Why you don't want to take dogs when you're out naturalizing


So there I was, walking along a rather picturesque, snowcovered trail. Ahead of me, I spotted a Red Squirrel, which, befrighted by this large beast approaching it, retreated. In point of fact, it retreated through a hole in the snow, which looked like it had been used frequently....tracks, fallen bark, sunflower seed shells, bits of pinecone. I thought to myelf "how interesting", and pulled my camera out to take a picture. By the time my camera was on, toby the dog had pounced on the hole, and destroyed the entire affair. I think it was a midden, such as is maintained by squirrels. However, since the dog pounced it, I didn't get the chance to study it further, in person or through photos.

Lesson learned: If you study rodents as a hobby, don't expect to get anything interesting done when you're walking your dog. This is also true of small plants, and mustelids.

The Bruce Pit


if you've walked a dog in Ottawa, chances are you've been to the Bruce Pit. For those who never have, the Bruce Pit is a bit of Greenbelt in Nepean, named, unsuprisingly, after a pit, at the bottom of which is water. Very good sledding in the winter, apparently. I have no idea where the pit came from, but I doubt it's a natual formation. now, at some point people realized tha the Bruce Pit was a pretty good dog walking area, and more and more people, and dogs, began to flock there. The NCC eventually fenced off part of it as an off leash dog park. I'm pretty sure it's the only place in the city where you're allowed to let your dog run loose, although there *might* be another on the other end. It would make sense for there to be one. Unfortunately, though, alot of the nicer trails at Bruce Pit are on the OTHER side of the fence, which in summer you are allowed to walk your dogs on with a leash, and which in winter must be avoided, because of skiers. There is also a bike trail, which dogs must be kept off. I have no particular objection to these, rules in principle, although they CAN be a bit wearisome. However, there are some problems. '

1) With all the various and sundry people and hounds walking there, the trail is getting badly worn down. I'm told there used to be interesting plants there, but the more delicate species have ceased to grow. There are alot of chokecherry bushes there, but the cherries go uneaten. You don't see alot of birds there now, nor rabbits nor squirrels. The dogs seem to have frightened them off. The woods on the other side of the fence offer good birdwatching possibilities, and usually a nice display of Trilliums in the spring. However, if you want to stay on the right side of the law, you must leash your dogs, which makes for a less enjoyable walk. personally, I say "Fine me and be damned", but not everybody feels that way. In the legal off leash area, there are usually several hundred dogs per day, so there is a permanent and inescapable odour of dog pee.

2) I try to keep my dogs off the bike trail. Cyclists are somewhat less considerate about keeping their bicycles off the dog trail. Ditto skiers in the winter. We get one place in the city where we can walk our dogs off leash legally (barring, of course, my aforementioned "fine me and be damned" policy, and the cyclists and skiers have all the other conservation areas in the city. You get people on bicycles whipping over the trail at breakneck speed, and eventually somebody is going to get hurt. There are people walking there who don't move so quickly, and people walking small dogs that could get crushed, not to mention the carnage that would ensue of somebody crashed in to a great dane.

3) some of us happen to like birdwatching, and other activities near and dear to the heart of the amateur naturalist. We also like walking our dogs, and would rather like to combine the two.

4) With that many dogs one place, you're bound to get dogfights, which in some cases can leave at least one combatant bleeding. There's also a greater chance of diseases, worms and such being passed around. And I'm pretty sure all that dog pee I mentioned can't be healthy.