Montreal



I'm in Montreal now. So I stopped writing. But there's nature here too....so let's get this show on the road.

Alot in the news this week about Coyotes. Coyote was hit by a car not far from here. Probably one of mine.

People in Barrhaven were warned to be wary of coyotes. Apparently there have been a number of them sighted there.

Read a story last week about one of the smaller towns in the county. Apparently there have been alot of coyotes there too. One person set out poisoned food for them, and wound up poisoning the neighbour's dog instead.

West of Pembroke a woman killed a wolf that had eaten her beagle. She was in the habit of leaving the beagle chained outside for 12 or more hours a day, coming home from work midday to set out a plate of food. The wolf, it is thought, took to stealing the dog's food, and on the dog's last day, he woke up as it was happening. Three days later, the woman saw a wolf in her yard, and shot it.

There have been trappers hired to reduce the coyote population in carleton county. The news says that people should beware of coyotes. To hell with that. The coyotes should beware.

On winter walks


As mentioned in my last post, there's been a warm spell lately, which was preceded by a tremendous amount of snow. it's made walking in the woods more difficult than it might otherwise be. This works for me. Nobody wants to walk there now...you have the choice of rough, slippery or water. I spent my formative years walking on tundra. Those options don't frighten me. No birds sing, nobody speaks. All is still and silent around me. In a place like that, a man can think.

The coyotes have been at it again.


I was out for a walk this afternoon. the sun was setting, and there was a crust of ice and old snow beneath my feet. There's been a warm spell lately. Where there were once drifts over my knees (and I am not a short man), there is now a thin crust that doesn't reach the top of my boot. It isn't easy walking, but it's peaceful. Nobody else goes there when it's like this.


On the main trail, not far from where my path joins it. there was a tremendous mess. blood, fur, feces, and a deer carcass. There are no wolves here, that I know of. there are no vicious dogs. There are, however, coyotes. I've written about coyotes before. My admiration for them. that has't changed. Coyotes are not very big. Unless they crossbreed with dogs, the most they will typically weigh is 46 pounds, though the record is in the mid-70's. In other words, the animals that did this were probably about the size of a border collie. they don't normally prey on animals the size of deer, but they are adaptable, and there are an awful lot of deer in Ottawa these days. I can tell you that the innards, and one and a half legs were completely gone, and the carcass had been dragged some distance, as evidenced by the trail of blood and fur. I'm going to check back in the morning. it's supposed to snow tonight, and if they return to the kill, then maybe there will be some tracks, so I can see where they came from.


My admiration knows no bounds. I love coyotes, I really do. they are masters of their environment, and supremely adaptable.

"I'm sick, and I'm cold, and I'm bare bones said he, but I ain't quite dead yet so please don't bury me"




It's been a while since I fired my thoughts into the world. I've been riding my bike alot, as a result of which I've been seeing a whole lot of nature in general. So I'm back from the dead.



More to follow

Spring


I rather like spring. it's a season that's filled with promise. Late spring is particularly pleasent, as the lilacs are currently in full bloom, perfuming the air.


It being particularly lovely today, I decided on a walk. The promise of spring was more than fulfilled. The air was filled with birdsong, and with sunblock and a particularly favourite wide-brimmed fedora perched on my head, I was able to avoid sunburn.


There is a particular part of the trail, near where I have, on occasion seen porcupines that tends to become flooded if there is a light dew or somebody looks at them the wrong way. I came upon it, flooded, towards the end of my walk. On the logic that it was a particularly nice day, and that life is for the living, I waded on in, and I am happy that I did. in doing so I startled any number of leopard frogs Lithobates pipiens, all presumably under the impression that I was a new and particularly terrifying variety of heron. These were, previously, becoming a trifle scarce in these parts, and I am always happy to see them, and their relatives. A world without frogs might well not be a world in which I care to exist.

