Today’s post comes from Nicholas Ypelaar, former assistant Discovery coordinator at Awenda Provincial Park. “EW! SNAKES!” and/or accompanying fearful shrieks are phrases I’m all too familiar with. In defense of all those who have zero affinity to the limbless scaled reptiles of the world, I can understand it. My grandmother grew up in Goa, India, where…
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Where the wild things are: salamanders
Today’s post comes from Jazmin Gall, park naturalist at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park. As park staff, one of our favorite questions to get from visitors is, “Where do insert various wildlife names live within the park?” We love visitors who are as excited as we are about wildlife and we’re more than happy to…
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Building a safe haven with Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park’s artificial turtle nesting site
Today’s post comes from Rose Brandt, a Discovery student at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park. If you’ve been to Bagwa Day-Use Beach at Samuel de Champlain, you might’ve wondered what that seemingly random pile of sand beside the beach is all about. That would be our artificial turtle nesting site!