FortWhyte Alive

Evening Guests – Bats in Your Backyard!

Richard Helbig
What is it about bats that make us tremble with fear? Through folklore and superstition we associate bats with vampires and blood. But, as we go from bat fiction to bat fact, we find that we couldn’t be further from the truth! Bats are actually shy, gentle creatures, beneficial to humans and an essential part of Manitoba’s ecosystem. View the PDF

Buffalo – Monarch of the Plains

Manon Roy
So is it bison or buffalo? Many of our visitors have asked us this question since their appearance here at FortWhyte Alive in June of 2000. The truth is,both words refer to the same animal. Bison is the genus (and common) name given to this animal by scientists. View the PDF

Return to Your Roots – COMPOST! It’s time to treat your garbage like dirt!

Cheryl Bowman
Garbage - we all throw it away, but it never really goes away. If you were to visit a local landfill, you would see 25 year-old junk and read newspapers from the 1960s! It’s not cheap (economically or environmentally) to haul garbage to landfills. The City of Winnipeg budgets almost $17 million annually to deal with household waste. Garbage trucks burn fossil fuels hauling garbage to landfills where the land, water and air can become polluted. Composting is one simple way to reduce the amount of waste we produce. View the PDF

Amazing Amphibians

Cheryl Bowman
“It’s not easy being green.” - Kermit the Frog
We rarely hear all the good stuff about frogs and toads, but we’re no strangers to the myths and folklore! In fairy tales the prince is turned into a frog as punishment, and we are often told that holding a toad will give us warts. In many Native Canadian legends, frogs are seen as evil spirits. In reality, frogs and toads are a very important part of life on earth. Their life cycle is one of the most fascinating in the animal kingdom. View the PDF

News on Nestboxes

Suzanne Thornton
One of the truly great things about Winnipeg is the variety of bird species you can find right in the city. Robins, blue jays, house wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers all call the elms and residential gardens of Winnipeg home. Even more exciting is that many of these urban birds are cavity-nesters and will respond readily to nest boxes. Putting up these avian abodes in our yards gives all of us the opportunity to view nature at work. How exciting for adults and kids alike to build a nest box and eventually watch the story that unfolds! View the PDF

Planting Trees for Climate Change

Aynsley Toews
There are many reasons to plant a tree - landscaping your yard, cooling your house, honouring a birthday, providing animal habitat. Now there’s another reason! And it will affect people all over the planet. This year, plant a tree for climate change. Yes, climate change! View the PDF

Water Works

Lani Innes
We need water! We use it every day to drink and cook, to clean and flush our wastes, to swim and to have fun. We need it to grow our food and manufacture products. Using water is such an ordinary activity, we often don’t realize how much we actually use! View the PDF

Winter Bird Yard

Rachel Van Caeseele
It is always a little sad when the last skeins of geese finally pick up and head south. They seem to herald the inevitability of autumn’s final crisp breaths. Have you ever noticed the white smiley-faces on their tails? Are they mocking us with their smug tail feathers? View the PDF

Wood Ducks in Winnipeg!

Suzanne Thornton
A duck that perches in trees, nests in tree cavities, and eats acorns? This may not sound like your ordinary duck, but it’s just what you would expect from a Wood Duck! Wood ducks are a common sight along Winnipeg’s waterways. Drake wood ducks are the “pretty boys” of the waterfowl world, with their swooping white-patterned crests and stunning metallic green, blue and bronze plumage. Hens are less striking, but are recognizable by their smaller crest, white eye markings, and browny-grey plumage. View the PDF