Shortly therafter I happened upon a particularly deceased example of the white tailed deer. The reader should herein offer up humble thanks to whichever deity they so choose that I didn't bring my camera with me. If I HAD, i probably would have taken pictures for further study. As is, I haven't got any, and going back out with my camera seems a trifle morbid. however, it WAS a particularly interesting carcass, as it had quite clearly been caused to become so, rather than dropping to the earth due to age or infirmity. there are, to my knowledge, no wolves in these woods, and I have never heard of any dogs that are allowed to run free. There is, as such, a fairly good chance of it having been coyotes which brought the beast to it's rather abrupt end. this does, on occasion, happen, particularly when there are no larger predators in the vicinity. They have, indeed, been known to hunt cooperatively on occasion. Given my fondness for coyotes, and my profound dislike of people who allow their dogs to terrorize the local wildlife, I suppose I might be a bit biased in my assumptions, but it IS clear that coyotes were at the kill, as there's only about 1/2 of the deer or less left, and many of it's ribs were bitten through. All in all, a very interesting sight.

Wild Turkeys !



I've heard that there are wild turkeys in Ottawa, but I never thought I'd wind up seeing them. This spring, however, Meleagris gallopavo has moved into the neighbourhood. There were five of them in the field out back this evening....oddly graceful, strange looking creatures. I only saw them from the window....it's difficult to get very close to them, and I was content to watch them from afar. However, one was larger than the others. I would assume, from what I've read, that it was male. Male wild turkey's are polygamous. This male has probably chosen that part of the greenbelt as his territory. Males will often have as many as five females in their turf. I wouldn't be at all suprized if we saw alot more turkeys now. They tend to nest in open areas, since they have great vision. nesting in the open lets them take advantage of that. Also, most of their diet is grass. although they're omnivorous. A field is a prime location for them.


For the record, wild turkeys are alot smarter than their domestic counterparts. Which is good, because a species that doesn't have enough sense to avoid drowning in a heavy rain probably has no place in the wild.

Snowshoeing, yet again

So, out I went today. It snowed this morning, so the day was more or less useless for tracking. But I did see some actual animals, a rarity these days.

For the most part, the walk was pretty quiet. No birds sang. Normally you'll hear a crow at the very least, or some chickadees. Today, all was still and silent around. The sky was gray, the wind did not blow. There was not a trace of sun. The world lay dormant, and we walked through it like a peculiar dream.

it is an amusing fact that animals tend to pop up when you aren't looking for them. If I were to set out with the express purpose of seeing a pine marten, I probably wouldn't see one. I remain unconvinced that this does not stem from some kind of telepathy and a perverse sense of humour on the parts of the animals, the universe, and what gods there be. When I am NOT actively seeking animals, however, they occasionally crop up. Such was the case today. I stepped onto the back porch intent on strapping on the snowshoes, and an avian form streaked across my field of vision. Now, it's hard to tell with these things, but it's size, tail (which was squarish) and brown colouration suggests, to me, that it was a young male sharp shinned hawk Accipiter striatus, they look *alot* like Coopers Hawk Accipiter cooperii, both being local Accipiters of similar size and colour. it was really only the tale that tipped me off. They tend to eat small birds and rodents, so i guess i know why we haven't been seeing as many small birds lately as we might otherwise. Nature red, as they say, in too and claw.


I was walking, today, with my grandmother. "Where are the deer today" she wondered.

With the confidence of one who has read his Peterson's Guide to Mammals of North America with great enthusiasm, I told her that they are generally crepuscular, meaning most active during the twilight hours, and, as it was noon, we probably woudn't see any.



I took this photo about a minute after I said that. Deer have a particularly perverse sense of humour, based largely on timing and irony. There were a few more, which I will now share.





And then they got tired of being photographed.



Re-reading my guide, I learn that, in areas where they are not hunted, deer can be seen at any time. The things you learn.

I'm quite pleased with how those photographs turned out, all told.