2009 B.C. Quizzes
Test your knowledge of B.C. with our online quizzes. An archive from 2009.
QUESTIONS
Spring 2009 B.C. Quiz
As a survival mechanism, random offspring of which British Columbia species are known to develop larger mouths and teeth to devour their kin?
- pallid bat
- tiger salamander
- monarch butterfly
- wolverine
- banana slug
Summer 2009 B.C. Quiz
Where in British Columbia is kite flying expressly prohibited?
- Okanagan Lake shoreline
- Long Beach near Tofino
- Vancouver’s Seawall
- Cariboo-Chilcotin grasslands
- Victoria’s Garry oak meadows
Fall 2009 B.C. Quiz
Which farmyard animal gobbles weeds with such gumption that researchers in the northern community of Prince George deem it a worthy alternative to herbicide use?
- Horse
- Sheep
- Llama
- Cow
- Goat
Winter 2009 B.C. Quiz
If British Columbia's red fox were an Olympic athlete, in which sports activity would it excel?
- Long distance running
- Speed swimming
- Long jump
- Decathlon
- High diving
ANSWERS
Spring 2009 B.C. Quiz: ANSWER
Answer: 2) The tiger salamander
TIGER SALAMANDER
British Columbia’s blotched tiger salamander takes survival seriously. While most amphibians inhabit damp environments, this species dwells in arid habitat in the south Okanagan, lower Similkameen, and Kettle River watersheds. Staying alive there demands a collective capability to adapt quickly.
Case in point: tiger salamanders begin life as swimming larvae. They dine on mites, worms, insects, tadpoles, and other small prey when times are good. But if their pond begins to dry up, or food becomes scarce, a few of these larvae may develop oversized mouths and teeth—which they use to eat the other larvae around them.
It may seem counterproductive to the species, but the strategy actually helps to ensure that at least a few offspring survive long enough to morph into adults and begin their life on land.
[The Spring 2009 of British Columbia Magazine includes a full profile of the tiger salamander in its Wild File section. Send an e-mail to orders@bcmag.ca if you wish to purchase the issue.]
Summer 2009 B.C. Quiz: ANSWER
Answer: 2) Long Beach near Tofino
Fly a kite on Wickaninnish Beach (NOT on Long Beach!)
With fresh Pacific breezes and plenty of elbowroom, Wickaninnish Beach on Vancouver Island’s west coast—in the Long Beach unit of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve—makes an ideal spot to hoist a kite. Just don’t plan to run the full 22-kilometre length of Long Beach’s famous sandy shore. Kite flying, to our surprise, is restricted in this area because of Tofino Airport to the north. Stick to Wickaninnish, though, and you’ll be fine.
Info: (www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/index_e.asp).
--Jenny Manzer
[“Fly a kite on Wickaninnish Beach” is one of “50 things to do before you die” in the British Columbia Magazine Summer 2009 issue. Send an e-mail to orders@bcmag.ca if you wish to purchase the issue and read all 50!]
Fall 2009 B.C. Quiz: ANSWER
Answer: 5) Goat
A better weed whacker
British Columbia researcher Annie Booth has identified a self-propelled weed eater that mows down budding dandelions, runs on all-natural fuel, and even produces its own fertilizer: the domestic goat.
The associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Northern British Columbia has been studying the farmyard animal as an alternative to herbicides for weed control in the City of Prince George. Her findings are part of a broader investigation into sustainable landscaping options for the northern community.
Booth put eight goats out to pasture around two city sewage lagoons. (A couple of pregnancies resulted in a “free increase in research tools,” she says, raising the total to 10 by the end of the two-year project.) The goats gobbled up all the invasive oxeye daisies, controlled or eradicated horsetail species, and reduced hawkweed and thistle.“They seemed to eat weeds like a hot damn,” Booth concludes.
There were some drawbacks. Booth’s good-natured research subjects staged a few group escapes. And they failed to demonstrate a discerning palette, happily nibbling down tree saplings as well as weeds. One thing they will not eat, though, is grass.
“If you want your lawn mowed,” Booth says, “you need to get sheep.”
The City of Prince George is now considering goats for long-term weed control around their sewage lagoons, following the lead of goat-embracing American cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
--Shanna Baker
[“A better weed whacker” appeared in the Fall 2009 Due West department. Send an e-mail to orders@bcmag.ca if you wish to purchase the issue]
Winter 2009 B.C. Quiz: ANSWER
Answer: 3) Long jump
The red fox is a true wildlife Olympian when it comes to jumping, both high and long. The animal can leap easily over a two-metre-high chicken fence. While that may fall short of the Olympic high-jump record of 2.39 metres, keep in mind that the diminutive red fox, measured to its shoulder height, is less than one-fifth as tall as an average human.
It is in the long jump, however, that the fox’s athleticism shines. In the tense build-up to a jump, it flares its nostrils and perks its ears to detect a rodent lurking beneath the snow or grass. Then, with catlike stealth, it comes down on its unwary prey like a bomb dropped from the sky. From a standstill, the fox can lunge more than four metres on flat ground, and nearly eight metres downhill.
Analysts calculated that American Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis, in making an 8.5-metre long jump, leapt off the board at an angle of 23 degrees and a velocity of 38.9 kilometres an hour. Researchers studying video footage of a fox making several pounces saw the animal launch into the air at 40 or 45 degrees, the optimal angle for a missile. Using its fluffy tail for aerial balance, a fox may take to the air at 70 kilometres an hour to land on its prey with torpedo-like precision.
--Bruce Obee
[This is an excerpt from British Columbia Magazine’s Winter 2009 feature story “Faster, higher, stronger,” on the athletic exploits of British Columbia wildlife. Send an e-mail to orders@bcmag.ca if you wish to order the issue.]
