Furbearers 



Field research on otter, which has been a major part of the furbearer inves- 

 tigations for several years, was concluded and analyses of data and other material 

 collected during the course of this work are now in progress. Nine of the 42 otters 

 which were marked and released during the first four years of the study were 

 recaptured during the final trapping period which took a total of 46 from the 

 experimental area. Tattooing of the webs of the hind feet proved to be the only 

 reliable method of marking otters; ear tags were lost on all which had been marked 

 in this way and punching and notching of the foot webs was not reliable. The 

 recapture of tagged animals showed that otters confine their movements to much 

 smaller ranges than is popularly believed; distances between points of capture 

 were under three miles. 



Trends in the numbers of beaver in Ontario continue to be the subject of 

 research. At the present time most of Ontario is experiencing very high populations 

 but there are anomalies in local populations which cannot yet be adequately 

 explained. Algonquin Park beaver showed a 46% decline from the 1964 estimates. 

 This decrease was most pronounced in tolerant hardwood forests. There is some 

 evidence that many beaver in Algonquin Park entered the winter of 1964-65 in 

 poor condition; they were heavily infested with ticks in the summer of 1964 and 

 a higher proportion than usual died from the stress of being caught in live traps. 

 There may also be a depletion of preferred foods in tolerant hardwood areas but 

 this has not yet been confirmed. 



In Patricia Central and West populations continued at a high level over most 

 of the area. Aerial surveys of 12 sample plots and approximately 1000 miles of 

 transects throughout the Canadian Shield and Hudson Bay Lowlands showed, 

 however, that population densities varied considerably. Extremely high populations 

 existed in the hills in the vicinity of Sachigo Lake while other areas, notably that 

 around Shibogama Lake, were understocked. As yet such low populations cannot 

 be explained; assessment of food supplies, weather, trapping pressure and other 

 factors have shown that these are not unusual in areas where beaver are not 

 abundant. 



Reports from several Indian bands of dead beaver being found on traplines 

 were investigated, by aerial surveys in the autumn of 1965 and the collection of 

 specimens and water samples in February of 1966. No indication of tularemia or 

 other disease was found, nor were there significant changes in numbers of beaver 

 on the traplines concerned. 



Upland Game and Waterfowl 



Although plans for expanding research on upland game and waterfowl, to 

 meet increasing hunting pressures on these species are now well formulated, active 

 research was confined to two species of grouse and Canada and snow geese because 

 of shortage of staff. A project to assess the nutritional requirements of ruffed grouse, 

 conducted in co-operation with the University of Guelph, was also curtailed because 

 of lack of qualified staff for laboratory experiments. 



Further studies of prairie grouse (sharptails and prairie chickens) were con- 

 ducted on Manitoulin Island and ranges were examined in Cochrane and Fort 

 Frances Districts. Potential range was assessed in Tweed District in anticipation 

 that prairie grouse could be stocked in marginal farmland in future years. 



Surveys were conducted to assess the production of Canada and snow geese 



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