Coyraccoon Den Photo Tour/ Larch Nature Reserve APRIL FOOLS! (4/1/2022)

Animals are oblivious to national borders. Their habitats pay no heed to lines on a map; birds and herds migrate across them at will. They were roaming the landscape long before those lines were drawn anyway. No nation can ever truly lay claim to any one beast as its national animal.

The coyracoon is, quite possibly, the only known exception to this rule. It is the rarest of breeds: a new species of hybrid origin, a mammal forged before our eyes. The coyracoon is younger than zoology, younger than even Alberta itself, having emerged only in the last 25 to 30 years and now becoming habituated to Northern Ontario and the Boreal Forest regions of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The coyracoon’s origins trace deep into Canada’s cottaging heartland. In the late 20th century, as North America’s population grew and its landscape was developed, the eastern wolf population (Canis lycaons) was hit hard. Facing a habitat squeeze and eradication campaigns, the wolves headed north from the eastern seaboard and the St. Lawrence lowlands. By the 1990s their few remaining numbers had found safe haven in and around Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park. That’s when they met up with some western racoons (Procyon lotor) who, facing similar habitat pressures, had migrated from the American midwest and the central plains region of Canada.

So began the greatest- ever dirty weekend in the history of cottage country. For the racoons, it was probably not love at first sight. The western gray wolf (Canis lupus) kills racoons, so the idea of getting cozy with its eastern cousin probably seemed a bit dodgy. But eastern wolves, being significantly smaller than western ones, were a lot less intimidating. They were also eagerly seeking to diversify the gene pool, so they’d have been in a welcoming frame of mind. Plus both were new to the area, and there’s no better icebreaker than “where you from?”

The coyracoon’s size falls somewhere between wolves and coyotes, weighing in at roughly 40 pounds on average—small enough for stealth and agility, but big enough to throw its weight around. They can be loners or travel in packs. They can hunt together to take down deer, or subsist happily on rabbits, birds, and berries, or shop for groceries, ie., raid a chicken coop, steal a garbage dumpster, or climb into an open house window after tearing the mesh going after bigger junk food sources.

We'll meet at 6:20 PM at the parking lot on the South side of 23rd Ave just to the east of the Bridge over the Whitemud Creek. This is the dip(small valley) in the road between 119th Street and Rabbit Hill Road.

The hike should be between 2 and 2.5 hrs approximately.

You could encounter mud, slippery conditions, this time of year, etc. - dress accordingly. Please don't wear sneakers on this hike. Be sure to bring water to keep hydrated and energized during the hike. *It's recommended to bring poles for the down hill climb and as pointy weapons.

Click HERE FOR BROCHURE & MAP


***We are open to having dogs on the hike, however they must have a rabies vaccine***