Join Adventures with Nature Norm to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the Tall Grass Prairie.  

Norm Gregoire from Shared Legacy promises a fascinating look into the love lives of animals. The event is family-friendly, educational, and filled with fun facts about courtship, parenting strategies, and survival tactics among wildlife. 

“Love might be on the brain for folks, but when we’re starting to think about what love is and what that’s all about in the animal world, the animal Kingdom, it’s a little bit more basic compared to human relationships, but we’re going to be learning about what that all is with our Tall Grass Prairie species.” 

The event will delve into the trials of becoming a Tall Grass Prairie parent, with Norm sharing insights about how different species adapt to the Manitoba weather. 

“We live in a harsh environment as we know in these winter days, and it’s interesting to know the different strategies that different animals use to raise families and produce young.” 

He explains that humans and animals share the same three basic needs, although they are simplified for animals. 

“That would be food and water and then shelter or some sort of home and then making your family, making sure that your species are surviving through spreading your own genes.” 

Norm explains that a lot of males, including white-tail deer will fight to show their dominance to the female. 

“Pretty much in the animal kingdom, the biggest, strongest is the best, so they’ll have the strongest genes. The winner of these fights will pass on their strongest genes towards the female, and it goes on from there and that’s just sort of one side of this idea of creating these family bonds here in the Tall Grass Prairies.” 

A topic along the walk will be the difference between a monogamous and polygamous relationship among animals. 

“Those terms are used fairly broadly in the sense of comparing a human relationship to an animal relationship. But in the monogamous or this sort of life bond that they’ve formed, species like different bird species will attract females by creating nests for them or showing that they’re good hunters by bringing food into the nest for the young to survive.” 

He adds, “Whereas animals that are more polygamous, they’re going to be relying on a lot of that brute strength that I that I had mentioned.” 

A lot of bird species will use different vocalizations to attract females. 

“At certain times of year, they’ll be focusing on attracting females to mate with so their calls will even change throughout the year,” Norm says. 

He shares that mammals will rely on scent. 

“When the females of species are in eustress, the males will be able to pick that up through scent. And that can be a key factor for finding a mate out here.” 

He says that 90% of bird species in the world are monogamous, while only about 5% of mammal species are monogamous.  

“If you think about the basic biology of it all, comparing the two, birds and mammals, bird species, they’re going to be producing an egg outside of the body. So, it’s in the male’s best benefit to help incubate that egg and also when the chick is hatched, they feed that young to ensure that they survive into adulthood.” 

He says that mammals are born outside the body and will need milk, which is produced by the female, so the male feels like it can’t help. 

Norm adds that there are exceptions including foxes, coyotes, and wolves. 

“They’re actually more considered pair bonded or monogamous. They’ll mate for life. The males do have a big role in keeping the young safe and eventually, as they start to eat more meat, they’ll help bring food for the young.” 

Hang out with Norm this Saturday to learn more fun facts and details about animals in the Tall Grass Prairie. The walk is from 10 am to 12 pm and it is free! 

To register or for more information, contact Norm at 204-408-6166 or info@sharedlegacymb.ca.  

February is the month of love; at least that is what my wife reminds me every year as we approach the 14^th. For many couples, Valentine’s Day is seen as slightly gimmicky by modern standards, but I can’t argue against a day that encourages us to spend time with the one we love. When we think about what love means in the animal kingdom, it is unknown if they experience the “romantic” side of things, but some evidence suggests that animals can feel certain emotions just as a human can. Regardless of the range of love wildlife can feel, folks may be surprised to know that here in the tall-grass prairie, February is when things start to heat up for certain prairie species.

In very basic terms, the main objective of any living creature would be to pass on their genes through offspring to guarantee the survival of their species and, in turn, a part of themselves. How romantic! There are different strategies that species use to accomplish this.

We can group species on whether they are monogamous or polygamous. It is important to note that these are broader terms when used in the animal kingdom compared to when they are used to describe a human relationship. Monogamous is used to describe a species that has one mated partner at a time. This can be for a period or for life; many researchers prefer the term “pair bonding.” Polygamous refers to an individual with more than one partner.

Great examples of Manitoban species that can be classified as monogamous would be rodents such as beavers and prairie voles, as well as canines such as red foxes, coyotes, and wolves. Mating for many of these pair-bonded species happens throughout the month of love. It may surprise you that approximately only five percent of the world’s mammal species can be considered monogamous.

This is quite the contrast compared to the over ninety percent of bird species being monogamous. Monogamous birds that are seen in a Manitoban winter include the black-capped chickadee, blue jay, and Manitoba’s provincial bird, the great grey owl. The main reason why monogamy is so prevalent in bird species compared to mammals is mostly due to the basic biological fact that birds lay eggs outside of the body. This means that if the male wants to increase survival odds, they need to help raise the young by either helping to incubate the egg or by bringing food.

We have many polygamous species in the tall-grass prairie area, such as white-tailed deer, black bears, and snowshoe hares. White-tailed deer bucks will battle during the rut, and the healthiest will then go on to breed with the doe or does, ensuring that the doe is gaining the strongest genes. Black bear boars (males) will also fight to gain rights to breeding with the sow (female). The female of both these species may mate with multiple males, so when you see a black bear sow with four cubs, they may be from four different boars! A snowshoe hare will give birth up to four times a year and have upwards of thirty leverets (offspring) per year. There is strength in numbers!

The diverse techniques that species in the tall-grass prairie use to ensure their species survives represent what is needed to live in such a complex ecosystem. Winters are harsh, and summers can be extremely plentiful. Nothing is guaranteed, but everyone that calls this area home does their best to give the next generation the greatest chance for success.

Adventures with Nature Norm

Why not spend Valentine’s weekend with Nature Norm? On Saturday, February 15th, we will be learning about love in the tall-grass prairie with a short snowshoe followed by an indoor presentation at the Weston Family Tall Grass Prairie Interpretive Centre. Please contact me at info@sharedlegacymb.ca for event details and to register.