Wildfire can be destructive, but that’s not the whole story. When two naturalists with the Yukon Wildlife Viewing Program walk into the 2023 Takhini Bridge Fire burn, it feels apocalyptic. But on closer examination, Carrie and Karen see grasses sprouting and scattered seeds that attract animals big and small. They learn about a fire-loving beetle and a beetle-loving woodpecker, and get schooled on a mysterious bird of prey that suddenly swooped in.

Show notes
Key topics
The role of fire in the boreal forest (3:45)
The fire cycle in the Yukon (5:59)
2023 Takhini Bridge Fire (6:25)
Morel mushrooms (7:31)
Owl and hare sighting (10:07)
Lodgepole Pine (11:40)
Meadow Vole (12:24)
Red Fox (13:40)
Boreal Chickadee (14:13)
Elk (15:10)
Elk bugle (17:04)
Tree cavities with Michael Quinn (18:06)
Black-backed woodpecker (18:33)
Fire-loving beetles (18:53)
Northern Hawk Owl (20:12)
Edge habitat (21:25)

Interviews and audio clips

• Mike Flannigan, BC Innovation Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science, Faculty of Science at Thomson Rivers University.
• Tom Jung, senior wildlife biologist with the Yukon Department of Environment.
• Michael Quinn, researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada.

Episode artwork

Photo of Red-backed Vole by Alex Beatty/Government of Yukon.

Music

• Acoustic guitar melody #015 by GuitarStringTheory – freesound.org/s/737877/ – License: Attribution 4.0
• Acoustic guitar melody #013 by GuitarStringTheory – freesound.org/s/735394/ – License: Attribution 4.0/
• Acoustic guitar melody #014 by GuitarStringTheory – freesound.org/s/735496/ – License: Attribution 4.0

Sound effects

• Boreal Chickadee: Logan McLeod, XC610278. Accessible at xeno-canto.org/610278
• Elk: Danielle Munzing, XC971966. Accessible at xeno-canto.org/971966
• Phone dial and ring: Mark Koepke
• Snare drum: Baddum Tish – Comedy Rimshots – classic rim shot.wav by OverlookHotelRecords – freesound.org/s/271208/ – License: Creative Commons 0

Audio of beetles and woodpeckers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Canada
What: Audio files recorded using Song Meter Automated Recording Units (ARU)
Description: These audio files featuring woodpeckers, songbirds, and bark and wood-boring beetles were recorded in recently burned boreal forest in central Yukon in June 2023
Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Canada

File name: SMA13011_20230604_091500
Notes: beetles chewing
Year: 2023
ARU: W15 (13011)

File name: SMA13024_20230620_051500
Notes: high abundance of woodpeckers
Year: 2023
ARU: 13024

File name: SMA13095_20230622_093000
Notes: likely young woodpeckers being fed by parent
Year: 2023
ARU: 13095

Yukon Wildlife/Wildfire is produced by the Government of Yukon’s Wildlife Viewing Program and hosted by Karen McColl and Carrie McClelland. Sound design is by Mark Koepke. The podcast logo was designed by Dan Bushnell and Department of Environment.

The theme song, White Bark Pine, was written and produced in the Yukon by Dana Jennejohn and performed in collaboration with the Bennett Sun.

Learn more about Wildlife Viewing in the Yukon, including free events and publications.

Sign up for the Wildlife Viewing newsletter.

Follow Yukon Environment on Facebook.

Music and sounds credits – intro:

• Thunder/raven: Mark Koepke
• Fire ignition: Lighting a Fire by plasterbrain—freesound.org/s/534702/ – License: Creative Commons 0/
• Black-backed woodpecker: Aiden Place, XC488401. Accessible at xeno-canto.org/488401
• Red Squirrel: Backyard squirrel by SoundsLikeYukon—freesound.org/s/820322/ – License: Creative Commons 0/
• Woodpecker: SMA13024_20230620_051500
• Boreal Chickadee: Logan McLeod, XC610278. Accessible at xeno-canto.org/610278