A variety of species of wildlife in the Rocky Mountains are using trees in the woods and along the trails to communicate with each other.

What that communication is and what exactly it means is not apparent, but one thing is certain: there is something about animal communication trees that attract all manners of wildlife – including the human variety.

Wildlife biologist Cam McTavish spoke at length recently on the subject, one that he is keenly interested in.

McTavish had been working with remote cameras for some time when he began to notice this phenomenal concept.

“I have been transfixed with animal communication for years,” he said. “This is a really cool little piece of science.”

While McTavish acknowledges findings from his research, funded by Parks Canada, do not have practical management implications, it does provide a glimpse into how animals communicate with each other.

In the past, the assumption or myth, he said, has been that bear rub trees are used by that species to communicate with each other and determine dominance.

But through research, including that by Russian carnivore biologist Ivan Seryodkin and Parks Canada carnivore specialist Mike Gibeau, he said they have started to notice that multiple species are involved with what used to be called rub trees.

“Through (Gibeau’s) project we have started to come across this idea of animal communication trees,” he said, adding he has also referred to the idea as ‘tree mail’.

In addition to bears rubbing on these special trees, which can be any number of species in the forest, over the past 15 years McTavish said he has documented 16 species associated with animal communication trees throughout seven national parks.

Those include mule deer, white-tailed deer, moose, sheep, elk, coyotes, wolves, fox, lynx, cougars, mountain goats, grizzly and black bears.

At the same time, red squirrels, martens and wood rats were observed and McTavish said it is difficult to say whether or not they are using the tree for communication.

“The rest of these guys we definitely know are leaving a scent or are taking something from the tree,” he added.

While not all animals actually rub on the trees like bears, canids like wolves and coyotes will mark the tree or the area surrounding it with urine or scat.

"Wolves don’t poop randomly,” he said, adding urine at the base of these trees, rich in nitrogen, also leads to algae formations.

The pack animals will also dig into the ground around the tree with their back paws, which have scent glands in them, also serving as a marker.

McTavish said this is a form of active communication which is mostly done by carnivores, whereas other animals, prey species, use passive communication and take information from the tree rather than leaving a mark.

Animal communication trees, he added, are often located at the sides of trails and at the junction of trails, with many on the trail systems in and around the Canmore area.

People, for some unexplainable reason, are also attracted to these animal communication trees, said McTavish, with men especially having a propensity to urinate on them.

“I think that is totally cool,” he said.

His work has even shown people choosing the base of animal communication trees for a picnic.

Because so many different species are using these sacred monarchs, as McTavish calls them, they essentially become a post office, billboard or even a Facebook gathering place for communications.

But what exactly that communication is or its implications is not known, said McTavish, as it is difficult to say exactly what an animal is communicating when it urinates on one of these trees or what message another animal takes away after smelling it.

“The more I think about these things, the more I feel they should be protected,” he said. “Animals do not do this for the heck of it. There is a function.”

During last year’s prescribed burn on Mount Nestor, McTavish brought the issue and location of several important animal communication trees to Parks Canada’s attention.

As a result, fire crews cleared areas around them so the ground fire would not destroy those trees.

McTavish has also found that not all bear rub trees are also animal communication trees. There is a distinction between the two.

As well, while some trees are used heavily over a period of time, others are used for a brief period and then left alone.

The communication trees go all the way up to the tree line, added McTavish, and above that there are some glacial rocks that serve the same purpose.

“These things are not permanent… and extend through various ecosystems and altitudes,” he said.