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Animals in Delta

Animals in Delta

Northern Red-legged Frog Northwestern Garter Snake Steller Rana aurora Thamnophis ordinoides Eumetopias jubatus Delta’s position in the Fraser estuary This golden-eyed coastal frog, recognisable The Northwestern is noticeably smaller than Many Steller Sea Lions spend fall and winter in the Salish Sea, where they feast on gives it a great diversity of by the red undersides of its legs and belly, the Common Garter Snake and comes in a and marine . The largest of the world’s sea lions, Stellers have thick necks and in life. This brochure shows a selection of is most active during rain in its late-winter wide variety of colours and patterns, usually -like heads. Males are much bigger than females and sometimes roar. mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, plus breeding season. It can be seen in and including 3 narrow stripes down its sides and a marsupial and a freshwater crayfish, around shallow ponds in forests, e.g. Delta back. It lives in grasslands, around dykes, and that you might spot in this area. Some Nature Reserve. in forests. animals are common and easily seen or heard; others are uncommon, nocturnal, American Bullfrog Signal Crayfish or well-hidden in their habitat. Lithobates catesbeianus Pacifastacus leniusculus The loud booming of bullfrogs is a familiar Many small animals occur in large numbers and are food for larger species, BC’s only native crayfish, this crustacean making them an important part of the ecosystem. Larger animals, such as sound in Delta’s marshes. Native to eastern grows to 15cm, living on leaf litter and , bullfrogs can grow to deer and , can be found in quieter, natural areas of the municipality. small fish. Look for it in Delta’s ponds and A few species, such as rats, have been accidentally introduced and may be nearly 1kg and live up to 9 . Great creeks, hiding under rocks and plants. Blue Herons are one of the few predators of viewed as pests. Some marine mammals can be seen from shore, though Females carry 200-400 eggs under their you are more likely to see during a ferry ride. bullfrogs in Delta. tails all winter; they hatch in spring. Green Frog Grey Lithobates clamitans Eschrichtius robustus latrans This is another common, introduced frog, Grey Whales regularly visit Boundary Bay Sea Lion Though coyotes are usually unobtrusive, native to eastern North America. Look for in spring and summer and can be seen californianus being well-camouflaged in long grass and ridges along its back and its smaller size to from shore, although only their backs show active at dawn and dusk, they become more distinguish it from the bullfrog. Its call is a Large groups of male California Sea above the surface. Their “blow” (released Lions visit the Salish Sea and Fraser conspicuous in late winter, the breeding loud banjo twang, heard in mid-summer air) is a heart-shaped spray rising 3-4m season. These canines eat , , from freshwater ditches and marshes. estuary from March to May, often high. They winter in Mexican waters. hanging out around wharfs. Dark- , and garbage. coloured and smaller than Steller Red-eared Slider Turtle Humpback Whale sea lions, they are best identified by Black-tailed Deer Trachemys scripta elegans Megaptera novaeangliae their -like faces and noisy barks. Odocoileus hemionus Releases of this invasive “pet” have led to These large whales were locally extinct The females stay with their pups, in A coastal form of Deer, the Black-tailed hundreds of slider turtles in Delta’s ponds, 100 years ago but have made a dramatic breeding grounds off the coast of is the only deer living in Delta. It is found to the detriment of other species. Sliders comeback in the past two decades. They California and . locally around woodland and bogs and is bury in mud for the winter and live in can be seen in summer feeding in deep most often seen at dawn or dusk, browsing freshwater from spring to fall. Look for the water and sometimes breaching, throwing at the forest edge on twigs, leaves, and red facial stripe and yellow lower shell. themselves right out of the water. Pacific Harbour Seal grass. vitulina Western Painted Turtle Orca (Killer Whale) Round-headed and pale grey, Harbour Seals feed on fish and are never far from shore. Chrysemys picta bellii Orcinus orca When not swimming, they laze on sandbars, rocks, and docks. Seals can be bold and lotor A native turtle, found in lakes, streams, Orcas visit the waters off Delta in summer curious, and are the most frequently seen marine in Delta. This masked raider thrives in Delta, visiting and wetlands, the Western is now very and can sometimes be seen from shore. garden ponds and fruit trees and denning in uncommon in Delta. This reptile can live Easily identified by their tall dorsal large . It is most active early and late 30+ years, and can be distinguished from fins, these large dolphins have distinct in the day and at night. are fun to the slider turtle by its red-and-black sides populations, including fish- residents watch but should not be closely approached and lack of red facial stripe. and mammal-eating transients. or fed. Common Garter Snake Harbour Porpoise Opossum Thamnophis sirtalis Phocoena phocoena Didelphus virginiana This large snake is black with bright, clean- Identify Harbour Porpoises by their small, The only marsupials found in North America, edged yellow stripes and often vertical red dark dorsal fin when they curve their backs opossums eat small animals and plants of bands. It lives near water, eating frogs, fish, out of the water. These porpoises sometimes all kinds. They can be unpopular for making and small mammals, and will usually emit a come into the Fraser River, and are often seen winter dens under houses and in basements. foul-smelling musk if handled. in groups of two or three. Many are killed on roads.

