Calgary is famous for its Chinooks – this weather phenomenon that can raise the temperature by 10 degrees in a matter of minutes. A strong chinook wind can make snow one foot deep nearly vanish in one day. The snow partly melts and partly sublimates in the dry wind.
Chinook winds have been seen to raise winter temperature, usually from below −4°F to as high as 50–68°F for a few hours or days, then temperatures plummet to their base levels.
Goose
Canada has three official languages and one of them is "goose" — just kidding. Their official languages are French and English, but Canadian geese have their own language.
Scientists believe that geese have as many as 13 different animal calls that are distinctly their own, everything from greetings and warnings to happiness.
Manitoba is Snake Territory
Although most people would think that Australia is the snake capital of the world, the province of Manitoba actually has the largest concentration of snakes in the world.
Around 70,000 snakes came out of hibernation in the Prairie province this year. The most popular breed is the red-sided garter snake.
The Baseball Glove
Baseball may be the National sport in the United States, but the baseball glove was invented in Canada in 1883 by Arthur Albert Irwin. He had an Irish dad and a Canadian mom, and at 25 years old, he was playing shortstop for the Providence Grays when he broke two fingers.
Rather than quit playing, the wily fielder proved he deserved his reputation when he got an oversized leather glove, added padding to it, stitched fingers three and four together, and invented the fielder's glove.
The Tallest Totem Pole
Standing at 173 feet tall, the wooden tribal totem in Alert Bay, British Columbia, is demonstrably the tallest totem pole in the entire world. While most totem poles represent a single family, this pole represents different factions of the Kwakwaka’wak people.
The figures include the Sun Man, a whale, an old man, a wolf, the Thunderbird and its cousin, a two-headed serpent, a bear holding a salmon, and a raven holding copper.