Wildlife

Raccoons have been naturally sneaking onto the islands of Parc Jean-Drapeau. Raccoons are largely nocturnal, easily able to climb trees, with their agile fingers and sharp claws. They have salt-and-pepper fur with slightly red hues. They are recognizable by their black mask featues bordered by white around the eyes and their tail of alternating clear and black rings.

Raccoons adapt to their many natural environments. Opportunistic and easy to tame, raccoons are often seen roaming in urban areas. Shyer than other animals, raccoons are evasive and hard to spot.

Lots of birds live at or come to Parc Jean-Drapeau because of the diversity of the ecosystems and the omnipresence of water. Nuthatches, cardinals, robins, warblers and hawks are some of the many species on the site. In fact, QuébecOiseaux notes that about 200 species have been observed on the islands.

Year-long, visitors and ornithologists are invited to observe the different types of birds at Parc Jean-Drapeau by going along the many pedestrian pathways on Notre-Dame and Sainte-Hélène islands.

Parc Jean-Drapeau has an array of butterfly houses, places that provide the insects with great protection from the rain, as well as a temperature that's slightly milder than it is outside. In the fall, some of the adult butterfly species look for places to protect themselves and hide until spring.

The nesting houses are placed in an area sheltered from the rain, ideally set beneath the eavesline of buildings, in the Floralies Gardens' area.

The installation of butterfly houses isn't an absolute must for the survival of the species, but it provides a nice opportunity to watch this phenomenon and make the general public aware of what a fine pollinator the butterfly is.

The next time you're touring the Floralies Gardens, you can take a look at the insect hotels on the site. These tiny cedar houses can accommodate many insects, including solitary bees - also called wild bees - carpenter or mason bees, which are big pollinators. They are the first to pollinate flowers and fruits in the spring. There are more than 350 species in the province of Québec.

The upper area (attic) of the hotels can accommodate ladybugs and lacewings, which are great for eating aphids, insects that are harmful to plant life.

The insect hotels at Parc Jean-Drapeau are made by Atelier Zabie.