Cyrille Barrette

Laval University | ULAVAL · Department of Biology

Stomach contents (n = 138) were examined in harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) caught incidently by commercial fishermen in the estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 111 stomachs contained food. A total of 4423 otoliths and 11 upper beaks were collected belonging to nine species of fishes and one species of squid. Capelin (Mallotus villosus), Atl...

Surveys to estimate the daily growth rate of harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) pups from birth to weaning and to determine the distribution of births were carried out from early May to late August 1998, 1999, and 2000 at two haulout areas in the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada. Pups gained mass at a rate of 0.544 kg/day (standard error (SE) = 0.141,...

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) breed both on land and on the ice. In January 1991, 36 h of underwater recordings were made from Amet Island, located in ice-covered waters in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. All vocalizations were examined for spectral and temporal structure and then classified into 1 of 7 call types. The majority of calls consis...

This study shows that white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) reduce their vulnerability to coyote (Canis latrans) predation by congregating in a traditional wintering area (yard). Distribution of deer and coyotes were monitored within a 36-km2 yard and the surrounding area. Coyote pairs and packs preferentially used areas of low deer density wh...

Coyote predation on white-tailed deer was studied in a 155-km2 forested area, including a 36-km2 deer wintering area. Deer hair constituted about 80% of coyote scat volume from January to April, 50% from May to July, and 20% from August to December. Deer consumed in summer were primarily fawns, likely killed by coyotes. Snowshoe hare represented an...

The Matane Wildlife Reserve (48°40′ N, 66°55′ W) is the only location in Quebec known to have mineral springs. Their water is rich in sodium (172.5 ± 97.1 ppm, n = 17 vs. 3.6 ± 2.6 ppm, n = 10, in streams flowing nearby) and other minerals. We observed moose (Alces alces) there for a total of 11 months over three summers. Maximal use of the springs...

Scent marking is known to be related to dominance in mammals. Here we ask whether the isolated scent from the oral glands of woodchucks (Marmota monax) can advertise dominance. The scent of an individual was presented to a conspecific before the two met and could establish a dominance–subordination relationship. For all 19 dyads that would later ex...

Five female grey seals were tracked with satellite-linked time-depth recorders during September to April 1993-1994. Seals remained in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Gulf) for 1-2.5 months after capture. Four females dove primarily to depths <10 m and 20-70 m, while all dives of the fifth female, a blind animal, were <10 m. During October/Novemb...

We assessed the impact of ecotourist visits during winter on woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou time budgets in the Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve, Canada. We compared the behaviour of caribou during and after ecotourist visits with their behaviour during days without visits. In the presence of ecotourists, caribou increased time spent vigila...

In 1995, we studied aggressive behaviour of White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at winter feeding stations in the Pohénégamook wintering area, Québec (47°29′N 69°14′W). The study aimed at determining if aggressive behaviour was related to priority of access to food by various age–sex classes. Deer were observed daily at four feeding sites an...

During June-July 1991, we monitored the vocal behavior of belugas before, during, and after exposure to noise from a small motorboat and a ferry to determine if there were any consistent patterns in their vocal behavior when exposed to these two familiar, but different sources of potential disturbance. Vocal responses were observed in all trials an...

We collected testes from 62 male harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) incidentally caught in gillnets of commercial fisheries in the Gulf of St-Lawrence, in June-July-August. In adults (≤ 4 years), both testes weight and seminiferous tubules diameter declined from June to August, suggesting that breeding is seasonal. For the 7 adults captured at the...

We obtained 1,117 birth dates of captive Himalayan tahrs held in 25 zoological institutions located between 43 degrees 32'S and 60 degrees 10'N, from the International Species Information System. The birth season was not longer near the equator, and it did not begin earlier at higher latitudes. As expected, the birth seasons in northern and souther...

Mass transfer during lactation was examined by serial weighing of mother-pup pairs in an ice-breeding population of grey seals, in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (c. 46° N-c. 63° W), Canada. Male pups (171 ± 1–3kg, n= 4) were significantly heavier at birth (P= 001) than females (14.6 ± 1.4 kg, n= 9), and grew significantly faster until weaning (...

To delimit the different stages of the weaning process and to understand the relationship between suckling and growth, the evolution of suckling performance and mother–young interactions associated with milk transfer was closely monitored in a group of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) from birth up to 160 days. Suckling rate and total s...