Terrestrial Garter Snake American Black Bear Photos and text by members of the Thamnophis elegans vagrans When looking for wildlife, walk slowly, watch carefully, and listen americanus Grey or brown with prominent dark for movements. You may be surprised by what you find. DELTA may no longer live in Delta, although blotches, this native is the only garter Use the iNaturalist app or inaturalist.org to identify animals that NATURALISTS they were still seen around Burns Bog and snake that constricts its prey as well as you see and to record their locations. in parts of North Delta up to 2014. New biting it. Despite its name, it is rarely far SOCIETY highways and urban development keep from water, and can be seen in fresh and Please always maintain control of your dog, so it does not chase © 2021 bears from moving through their former wildlife. salt water small aquatic animals. dncb.wordpress.com territories. Vagrant Shrew Hoary Bat Neovison vison Castor canadensis Sorex vagrans Lasiurus cinereus This sleek brown member of the These large rodents are active in Delta’s Only 10cm long, this is Delta’s smallest The most widespread of all bats in the family is regularly seen in wetland areas marshes and rivers. One beaver can chew mammal. It lives in moist forests and wet Americas, the Hoary Bat is also BC’s largest, such as Brunswick Point and Reifel down over 200 trees a , using the grassland, feeding nonstop on worms and with a wingspan of nearly 40cm. Hoary Bats Sanctuary. It eats small animals and branches for dams, lodges, and food. Its insects. Shrews’ musky odor repels most spend the night foraging at tree-top level . The Delta population seems to have closeable nostrils and ears make the beaver predators, but they are eaten by raptors. for large insects. Little is known about this increased recently. a supreme swimmer and diver. bat, except that it is solitary. North American River Muskrat Black Rat Silver-haired Bat canadensis Ondatra zibethicus Rattus rattus Lasionycteris noctivagans Another member of the weasel family, A beaver “mini-me”, the Muskrat also builds Also called the Roof Rat and Ship Rat, the Named for the silver tips on their dark , the River Otter is at home on land and in lodges and eats aquatic plants, but it is Black Rat is small and dark, with a tail these tree bats fly slowly and agilely, using both fresh and salt water. Its carnivorous much smaller than the beaver and has a longer than its head and body combined. echolocation to hunt insects above the diet includes fish and amphibians. Family thin, hairless tail. Its high reproductive It is an excellent climber and often lives surface of water and in treetops. They are groups are fun to watch as they play, hunt, rate makes it a key food source for coyotes, in attics and house walls. The Black Rat’s thought to stay in BC all year, but this may and swim. mink, and raptors. sensitivity to cold limits its spread. be true only of the males. Striped Pacific (Coast) Mole Norway (Brown) Rat Big Brown Bat mephitis Scapanus orarius Rattus norvegicus Eptesicus fuscus Notorious for spraying foul-smelling musk Pacific (or Coast) Moles are widespread and The Norway (or Brown) Rat, which can be Big Brown Bats are often seen flying (up to 6m) when attacked, can be live almost entirely below ground, hunting identified by its small ears and relatively short above water and fields on summer seen digging for grubs in many Delta lawns. earthworms and other small invertebrates. tail, lives wherever do and eats almost evenings. Their bite force allows them They live in grassland with trees and old A single mole can displace 6kg of dirt in 20 anything. Its many extraordinary attributes to eat hard-bodied insects, and they can buildings, and den in stumps and cellars minutes and create 400-800 molehills (exit may include the “” ability to think about catch an every three seconds. They over winter. tunnels) each year. thinking (metacognition). live in trees, rock crevices, and eaves. Townsend’s Chipmunk Townsend’s House Mouse Rough-skinned Newt Neotamias townsendii Microtus townsendii Mus musculus Taricha granulosa Delta is the westernmost limit