Here’s why there is a good chance you’ll encounter wildlife on your visit to Algonquin Park.
- About 3500 moose make their home in Algonquin Park. White-tailed deer are also plentiful. The best time to see moose is June and July in early mornings or at dusk.
- Beavers love making homes on ponds and damming up small running rivers and creeks.
- Researchers tell us there are about 2000 black bears living in Algonquin Park. Although we rarely see bears in our immediate neighbourhood we are diligent at managing food waste so that they aren’t attracted to us.
- Wolf packs numbering three to seven individuals are found throughout Algonquin Park. Of the 35 wolf packs that live in Algonquin Park we’ve got at least one very near by a Nahma Lake. However we occasionally see signs or the actual wolves themselves on our lake.
- Red foxes, chipmunks & red squirrels are common small mammals in the park. Cute to look, at we try not to entice chipmunks and red squirrels to our Algonquin Park camp sites with handouts because once they have learned there is food nearby they will eat right through our packs to get it while we sleep!
- Loons, there is nothing more haunting and glorious than the sound of loons calling across a still lake – Algonquin Park’s most popular bird can’t walk so their nests are always built very close to shore.
- Over 270 bird species have been identified in Algonquin Park. Spring is the best time to enjoy the festival of sound created by song birds.
- 31 species of reptiles and amphibians live in Algonquin Park, the largest and most interesting is the snapping turtle. Snapping turtles come out of the creeks, bogs and ponds every June to lay their eggs. The favourite conditions are the roadside gravel. When visiting in the spring watch out for snapping turtles dropping their golf-ball-like eggs into a gravelly burrow and burying it before leaving the offspring to their fate. Watch for hatch-outs in August throughout Algonquin Park.
- 7,000 species of insects are buzzing around Algonquin Park, including many butterflies blackflies and mosquitoes. The biting insects are most noticeable in mild spring temperatures, when it’s about to rain, when the wind dies down and for a couple of hours around dusk. The best bug protection is long pants and long sleeves. Most biting insects are less noticeable by mid-July.
You've been signed up to receive news, updates, stories, and special offers from The Edge!
