WINTER A\AA\A\AL SURVEY 
D.J. White, J.D. Lafontaine, D.F. Brunton 
Two years ago we decided to conduct a mammal 
survey, in an effort to alleviate a mid-winter lull in 
outdoor activities. Using mainly tracks we made a rough 
count of each species. We visited a number of different 
habitats to try to locate as many mammals as possible. 
We began at midnight, February 12, 1972 at the 
Arboretum by Dow’s Lake, armed with flashlights and 
plenty of hot coffee. We finished the day at 4 p.m. 
near Low, Quebec, having seen, or found evidence of, 
23 species. 
The same day, Harry and Sheila Thomson found 
fisher, southern flying squirrel and porcupine to add 
to our list. The following day they located least 
weasel tracks. Also on February 13, Mike Runtz found 
a star-nosed mole which was walking along a snowmobile 
trail near Aylmer. A European hare, which had been 
frequenting the Nepean Dump, disappeared in early 
February. A thirtieth species, which we weren’t able 
to identify by tracks, was a long-tailed weasel; how¬ 
ever one was seen a week later along the Ottawa River 
by Dan Brunton. 
A second survey was conducted on March 19, of the 
next year. It was hoped that the later date would 
allow such species as chipmunks and groundhogs to be 
found out of their winter dens; however, a period of 
rain before this date obliterated tracks quite nicely. 
Between the three of us and the Thomsons, only twelve 
species were found. These are marked (*) in Table 1. 
By the time you read this, we hope to have con¬ 
ducted a third survey, but it was not possible to get 
the results into this issue. 
Sound interesting? Perhaps you might like to 
join us next winter for the fourth annual Ottawa 
Mammal Survey! 
31 