In a large herd of caribou studied during the 1986 calving season in Québec-Labrador, Canada, we found that, contrary to expectations, a large proportion of females (13.5%) shed their antlers ≥2 weeks before giving birth. This should be taken into account when using surveys of antlered females to evaluate calving rates and the timing of calving sea...

In species which groups are ever-changing in size, a proper description of group size is not easy to produce. On the basis of 3290 observations of groups of Axis deer (Axis axis) in Wilpattu national park in Sri Lanka, I present and compare eight descriptions of group size. The best are Jarman's typical group size (+/- S.D.), (gBAR = 25.8 +/- 24.0)...

Summary There are two kinds of antler combats in male deer. Fighting is rare, violent, occurs between matched males, and can cause injury and death. Sparring is common, usually gentle, often occurs between unmatched males, and involves no risk of injury. We recorded 1308 sparring matches and only 6 fights between wild male woodland caribou (Rangife...

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In spite of grossly malformed jaw joints, presumably from birth, the animal survived in the wild for at least 3 years. Instead of a deep glenoid fossa folded over a cylindrical condyle to form a hinge, both joints had freely open articulating surfaces and a mandibular condyle without neck. The neckless condyle produced a shorter moment arm of resis...

Examined the social behaviour of Rangifer tarandus caribou at a time when their main food (ground lichens Cladina sp) is available only at snow craters dug by the animals. The competition for access to such craters was severe, the animals constantly trying to take over the craters of others. During a 2 month period when a group maintained a constan...

Parental investment and parent-offspring conflict theories make specific predictions on the behavior of parents and offspring. Since milk is a direct and vital form of maternal investment in mammals, nursing behavior is very well suited to test such predictions. We provide such tests here, as well as a fine-grained quantitative description of the w...

During 20 months of field work in Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka (8°30, N, 80°l'E) I recorded 102 instances of osteophagia by Axis deer (Axis axis). I found no seasonal variation in the occurence of osteophagia. All age-sex classes ate bones and antlers, but among adult males, velvet antlered ones did it significantly more often than hard antl...

Rangifer tarandus in the Parc des Grands Jardins, Quebec, fed primarily on ground lichens. Of 1188 caribou-dug snow-craters examined, ground lichens were reached, and always fed upon, in 1012 craters. One could expect the rate of aggressive interactions either to increase as the increasing snow depth renders lichen less available, or to decline, as...

Although Phoca vitulina select sites with distinctive features, they frequented only those whose area was sufficient or that were close enough to other suitable sites to hold a tight resting group. Hence, the distribution of landing sites was ruled out as the sole factor explaining aggregation. By a closer look into time budgeting, we found that me...

The size and shape of territories remained unchanged despite sudden and profound change in prey distribution in December as white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus congregated yearly in a winter yard. Solitary adults lived on overlapping areas that ignored the breeding groups' territories. Some juveniles lived on their parents' territory but were...

From November 1977 to March 1978 we recorded the scent-marking behaviour of free-ranging coyotes in southern Québec. Fourteen animals were marked by foot-pad ablation, which made it possible to recognize individuals' tracks in the snow and therefore to relate scent-marking with social organization. We observed 949 scent-marks. The identity of the a...

The scent-marking behaviour of a group of captive but undisturbed muntjacs (Muntiacus reevesi) was studied for 450 hr in a 2200-m2 enclosure at the Calgary Zoo in 1971. Males marked more than females, and dominants of both sexes marked more than subordinates. Experimental alterations of the composition of the herd revealed that dominants marked mos...

The social behaviour of 8 captive muntjacs was studied from May to October 1970 and 1971. In 1970 close range observation and photography resulted in a descriptive account of the animal's social behaviour patterns. In 1971, 450 h of observation of undisturbed muntjacs living in a 2200 m2 enclosure were devoted to a quantitative study of social inte...

The intraspecific combat behavior of male muntjacs is described. Their antlers are found to be an essential instrument allowing tusk blows to be delivered during serious fights. A knowledge of the fighting behavior of muntjacs improves our understanding of the evolution of the aggressive behavior of male cervids and therefore of the origin and evol...

The muscles associated with the very large preorbital glands of muntjacs (Muntiacus) are described. Although the two muntjac fawns examined were only 10 days old, their muscles were proportionately larger than those in adult specimens of North American cervids. A muscle, not found in North American cervids, but well developed in muntjacs, is probab...

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Calgary, 1975. Includes bibliographical references (l. 218-231).

Thesis--University of Calgary. Bibliography: leaves 218-231. Microfiche. Ottawa : National Library of Canada, 1975 -- 3 sheets ; 11 x 15 cm.