Project Code:	WEYDV-02-059
Program:	FRIP
Area:	Applied Research
Sponsor:	Weyerhaeuser Company Limited
Region:	Drayton Valley
Project Status:	Complete

Object & Deliverables

 

This study was an inventory of furbearers in Weyerhaeuser’s Drayton Valley Forest Management Area done by Alpha Wildlife Research and Management Ltd.

Final Report

A total of 68.8 km was surveyed at 10 sites in January 2000. A total of 1,308 furbearer tracks were recorded with snowshoe hare (61.0%), red squirrel (26.3%) and fisher (5.7%) being the most frequent species recorded. Coyote (40), short-tailed weasel (21), wolf (13), red fox (8), lynx (4), cougar (2), wolverine (1), and marten (1) tracks were also recorded. Forest species used habitats that provided cover while avoiding areas with openings. Fisher tracks were significantly more abundant than expected in mid-seral mixed stands. Fishers and red squirrels were found in habitats that provided more structural complexity, whereas short-tailed weasels and canids were found in all forest types. The scarcity of marten tracks may be explained by a lack of structured forest along the survey transects, habitat fragmentation, or frequent occurrence of fishers and trapping mortality. The final report was submitted by Gilbert Proulx of Alpha Wildlife Research and Management Ltd. In October 2000, entitled “Occurrence of furbearers in Weyerhaeuser’s Drayton Valley Forest Management Area”.

 

WEYDV-02-059