Warning: Chasing and teasing, hand-feeding and stroking wildlife at camp are totally Prohibited.

Hunting on camp land is also prohibited at all times. Camp is used by skiers, cottagers and work groups out of season- a person could be anywhere any time.

Introduction

The best way to see wildlife is to be quiet and watch. Also look for tracks in the muddy areas of paths.

Mice and Shrews

These tiny, cute critters have at least seven species reported around here. They eat over a litre of food in the summer to hibernate in the winter. The shrews- the Arctic shrew, wandering shrew and water shrew are smaller than the mice and make tunnels in sand and in the winter under the snow.

Mice include the deer mouse, Gapper's red- backed mouse(which is bigger and reddish brown), Western jumping mouse and meadow vole. Please do not get bitten by a deer mouse as we are in the Lyme disease area.

Bats

The best place to see bats is across the lake and in the lights at dusk. They are more lightly to be seen in late evening and early twilight than in the middle of the night. Bats eat a lot of mosquitos and they are your friends.

Silver haired bat

This looks black with white fringes and flies slowly and erratically eating moths and bugs.

Hoary Bat

This roasts alone in old trees and looks like a flying teddy bear with a yellow band to its neck. It is bigger and flies straighter. It was reported here in Beck's book.

Big Brown Bat

One of these was found dying at camp and was checked for rabies-it was negative. It is about 3" long and has been spreading in the province (including St.Alban's cathedral). It can be active even in freezing conditions.

Carnivores

Racoon

This cheerful bandit is our resident carnivore and will patrol the camp when its quiet.

Black Bear

Camp is in Bear country, and I have twice seen bears in or very close to the grounds. Our only bear here is the black bear.

Red Fox

Foxes are to be found towards the southern (road) side of camp and can be smelt by the pond. They don't come to the lake area.. They change color to silver in the winter.

Coyote Coyotes do live around Christopher Lake and Little Red Reserve, but neither Beck's book , personal observation or reports from campers have seen one here.

Wolf

A pack of wolves does live in the South Eastern corner of the park and there has been a road kill on the park highway where our ski trail comes out. They have also been seen on the North side of Emma Lake and in the model forest.

Weasels

Ermine(short tail weasels winter coats) is a greatly prized fur used in hearaldy including the ceremonial of the Coronation. We likely have ermine, fishers, weasels and ferrets. Sadly there are otters no longer on Anglin and Emma lakes.

Mink These swim in the area of marsh land between upper and middle Emma and prey on fish and muskrats. In the water they look almost black with scattered diamonds.

Skunks We have skunks and I have seen then at camp. They are striped animals. In our area, these are the most likely creatures to have rabies. You are only at risk of getting sprayed when the tail is up.

Badgers and Lynx are supposed to be round these parts, but are probably not.

Rodents

Woodchucks(Ground hog) used to live under one of our cabins and we think now live in the forest a little way west of the camp area. Sometimes in the evening they shamble around the site.

Ground squirrels

The Richardson's groundsquirrel with its white underbelly - the usual gopher of the prairies does not come this far and Beck's book says we are likely to see Franklin's ground squirrel- bigger and with a grey belly. The thirteen lined ground squirrel also isn't found at camp- instead we see chipmunks which look similar but smaller. In reality, Okema is too wooded to support any kind of subterrean city.

Red Squirrels These were the main squirrels in earlier times and are still to be seen.

Grey Squirrels These have moved in since 1958 and are the most likely squirrels to see. Squirrels use their tails to signal.

Northern Flying squirrels These are a special treat and glide rather than fly. They occur on the edge of clearings and the ball diamond and archery range in the early evening or just after sunrise are the best times to see these furtive animals.

Beavers Go prove me wrong. I don't think that there are any beavers on Upper Emma Lake. I haven't seen any lodges or cut trees. There are beavers right by the road just inside the National Park and further down Little Red River. Instead we have

Muskrats Smaller than beavers and with a proper tail rather than a leathery flipper. They love marshy areas and live in Tern Bay and on Fairy Island.

Porcupines These live close enough to camp for a dog here to get a quill in its nose under the Wood cabin.

Deer

Elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer do pass through and forage especially at the Western end of camp. Bison, moose and cariboo are not to be found in Okema.

The birds of Okema.

references-

1.Beck W.H. A guide to Saskatchewan Mammals 1958

2.Barwise J.E. Animal tracks of Western Canada. 1989 Pine cone