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November
2002 Newsletter
Secret
Flying Squirrel Report Finally Released
On
October 15 the City released its long-secret studies on
Southern Flying Squirrels in the valley. Earlier versions
of this report were refused to a City Councillor in March
2000, and to repeated Freedom of Information requests from
Brabant Newspapers, the Spectator and individuals. This
refusal to share a publicly-funded report is more understandable
after you read it. A reasonable conclusion from it (although
it isn't stated in the report) is that the expressway will
likely wipe out this very rare species from the valley.
 The
document incorporates reports on six separate studies conducted
between July 1999 and August 2001 including three field
seasons of "presence/absence" studies, mark-recapture
and radio-telemetry studies in 2000, and a concentrated
trapping effort in 2001 to examine the possible effects
of large roads on squirrel movement. However, the effects
of habitat loss, tree removal and other impacts of the proposed
expressway were not examined.
Southern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys volans) are considered
to be a "Species of Special Concern" by the Committee
on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)
because they are particularly sensitive to human activities.
Provincial authorities have not yet assigned a status to
this species.
The squirrels are at the northern extent of their range
in Hamilton. The last confirmed observations occurred in
1941 in the Dundas Valley. Virtually every other recent
sighting in Ontario has occurred south of Hamilton. A major
re-introduction program for the species was undertaken at
Point Pelee National Park in the mid-1990s.
Environment Canada's website on Species at Risk notes that:
"Loss and degradation of habitat are the main factors
limiting Southern Flying Squirrel populations. The hardwood
forests have been drastically fragmented and reduced in
area, and these squirrels will not live in isolated woodlots.
Competition for food with Grey Squirrels also limits the
size of the Southern Flying Squirrel population. The use
of pesticides could be affecting Southern Flying Squirrel
populations as well, since these squirrels feed mainly on
insects."
The initial 1999 study caught 60 flying squirrels in seven
nights of trapping in the area of the valley along the escarpment
between Mt. Albion Road and Mountain Brow Boulevard. Some
squirrels were caught more than once but 28 separate individuals
were identified. Five studies later, the just released report
concludes that there are between 30 and 40 squirrels in
the valley area.
Stuck with a very rare and special species in the path of
the expressway, the City apparently ordered studies to try
and find the squirrels somewhere else so the Red Hill squirrels
would seem less important. Investigations in 2000 and 2001
failed in this mission. Squirrels were only found between
Gage Avenue and New Mountain Road. The SPCA, animal control
companies and veterinarians reported no records of this
species. The researchers also found that the squirrels northward
movement is apparently blocked by King Street and Greenhill
Avenue.
The research effort then focused on the effect of roads
on the movements of the flying squirrels. Here again the
results were disappointing for the City. Two studies were
conducted to determine the effects of the 10 metre wide
Mt. Albion Road and the 20-metre-wide cut in the escarpment
made by Highway 20 (Centennial Parkway). The proposed expressway
will impose a 70 to 80-metre-wide cut in the escarpment,
nearly 4 times the cut for Highway 20.
Twenty-two squirrels were radio-collared in a 2000 study
in the vicinity of Mt. Albion Road and Highway 20. Several
squirrels crossed Mt. Albion, but only one got across Highway
20. The study was unable to determine whether this squirrel
ran across the road, glided across it (glides up to 75 metres
have been reported elsewhere), or went through the railway
underpass at the foot of the escarpment.
A 2001 study intensively trapped animals for 20 days on
both sides of three forest gaps plus a control area. The
gaps were Highway 20, Mt. Albion Road, and a hydro corridor
near Gage Park. The study found that 37% of the animals
at the control and hydro sites crossed from one side to
the other, 29% crossed Mt. Albion Road, and 4% crossed Highway
20.
While the City-funded studies concluded that roads do have
a barrier effect on flying squirrel movement, the report
recommends that the proposed expressway bridge near the
escarpment "may provide an opportunity to reduce the
impacts of the Expressway on the movement of Southern Flying
Squirrels". The studies could not offer any evidence
of this. The squirrels apparently didn't use the underpass
at King Street, and an intensive effort failed to find the
species in the Hendrie Valley near the Royal Botanical Gardens
where the researchers hoped to assess the impact of the
Plains Road West bridge on the movement of the small mammals.
The report makes no comment on the proposed expressway.
But it does say that the City has a "unique opportunity"
to study the effect of large roads by conducting "a
'before and after' study of the flying squirrel population
at the future construction site." It also suggests
that having large trees alongside the road may be the best
long term solution, but concedes this would take decades
to achieve. Consequently it recommends installation and
study of artificial trees (eg log poles).
The lead researcher in these studies will be the guest speaker
at a public meeting of Friends of Red Hill on Thursday,
January 2, 2003 beginning at 7 pm in Red Hill Public Library.
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