By Stephanie Bonner
This month’s Take Five focuses on Canadian wildlife; five fun species facts from coast to coast!
- Atlantic Puffin - Sheds its colourful orange and blue beak plates after breeding season; changing its appearance so dramatically you might think it’s a different species!
- Great Horned Owl - Silent and sly, the Great Horned Owl approaches its prey in total silence thanks to the long, stiff flight feathers which help to create thrust and lift in the owl’s flight.
- Walrus – While trawling the sea bottom with its tusks, the walrus will use its stiff facial bristles to root out its prey from the sea floor. Talk about a messy eater!
- Leatherback Sea Turtle – It’s the only sea turtle without a hard shell covering its back! Instead, it has a leathery skin which covers a thick layer of oil-saturated fat, tissue and small bony plates that fit together underneath.
- Caribou – The caribou is the only member of the Cervidae family in which both the female and male carry antlers. The other members of the family include elk, moose, mule deer and white-tailed deer.