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No hunting, no trapping. Just room to roam
for the fortunate animal inhabitants of the
Chapleau Crown Game Preserve. At 700,000 hectares,
the Preserve, anchored by the waters of Missinaibi
Lake and the upper Missinaibi River, is the
largest game preserve in the world. It was
established in 1925, when local conservationists
persuaded the Ontario government that railway
access to the area had resulted in the over-harvesting
of game and fur-bearing animals.
A complete ban on hunting and trapping of
wildlife in the Preserve has resulted in plentiful
populations and exceptional opportunities
for wildlife viewing and photography. Featuring
all of the animals indigenous to the boreal
forest region of northeastern Ontario, the
Preserve's species list includes:
• Timber Wolves (8-10 wolf packs)
• Black Bears (approximately 2,000)
• Moose (approximately 2,500)
•
Furbearers - Muskrat, Beaver, Fisher, Marten,
Mink, Fox, Otter and Lynx.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
maintains several wildlife viewing stations
within the Preserve. A number of ecologically
sensitive areas have also been identified,
including heronries, Osprey and Eagle nests,
waterfowl staging areas and cold water fisheries.
Sports fishers take note: recreational angling
is permitted in the Preserve, with year-round
fishing for Walleye, Northern Pike, Lake Trout,
Speckled Trout, Rainbow Trout, Splake, Yellow
Perch, Lake Whitefish and Smallbouth Bass.
Cold, clean and secluded: the lakes of the
upper Missinaibi provide ideal habitat for
the Common Loon, Canada's emblematic water
bird. While the sight of the Loon, with its
red eyes, dagger-like beak, glossy black head,
black and white checkered back and distinctive
feathered "necklace," is familiar
to campers and cottagers hundreds of kilometres
to the south, the wilderness waters of Missinaibi
or Brunswick Lakes are far more suited to
the bird's reclusive and solitary nature.
In this remote area of northern Ontario, shoreline
development, oil spills, acid rain, mercury
contamination, and lead pollution - all leading
causes of Loon mortality in more populated
areas of the bird's range - do not pose any
major threats.
Common Loons are extremely territorial, claiming
entire bays or even small lakes as a single-family
residence. Loon pairs raise their young- usually
2 in number - in quiet companionship, taking
turns to incubate the eggs and carry the downy,
brown-black newborn chicks on their backs.
Only at the end of the summer, with their
chicks swimming and feeding on their own,
do adults begin to gather in migrating groups
of 15-20.
While Loons are strong swimmers and remarkably
adept divers - sometimes plunging as deep
as 80 metres, for up to a minute at a time
- they are clumsy and awkward on land. Their
solid bones and muscular legs, placed far
back on their bodies, help them to sink and
swim, but make them heavy and slow to take
wing. Take-offs and landings are often thrashing,
crashing affairs that contrast sharply to
the low-slung grace of their swimming profile.
Nesting Loons look for conveniently sloping
sites directly adjacent to deep water, making
the transition from land to lake nothing more
than a downward slip and slide. Overwhelmingly
a water bird, the Loon spends as little time
as possible on firm ground. After their first
day or two on the lake, chicks do not return
to the nest; at night, the birds bob quietly
over deep water, well away from predators.
Loons use 4 distinct calls, sometimes in combination,
to communicate with their families and other
Loons. They include:
• Tremolo
- Resembles a crazed laugh. Used to signal
alarm or worry and to denote annoyance or
greeting.
• Wail - Used during
social interactions between Loons, or to regain
contact with a mate during night chorusing
and in answering other Loon tremolos.
• Yodel - Given only by the male.
A long, rising call with repetitive notes
in the middle, lasting up to 6 seconds.
• Hoo - A one-note call used mainly
by family members to locate one another.
The
Lynx-Snowshoe Hare Cycle
In a remarkable association between
2 elements of the forest food
chain, the population cycle of
the Canada Lynx is closely linked
to that of the Snowshoe Hare.
The Hare is the primary food of
the Lynx, making up about 75%
of its diet; each individual consumes
150 - 200 Hares per year, or 1
Hare every other day.
About every 10 years, however,
the Snowshoe Hare population reaches
a peak density that cannot be
supported by the habitat; the
Hares begin to starve, and are
easily preyed upon by the large,
well-fed population of Lynx. As
the Hare population rapidly shrinks,
the Lynx population begins its
downward trend. At first, the
Lynx continue to eat well, but
as the Hares become scarce, the
fat reserves of the Lynx disappear.