for these This large, prolific vole lives in wet By taking advantage of human dwellings and This colourful newt lives in woodland lively, striped, squirrel-like animals. grassland and marshes and is a strong food, the House Mouse has become the most ponds, in leaf piles, and under logs. Some Townsend’s Chipmunks live in coniferous swimmer. It is a key prey species for Delta’s widely distributed mammal in the world live up to 30 years. Larval newts are forests, eating , seeds, and fungi. raptors, herons, and coyotes. The ’ beside humans. With females producing up aquatic, but adults roam on land. Do not They play an important role in spreading extensive burrows are passed from mothers to 150 young per year, this species is a key handle these newts or their eggs: they fungi essential to the forest’s growth. to their female offspring. food source for predators. produce a lethal toxin. Douglas Squirrel Southern Red-backed Vole North American Deermouse Northwestern Salamander Tamiasciurus douglasii Myodes gapperi Peromyscus maniculatus Ambystoma gracile This BC native can be distinguished from The Southern Red-backed Vole lives in This widespread prefers and Look for these forest amphibians under logs, its cousin, the introduced Grey Squirrel, cool forests, nesting under brush piles and coniferous forests but will live in almost any in soil, or in leaf litter. After starting life in by its smaller size and brown-orange in tree cavities. It plays a crucial role in ecosystem, feeding on insects, seeds, and fresh water as eggs and hatching into larvae colouring. It stores its food in a larder, keeping forests healthy by dispersing the fungi. Deermice can be distinguished from with external gills, most grow lungs and creating cone-scale piles, called middens, spores of fungi, a major part of its diet. House Mice by their white underbellies and move onto land, but some retain their gills at the site. large ears. and remain aquatic. Eastern Grey Squirrel Pacific Water Shrew Western Toad Sciurus carolinensis Sorex bendirii Sylvilagus floridanus Anaxyrus boreas Introduced to from Ontario The largest shrew in North America, Eastern Cottontails are commonly seen in Western Toads are distinguished by their in 1909, Grey Squirrels had made their at 13cm, this endangered species can Delta feeding on grasses and twigs near “warty” skin. Toad eggs change into way to Delta by 1993. Their ability to be found in Burns Bog. Though at ease brambles or other cover. With females tadpoles and then toadlets, which disperse adapt to urban forests has led them to in water, it nests and forages on land, having several litters of up to 8 kits a year, in large groups to find new habitats. Toads displace the Douglas Squirrel. The black paralyzing invertebrates with its bites cottontails provide food for raptors, feral cats, live in ponds, bogs, and marshes, and form is a “colour morph” of the grey. and “live-caching” some for future meals. raccoons, and crows. hibernate in winter. Humboldt’s Flying Squirrel Trowbridge’s Shrew Little Brown/Yuma Myotis Northern Pacific Tree Frog Glaucomys oregonensis Sorex trowbridgii Myotis lucifugus, M. yumanensis Pseudacris regilla Found to be a distinct species in 2017, Trowbridge’s Shrew is rare in BC, found only Little Brown and Yuma bats, which are Male Tree Frogs call loudly during the the Humboldt’s Flying Squirrel lives in in mature forest. With its heart rate of 800- difficult to tell apart, have a huge maternal winter and spring mating season. coniferous forests, gliding from tree to 1,000 beats per minute, it must eat 1.5 times colony in a building in Deas Island. These These residents of woodlands, freshwater tree to eat seeds, mosses, and fungi. its own weight every day in invertebrates bats hunt over water at dusk for aquatic wetlands, and ditches may be green, Young begin to “fly” at 8 weeks old; adults and tree seeds. Like all shrews, it uses insects, and can catch their daily quota in grey, or brown, and can change colour can glide up to 73m in one “flight”. echolocation to navigate. just 10 minutes. to match their surroundings.

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