SPRING ON TAP Furry rodents and shadows aside what more exemplifies Spring than a visit to the sugar bush? On the Ides of February Frank and Karen Haveman hosted the Ontario Maple Producers’ Association (OMPA) to their Bata Maples Sugarbush for the annual ceremonial first tapping of the 2020 maple syrup season. Joining friends and […]
MOOSE and CWD Recently I read that many moose die from Chronic Wasting Disease which countered what I recently had written based upon information received from the MNRF. So, I contacted Jolanta Kowalski of the ministry for verification. Here is her response: “While CWD affects all members of the deer family (white-tailed deer, American elk, […]
Josef Rudolf “”The Elk Man”” Neuhold Friday, February 8th, 1929 – Sunday, January 26th, 2020 Obituary Joe was born to Rudolf and Maria Neuhold on February 8 1929 in the village of Bruck, Austria. After surviving World War II and the occupation of Austria by the Nazis and then the Red Army, he went to […]
OUT of DOORS with BARNEY MOORHOUSE For Reproduction Rights call Access 1.800.893.5777 HUNT & RELEASE? During the Christmas season, while listening to the CBC’s special programming, I heard an episode featuring two hunters from northern Ontario who had begun their own version of Hunt & Release. Simply they would shoot an animal with a tranquilizer– […]
THE BEAR CENSUS Once upon a time I reported that in North Hastings there was one bear per square km – or words to that effect. A quick reader responded that he’d like to sign them up on his electorate list and run for office. Presumeably the Bear Party. Not only did I […]
A VERY COLD CASE SOME BACKGROUND To date I have written over 1000 columns in The Bancroft Times called the Times Traveller. My source is the paper’s archives. Some have credited me with an imagination more vivid than real. I don’t make it up. In 2004 I wrote about a provincial Game Warden that went […]
THE BANCROFT RETRIEVER TRIALS As a youngster, going to the Sportsman Show in Toronto was always a highlight. It officially signaled the end of winter and aroused my anticipation of heading north for the summer. The Golden Whistle Retriever Trials were my favourite. Trainers were decked out in white – so their charges could better […]
HYDRO POLES AT RISK? When Alan Leedy returned from his moose hunt he asked if I would be interested in doing a story about marauding bears attacking hydro poles. He had noticed the chewed poles, taken some photos and asked a local resident who told him that Hydro had investigated and yes, bears were the […]
ALBERT BOTHA – PHOTOGRAPHER, PRODUCER, SHEPHERD Although Spring had already officially, by the calendar, come to town Mother Nature had evidently missed the memo and dumped more snow in the neighborhood. However, by March 24 when I visited Albert Botha at his Grafton area Shropshirehills sheep farm blue skies and sunshine clearly provided us with […]
THE NORTH HASTINGS COMMUNITY FISH HATCHERY November 28, 2007, the North Hastings Community Fish Hatchery (NHCFH) was but a hole in the ground. Come January 29, 2009, it was an up and running state of the art fish hatchery that was home to 8000 “eyed” lake trout, received late in December 2008 and 5400 yearling […]
