THINGS IN GENERAL BY Ralph Bice
From July 7, 1976
Does not seem right that we could have such nice weather during the week and then when the holiday starts it gets wet and cold. This was the week or date that the Ministry decided the proposed quota on parties going into Algonquin Park. Since there are two roads going in from Kearney (‘Carney’) this area was a bit apprehensive. The quota system had been published in most local and the daily papers, but since the Ministry had been slow in starting other proposed changes no one paid much attention. But we knew that it would be tried on July 1st.
There are some weekends that the quota could be taken up by local people and those that come from a distance are out of luck when they arrive.
On opening day both entry places had their quotas filled by 10 a.m. and I was told that the road in from South River was also turning people away before noon. This will cause a lot of fault finding but anyone who has been in the Park realizes that something has to be done to prevent overcrowding and the man who made the decision must be complimented for his courage for he will have become very unpopular. One thing that has been often said is far too many rules were suggested by people living far away.
Tenting areas not too far from the park were not filled. There does seem to be some sort of magnet drawing people to Algonquin Park and since this is my sixty-fifth summer there I can easily understand. Will it not be terrible to think that in a year or two visitors to the Park may have to have reservation weeks in advance and only perhaps one trip per year? Do hope that people will understand that these rules and regulations are set with the intention of keeping Algonquin Park as near a wilderness as possible.
Fishing
There is a lake nearby where the fishing has not been too good. One party for some reason were trolling in shallow water where you would not expect to catch fish in the warm months and they got fish. Another party trolling with light tackle for bass caught trout where they are not supposed to be in warm weather.
Wild Pets
A party of fairly young boys camping on a lake discovered that they had some camp pets. Three very small rabbits often made an appearance where their tent was pitched. One day they heard a squeal when a mink captured one of the baby bunnies. The next day a very large snake caught and swallowed another. Finally the third little rabbit was caught presumably by that same mink. Just another example of the law of the wild. The strong survive.
Birds
A friend who lives near a nice lake tells me he has an Indigo Bunting coming to his feeder. This is the first one he has seen. He also has a number of Scarlet Tanagers. Neither bird ever gets very numerous.
I had not seen our usual Ospreys but last week two put on quite a display at Rain Lake. Then the eagle was reported. Sometimes we see two near Round Lake. We have never found where they nest which may be miles away.
Early in the spring there was very little drumming but recently quite a few female partridge have been reported. A few deer have been reported on the roads in the woods. Very few Merganser ducks have been reported. These fish ducks do get many small fish. It is always nice to see a flock of young ducks and it is not good to think that they are getting scarce.
Why do the warm months go by so quickly? Seems only a short while ago we were watching for the ice to go and now the days are getting shorter again.