Stanley Park Ecology Society News

Well not really ghosts per say, what we saw was more along the lines of rumours made flesh! We are very proud to be able to bring you photographic evidence of a critter that no-one has seen in Stanley Park for a very long time: the Yellow-Bellied Marmot!
You will not find the Yellow-Bellied Marmot on any of Stanley Park’s mammal checklists, nor will you find them described in the Vancouver Natural History Society’s newest book called “Wilderness on the Doorstep: Discovering Nature in Stanley Park” (which we have for sale - just ask!) You have to go back to the VNHS’s 1988 publication “The Natural History of Stanley Park” to find anything and there you will find, on the second-to-last page, a very brief mention of the colony that used live around Malkin Bowl in the 1950’s. It mentions that “one or two individuals may still survive” but who knew it was true!?!
To be honest, there have been rumours of people seeing them in different areas of the park for the last year or two, but no-one had any evidence. One of our school programmers (Tracy) spotted one the other day and Koren captured the picture you see below. Maybe Bobs and Lolo should write a Yellow-Bellied Marmot song for the “Playing For The Park” fundraiser on the 22nd.

Isn’t this little lad … or lady great! The Ensatina is a lungless salamander found along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to the Baja region of Mexico. They are hard to find when it’s cold or when the dry summers begin because they prefer nice, moist crevices among rotting logs or roots. They can also live anywhere from 10-15 years if their luck stays true. It looks like this little salamander has had a pretty lucky go of it so far as it still has its tail, something it drops pretty quickly if it’s grabbed by a predator.
You can see that Robyn is handling this critter properly in that she isn’t holding it in her hand, nor is she trying to pick it up. The reason this is so important is because as a lungless salamander, the Ensatina breathes through its skin - which means that the grease from your fingers could plug those breathing pores! So if you are lucky enough to spot one of these creatures in Stanley Park, be sure not to touch it - and send us a photo!

On one of our Ecowalks last month, our guide (Murray Lashmar) informed me that Salmonberry got its name because the berries formed at about the same time as some of the salmon runs were starting. I find those seasonal connections fascinating - like how the emergence of one of the forest’s inhabitants can tell us that the appearance of another inhabitant will soon follow.
One of the first things I learned when I started working at SPES is that flowering Salmonberry means that Rufous Hummingbirds will soon be spotted in the park, feeding on an early source of nectar. And then when the berries appear later in the Spring - this means that the Swainson’s Thrush will soon be making an appearance to feed on them. More connections! The study of these little connections is called phenology and you’ll be hearing a lot about it in the future because a few of us think it is cool . You should come down to Stanley Park and hike around Beaver Lake right now, the Salmonberry blossoms are everywhere.