For a period of 3-5 years, fewer
females breed; fewer kittens are
born to those that do breed, and
most perish soon after birth.
Gradually, as Hare become more
plentiful, the Lynx population
begins its upward trend, repeating
one of nature's most fascinating
ecological patterns. |
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Zooming in a for a close-up shot of a moose,
muskrat, beaver, or even black bear in the
Chapleau Crown Game Preserve, surrounding
the upper reaches of the Missinaibi River,
may not be much of a challenge for experienced
wildlife photographers. But capturing the
territory's Canada Lynx on camera is a rare
accomplishment. This cat is solitary, secretive
and nocturnal, and consequently, is rarely
seen in the wild.
The undisturbed boreal forest of the Chapleau
Preserve favours the Lynx, providing a thick
cover of brush and an ample supply of hollow
trees and fallen timber for making dens. The
lean, stout-bodied feline, with its pale grey
or buff long-haired coat, sideburn-like ruffs
of hair along its cheeks, tufted ears and
short, black-tipped tail, moves silently through
the dense undercover, watching and listening
for its prey. Lacking an acute sense of smell,
and unable to run fast except over short distances,
the Lynx relies on excellent eyesight, patience
and stealth to ambush its prey at close range.
The male Lynx usually hunts alone; females
hunt with their young until the kittens are
old enough to fend for themselves.
The Lynx is well-equipped to survive the deep
snows of northern Ontario, using its broad,
snowshoe-like feet to move easily along the
surface. The dense, coarse hair that grows
on their paws in winter increases the snowshoe
effect, and helps to keep them warm.
The Canada Lynx is sometimes mistaken for
its feline cousin, the Bobcat. Although their
territories overlap, the northernmost range
of the Bobcat lies approximately along the
Canada-U.S. border, well south of the Missinaibi.
The Bobcat is generally smaller than the Lynx,
with less pronounced ear tufts and cheek ruffs,
different tail markings, and a more patterned
and varied coat coloration. It is also less
secretive, hunting by both day and night.
Adventurous whitewater canoeists who cover
both the upper and lower sections of the Missinaibi
River can lay claim to some distinguished
geographical bragging rights. Starting from
the river's headwaters at Missinaibi Lake,
they will be just 5 kilometres north of the
height of land that divides the Great Lakes
and the James Bay watersheds. Just over two-thirds
of the way down the river's 426 kilometre
course (below Thunderhouse Falls), they will
descend from the rock of the Precambrian Shield
into the James Bay Lowlands, passing from
Ontario's oldest and most dominant geological
feature into the marine basin of younger sedimentary
rock that forms its northern border.
Peterbell Plants: At its source,
the Missinaibi lies within a transitional
forest, with Great Lakes hardwoods such as
Ash and Elm providing the tree cover. Along
much of its length, boreal species such as
White Spruce, Balsam Fir and Jack Pine dominate
its uplands, with Black Spruce and white Cedar
in wetland areas, and White Birch and Trembling
Aspen appearing in areas that have been disturbed
by logging or forest fires. At Peterbell Marsh,
between Missiniaibi Lake and Brunswick Lake,
the river runs through broad stretches of
low, flooded vegetation. Botanists will find
specimens of Bugleweed, Narrow-leaved Gentian,
Leafy White Orchis and Fragrant Water Lily,
and wildlife watchers are likely to see Moose
and Otter.
Prehistoric Peat: Below Thunderhouse Falls,
as the rocky Shield gives way to the clay
bluffs of the James Bay Lowlands, an ecologically
significant area of ferns and vascular plants
lies adjacent to the riverbank. Further downstream,
5 distinct layers of till, laid down by 5
glacial advances, can be seen in the steep
cliffs along the eastern shore; an unusually
thick layer of interglacial peat, known as
the Missinaibi Formation, appears at the mouth
of the Soweska River, a tributary of the lower
Missinaibi.
Estuary End: Downstream of the Soweska,
the land levels out and the river widens;
the forest is overwhelmingly Cedar, with some
Poplar and occasional stands of White Spruce.
Sightings of Woodland Caribou and Sandhill
Cranes are a possibility as the river approaches
its confluence with the Mattagami and forms
the Moose River. About 35 kilometres from
Moosonee, the murky Abitibi River joins the
Moose; soon, the river broadens into a wide
estuary, and the effects of James Bay tides
can be felt. Subarctic vegetation predominates,
and Semi-palmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers
skitter over the gravel bars. |
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Land
of the Loon