Observations: Sept 2, 1996 Time: 8:30 am Weather: Cloud cover, warm

A shy wild visitor The Black Bear (Ursus americanus) does not live in the park. Sometimes one or two will cross the marshlands while scooping up fish and come into the park for for a brief visit. Their home base is in the mainland's forests. Black bears are large (adults are 180 - 270 kg) shy, solitary animals. They eat whatever they find including grasses and leaves in spring; berries, nuts and insects in summer; amphibians and even the occasional animal carcass or live prey. In summer, bears seek mates and leave signs like molting hair on bushes, or trees with bark scraped by their claws. Bear tracks have a large heel pad and 5 toes with claw marks. Bears roam long distances over a range of 194 sq. km from their den when searching for food or a mate. Cubs, sometimes as many as four, are born in the winter. If you spot a bear - even a cub - do not approach it or try to feed it. Bears are usually shy but they can be dangerous when it is mating season or when young are nearby.
King of the Deer family Another big animal that sometimes visits the park is the moose (Alces alces) the largest member of the deer family. Its tracks are a deep, two part or cloven hoof track. An adult male moose or bull can weigh as much as 636 kg and its shoulders are higher than a car roof. The female or cow is smaller. A moose has a rough dark coat of hair, long legs, humped shoulders, a long head with large long ears, and a dew lap or bell-shaped piece of skin hanging from its throat. Moose eat only plants, leaves, shrubs and, in the winter, twigs. The name moose" comes from its aboriginal name which means "eater of twigs". Moose are excellent swimmers and can run about 58 kms an hour. Moose mate from mid-September to mid-November. One to three calves will be born in late May or early June. By April the males begin growing antlers that first look soft and velvety because they are covered by a thin layer of skin with tiny hairs. By late summer the moose rub the velvet covering off on trees and shrubs and the bony rack is exposed, ready for courting and fighting for a mate. In winter the antlers drop off.
Tidal Pool Fish Saints Rest Marsh tidal pools and the tidal creeks running through the marsh are home to a fat, short fish with a blunt head and jutting jaw known as the "saltwater minnow". Its proper name is the Common Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitis). This minnow is difficult to see because its drab green back colouring and light belly blend into the mud and vegetation. Males may have a silver or black vertical strip along the sides. This fish adapts to various levels of salinity, temperature ranges and oxygen levels. It feeds on living or dead animal or plant matter and enjoys mosquito larvae.
	Be a sleuth in the park! After a fall rainstorm, the park's woodland trails are a good place to hunt for puffball mushrooms (Lycoperdon sp.). These small, light-brown spherical objects grow close to decaying forest vegetation like dead leaves and old tree limbs. This mushroom has a shrivelled lid with a hole on top. When the top is gently squeezed a puff of brown dusty powder rises into the air. This powder is the spores flying free to light and grow into new puffballs. While puffballs should not be picked or eaten, hunting for them is a fun challenge.
Woolly bear caterpillars Early fall is the time to find "woolly bear" caterpillars, larvae of a moth (Isia isabella) from the family Arctiidae. This small, brown, hairy caterpillar with a black tip on either end feeds on weeds. It hibernates for the winter, curled in the fallen leaves. You may see one hurrying across an open space in the woods hunting for a place to hide and sleep. In the spring the caterpillar spins a cocoon or pupa made of its "woolly" hair. After two weeks inside the pupa, the moth emerges.
	Masked acrobats Cedar Waxwings are brown feathered, sleek and crested with a black mask and yellow-tipped tails. Their name comes from the red waxy tips on some of their wing feathers. They nest late in the summer. These flocking birds are active in the park in the fall, eating the berries of Mountain Ash or darting to catch insects in mid-air before their trip south,

The Naturalist's Notebook is published quarterly. If you have any questions or topics that you would like to see addressed, please call John Gilbert, Manager, Fish and Wildlife, J.D. Irving, Limited, (506) 632-7777.