INTRODUCTION

Wildlife. What is it? Most people traditionally think of a bird or a mammal when picturing wildlife, but all living organisms that are not domesticated can be considered wildlife. A Wildlife Policy for Canada (1990) states that “wildlife should mean all wildlife: wild mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, plants, fungi, algae, bacteria, and other wild organisms.” This broad definition of wildlife reflects the idea that living beings are interrelated.

Biologists have placed all living organisms into five major groups. These are the kingdoms Monera, Fungi, Plantae, Protista, and Animalia. The greatest diversity and number of organisms are in the first four kingdoms. These include the bacteria, fungi, plants, and protists. Without the members of these groups, ecological functions such as oxygen production and recycling of nutrients would not occur.

This book aims to broaden the general perception of wildlife and to provide factual information about many of the species found in Nova Scotia. It would be very difficult to describe all the known types of wildlife in this book. This publication concentrates on some of the larger animals--fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Hopefully, you will enjoy this small sample of the incredible diversity of wildlife of Nova Scotia.

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

Kingdom/Species Descriptions

This book begins with brief descriptions of the biological kingdoms Monera, Fungi, Plantae, and Protista. A descriptive example of a species within each kingdom is given. The rest of the text describes members of the biological kingdom Animalia, for which there is a frequent demand for information. Species are presented in the standard order used by biologists. For example, muskrats may look like beavers but are actually more closely related to the deer mouse. Even though whales and seals may seem very closely related because of the water-based environment that they share, they are quite different.

Within each animal group, at least one of the common and easily recognized species found in Nova Scotia is presented. There are also eight rare plants and animals included to provide information on species-at-risk. Descriptions are given for 3 invertebrates, 3 fishes, 3 amphibians, 3 reptiles, 30 birds, and 28 mammals.

Each species description includes details on physical appearance, range, habitat, food habits, predators or prey, and behaviour. There is also a quick reference box on size, diet, young, life span, and activity patterns. Sizes given are average in length for birds and weight for mammals. Diet gives one or two main food items eaten by the animal. The category for young gives the usual number of young and the usual months of birth. Lifespan is the potential number of years the animal could live in the wild. Few would live to these ages. If no information is available on wild individuals, the life span of a captive individual is indicated. Activity pattern is a category to show when the animal is active--during the daytime, night-time, or at dawn and dusk. This category also shows whether a species is active in Nova Scotia year-round, stays in the province but sleeps or hibernates for the winter, or migrates out of the province to warmer regions.