Waterton Lakes National Park
Canada 150 National Parks Blog #1 - Waterton Lakes National Park
Dr. Teresa Bousquet
In
honor of Canada's 150th birthday, we are going to be running a series
of blogs highlighting the herping opportunities in the National Parks
within Alberta. First up, Waterton Lakes National Park:
Waterton Lakes National Park is one of Canada’s smaller National Parks,
at 505 square kilometers. The park is located in the southwest corner
of Alberta, along the border with Montana. It is connected to Glacier
National Park, and together, they were designated as a the
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (IPP) in 1932, as a symbol of
peace and goodwill between Canada and the United States. The IPP was
established as a World Heritage Site in 1995. Waterton Lakes National
Park is considered the core area of the Waterton Biosphere Reserve,
established in 1979.
Waterton Lakes National Park is home to six species of amphibians and
four species of reptiles. These include: Long Toed-Salamanders
(Ambystoma macrodactylum), Boreal Toads (Anaxyrus boreas), Columbia
Spotted Frogs (Rana luteiventris), Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma
mavortium), Boreal Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris maculata), Leopard Frogs
(extirpated/re-introduced)(Lithobates pipiens), Wandering Garter Snakes
(Thamnophis elegans), Red-Sided Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis),
Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer), and Plains Garter Snakes (Thamnophis
radix). In 2015, a Rocky Mountain Tailed frog (Ascaphus montanus) was
found in a creek just south of the American border in Glacier National
Park, but in spite of environmental DNA testing, this species has yet to
be identified in Waterton Lakes National Park.
In Wateron Lakes National Park, the best place to see herps is often
along roadways. Wandering and Red-sided Garter snakes like to bask on
the parkway on sunny spring and summer afternoons. On rainy spring and
summer evenings, various amphibians such as Boreal Toads and Tiger
Salamanders take to the roadways near Driftwood Beach and the Bison
Paddock. Watch for wandering Boreal Toads as you hike the park’s trails.
Linnet Lake trail is another good spot to visit in the spring and fall.
There are four special underpasses in this area, that allow
long-salamanders to cross from the slopes of Crandell Mountain, where
they over-winter, to the lake, where they breed. These underpasses have
been found to reduce salamander roadway mortality.
Special Notes: There is an on-going project within the Park to
re-establish the extirpated Northern Leopard Frog. The frogs are being
released in specially selected locations around the park that are ideal
Northern Leopard Frog habitat. The exact sites are not being made
public, to try to reduce stress and give the frogs as much undisturbed
space as possible. However, if you happen to come across Northern
Leopard Frogs, please contact Parks Canada staff and report your
sighting. This helps them track how the frogs are doing and if they are
moving within the Park. Sightings of all other herps are also of
interest to park staff – ask the Visitor Reception Centre staff for
forms to record your observations, and contribute to the monitoring of
these important populations!
Parks Canada works hard to protect national parks against aquatic
invasive species, such as quagga mussles and whirling disease. Please
also note that whirling disease, which is an infectious disease of
finfish, is now in Alberta, though it has not been detected to date in
Waterton Lakes National Park. To help protect the park’s ecological
integrity and avoid cross-contamination between infected and uninfected
water bodies, please avoid wading into the water. If you see fish
swimming in a whirling pattern, please contact Parks Canada staff
immediately.
Thank you to Kimberly Peason and John Stoesser for your input and assistance!
Waterton Lakes National Park - Salamander CrossingWaterton Lakes National Park - Herptiles