BACKGROUND - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 511

Porcupines are common and widespread throughout all forested areas, but they're hard to
spy because they feed most often at night.
Other Rodents
Widespread throughout western Canada, muskrats make their mountain home in the wa-
terways and wetlands of all low-lying valleys. They are agile swimmers, able to stay sub-
merged for up to 12 minutes. They grow to a length of 35 centimeters (18 inches), but
the best form of identification is the tail, which is black, flat, and scaly. Closely related to
muskrats are voles, which are often mistaken for mice. They inhabit grassed areas of most
valley floors.
Shrews
A member of the insectivore family, the furry shrew has a sharp-pointed snout and is
closely related to the mole. It must eat almost constantly because it is susceptible to starva-
tion within only a few hours of its last meal. Another variety present throughout the region,
the pygmy shrew is the world's smallest mammal; it weighs just four grams (0.1 ounces).
Pikas
Pikas, like rabbits, are lagomorphs, which are distinguished from rodents by a double set
of incisors in the upper jaw. The small, grayish pika is a neighbor to the marmot, living
among the rubble and boulders of scree slopes above timberline.
Weasels
The weasel family, comprising 70 species worldwide, is large and diverse, but in general,
all members have long, slim bodies and short legs, and all are carnivorous and voracious
eaters, consuming up to one-third of their body weight each day. Many species can be
found in the Canadian Rockies, including the wolverine, largest of the weasels world-
wide, weighing up to 20 kilograms (44 pounds). Known to natives as carcajou (evil one),
the wolverine is extremely powerful, cunning, and cautious. This solitary creature inhab-
its forests of the subalpine and lower alpine regions, feeding on any available meat, from
small rodents to the carcasses of larger mammals. Rarely sighted by humans, the wolver-
ine is a true symbol of the wilderness.
The fisher has the same habitat as the wolverine but is much smaller, reaching just five
kilograms (11 pounds) in weight and growing up to 60 centimeters (24 inches) in length.
This nocturnal hunter preys on small birds and rodents, but reports of fishers bringing
down small deer have been made. Smaller still is the marten, which lives most of its life