FALL TURKEY Not all Wildlife Management Units have a fall turkey hunt. To qualify a WMU must record a harvest of 200 or more birds for at least three out of the four previous years. That relied upon hunters reporting as asked. Now that hunters are obliged to report the chances of more units hosting […]
THE COVID-19 DEER HUNT Or, the hunt that was not to be. The Corona virus Disease of 2019. Who could have foretold? Apparently many. A recent Times question regarding how the virus would impact hunting generally was that ‘it wouldn’t’. Well, as a member of an old farts’ deer camp I am here to say […]
CHANGE THAT TUNE Male White-throated Sparrows used to croon “Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada” but since 2000 researchers have been hearing a new two-syllable version – “Oh sweet Cana, Cana, Cana.” It seems even the language of birds can evolve; just like humans. It appears that this began in B.C. (British Columbia not Birds Creek) […]
WATERFOWL BANDING Ontario’s airboat duck banding program in which I took part in 2009 for one night requires extensive travel and group work. Based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health this program was cancelled for 2020. “There is no anticipated impact from this decision. Seven regular banding stations operated by individual […]
FUR HARVESTER UPDATE No surprise; the 26th annual Ontario Fur Managers Federation Rendezvous at Sioux Lookout was cancelled this summer past. And as mentioned in an earlier column only local buyers could physically attend the live fur auction at North Bay. The Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Downey wrote that Kopenhagen Fur […]
WATERFOWL RESEARCH Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday that I took part in an all night duck banding program with the then MNR. Yet it was 11 years ago! It seems that bird banding was first recorded in 1595 when one of France’s King Henry 1V’s peregrine falcons flew away only […]
TRAPPING UP-DATE On August 30/31 Canadian buyers and brokers attended the wild fur auction in North Bay, “the last Wildfur Auction house in North America and the world” according to Robin Horwath, General Manager of the Ontario Fur Managers Federation. Of course international travel restrictions prevented any foreign buyers from participating in the live auction. […]
FERAL PIG UP-DATE I contacted Dr Erin Koen, Research Scientist – Wildlife Landscape EcologyWildlife Research & Monitoring Section, Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry, in Peterboro for a feral swine up-date. Dr. Koen informed me that In January 2020 staff from the New York USDA came to Ontario to present a two day workshop to […]
HARD HAT TIME The red squirrels are busy once again dropping green hard as rock pine cones from great heights. If you are wandering about in the bush a hard hat might prove a worthwhile investment. On one occasion TRW (The Resident Wife) discovered where a squirrel, we’re guessing, had collected and organized a lot […]
100 L.T. For the 7th consecutive year, with the MNRF’s blessing, the North Hastings Wildlife Association and Coe Hill School have partnered to restock Wollaston Lake, formerly known as Eagle Lake, with its Jewels. Thanks to the North Hastings Community Hatchery which harvested Lake Trout eggs from spawning sometime around Thanksgiving. George Lee of the […]
