Royal Saskatchewan Museum's show and tell event displays rare species of province

A show and tell event was put on by the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina on Tuesday with the goal of spreading word about interesting animals and stories.

With Saskatchewan home to a large variety of birds, mammals, fish and insect species the museum has a variety of displays for the pubic to see. Researchers are behind the scenes are also delving into many more that are not on display.

There are many species that have called Saskatchewan home for thousands of years but also others that arrived much more recently.

For example, the Virginia Creeper Tree Hopper was first spotted in the province just five years ago arriving in Saskatchewan possibly from a Virginia creeper vine imported from the eastern United States.

Dr. Ryan Fisher, Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, speaks about the Great Horned Owl, and the Kangaroo Rat. (GarethDillistone/CTVNews) “I don’t think most people go out, take the time to look at what bugs are on their plants,” curator of invertebrate zoology Dr. Cory Sheffield said. “I’m more likely to come across these things [ because I do that]. “It’s quite likely they could’ve been here for decades, or as long as the plant has been here,” he said.

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Many people are also unaware that Saskatchewan is home to the kangaroo rat, a small nocturnal rodent with large hind legs that hops in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo.