Issue #942
Including:

From Russ
The Ontarion

Hi All,

For the last few weeks we’ve been hearing the male mountain grouse as they call out to attract the females. They kind of have it made. They simply sit high up in a tree and do their grouse call. The females decide if they like the sound of a given call and come to the male. He does his thing, then simply forgets about her and flies back into his tree where he starts calling out again. Those males are really hard to see as they call from high up on a branch, usually hidden by the foliage. When you try to find them and look in their direction they stop calling. As soon as you look away, they start again. We’ve seen males on and off over the past years and that’s always kind of neat. As hard as I’ve tried I have not been able to spot the one’s along the Panorama Ridge trail this year even though they are loudly announcing their presence. I did spot a female perched on a rock just off the end of the gondola deck. She was almost invisible as she blended in but when she moved her head she could be seen. She may have had chicks near by or perhaps a nest with eggs. If she did I couldn’t spot them.

Last spring there was a male perched in a tree near the suspension bridge that was calling out. The tourists were arguing with each other as to what it was. Some thought it was an eagle and the other’s thought it was a ravin. Neither are anywhere near close to a grouse but it gave the tourists something to talk about. Grouse look more like chickens than anything else. Luckily, from my perspective, there are no tourists around this spring. That makes life much easier for both me and the grouse.

We can hear them calling from somewhere in the forest across the street from our house. The houses across the street back on total wilderness and it’s probably a good hundred miles as the crow flies until you’d get to the Fraser Canyon and the first indication of civilization so as well as grouse, there are bears, coyotes, cougars and who knows what else over there. Mind you, given the terrain, it would be pretty well impossible to walk that hundred miles. Rugged mountains, deep vertical canyons, glaciers, raging rivers and inaccessible valleys. So, a good place to be if you are a grouse or any of the other critters calling these mountains home.

Here’s a male up high in a tree, very hard to see. I took this pic a few years ago.

doug

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From Russ

GIANT HOGWEED

The other day the Weather Network ran a short bit on this noxious, invasive species and peeked my interest once more. You’ve all heard of it, but have you seen a mature plant? Very impressive; a mature g/h can grow up to 5.5 metres tall under ideal conditions. The white or pink flowers look somewhat similar to Queen Anne’s Lace but are much larger and more spaced apart. The flowering head can grow up to a metre across.

Do you like carrots? The g/h is a member of the carrot family of plants.

I’m reporting from Southern Ontario where we know this plant by the above mentioned name, but in other places this same weed is known by other names; cartwheel-flower; giant parsley; giant cow parsnip, or hogs bane.

You may be tempted to pick the flowers if you happen to be carrying a stepladder – but DON’T! Every part of this plant has a clear sap which can cause serious skin-burns, temporary or permanent blindness if you are lucky enough to get it into your ‘baby-blues’.

Where on earth did such a horrible plant come from? The Giant Hogweed is native to the western Caucasus region of Eurasia where it was used as an ‘accent’ in flower gardens. It was introduced to Britain as an ornamental plant in the 19th Century, and now has spread to other areas in Western Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Nobody should want/plant this weed as the sap as before mentioned, is phototoxic and causes “Physophotodermatitis” in humans, resulting in blisters and scars. (try saying that when you’re sober). These serious reactions are due to the furamocoumarin derivatives in the leaves, roots, stems, flowers, and seeds of the plant.

And here’s some good news – I’ll stop using these BIG words and warn you as to where these plants generally grow so you can avoid accidentally rubbing your “Betty Grable gams” against same. Who is Betty Grable? Ask Clark Gable. Who he? (never mind).

The Giant Hogweed has the potential to spread readily and grows along roadsides, ditches, and streams. It invades ‘old fields’ and native habitats such as open woodlands.

Talk about spreading – g/h has a scattered distribution across Southern Ontario, and Central Ontario, south of the line from Manitoulin Island to Ottawa! And more good news: Seeds may take several years to germinate and are viable in the soil for up to 15 years! During the 1st yr., the plant produces a rosette of leaves about a metre high. After 2 to 5 yrs. the plant produces flowers. As it grows a large root, thick hollow stems (up to 4 inches across), and large lobed leaves are formed. The stems of the plant are covered with reddish-purple flecks and stiff hairs filled with sap. It looks like it could use a good, close shave.

More good news! It flowers only once in its lifetime and then drops its seeds and dies. Each plant can produce up tp 120,000 winged seeds (typically 50,000). Seeds dropped in streams can remain afloat for 3 days. They can move long distances via water in ditches and streams. The winged seeds can spread up to 10 metres from the plant by the wind.

I don’t want to draw this out too long, so if there is any interest, next week I’ll report on HEALTH CONCERNS; PREVENTION; REMOVAL; SIMILAR SPECIES, and where to obtain an excellent description including photos and diagrams and how, and to whom to REPORT A SIGHTING.

Let’s get rid of this noxious/invasive weed which is as about as popular as COVID – 19.

PS As you read this report know that the Giant Hogweed grows along Lake Huron shores and on the banks of the nearby Pine River. I only wish I could inspect these areas and report any sightings – but the terrain is too unwelcoming.

Your Old Uncle Russ.

I took the liberty of pulling a pic of Giant Hogweed from the Internet
to go with Russ’s informative story. Doug

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

Well, we’ve been experiencing some interesting weather lately here in Southern Ontario. Last couple of nights we’ve had torrential rains here in KW but other parts of the province have actually had tornados touch down. Apparently somewhere in Huron/Perth area there were two of them that tore the roofing and siding off a few barns and sent the remnants flying over the fields onto some railway tracks nearby. We seem to be located in a quiet zone here in Waterloo Region. There have been over the years, tornados that have done damage in areas to the north, west and south of us but have not managed to hit the KW region at all! Guess we’re just lucky that they’ve missed us altogether! We don’t even get the volume of snow here in Waterloo Region any more that we used to experience during our winter time! Guess we can attribute that to “Global Warming”! If we were living in the States, we wouldn’t even have any global warming, that is, according to their idiot President Trump! LOL! According to him there isn’t even such a thing as Covid 19 either! Thank goodness we don’t have him for Prime Minister! Putting up with Trudeau is challenge enough! LOL!

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It seems there’s always something that needs attention when you are a home owner and in our case we’re at it again! We paid out a boat load of money about 8 years ago to have a new roof put on the house that was supposed to last 20 years but after only 8 years the roof is literally falling apart or at least the shingles are! Two weeks ago I had a fellow climb on the roof to inspect the shingles and he came down with a grin on his face a mile wide. He asked me when it was that we last had the roof done and I said “8 years ago, Why?” He told me that the shingles on the roof from that installation hadn’t even been manufactured since 16 years ago and that we had been sold a load of “old stock” by someone! He told me that they were the poorest quality made and the company had gone out of business that many years ago! I guess we got taken by the last company that installed them on our roof! Oh well, I’m sure there’s no recourse after all these years! So, what can we do but pay out for another roofing job with better quality shingles this time! The fellow that is going to install the new roof starting on Monday comes with good references and even gave us a house on our street to look at that he had done earlier in the spring. Hopefully this time the roof will outlast the time we have left in this house! To top it all off, we also have to have our stamped concrete driveway and walkways and porch resealed as well! It seems that the outpouring of money to upkeep one’s home never ends! I guess we’re not alone in this boat are we?

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Some things tend to last much better than others. I’m referring to nothing in particular but with that in mind, when we built our house in Linwood back in 1990, I purchased an “Echo” brand Leaf blower to take care of blowing the dust and leaves etc off our large driveway. I’ve made good use of that little gas powered blower and in the 30 years since, it’s worked flawlessly up until two weeks ago when It finally stopped running and when I tried to use it a day or so later to blow the grass clippings off the sidewalk and drive after mowing the lawn, it wouldn’t start for love or money! I almost pulled my arm out of the socket trying to start it. Even Adam couldn’t get it to start and he’s a lot stronger than I am! So I called the local “Small Engine” service guy on Mill St and took the blower to his shop for service. He had it for two full weeks and finally called me yesterday to say it was fixed and running like a charm! I figured it would cost me at least $100.00 to have him get it running so I asked him to call me with an estimate if it was going to cost more to fix it than it would to purchase a new blower. I hadn’t heard from him in almost two weeks so I figured it would be bad news when the phone finally rang! I was pleasantly surprised when Reg the service guy called yesterday to tell me it was all fixed up and ready for pick up! I asked how much the service bill was and he said it’s $45.20 total cost!

I hopped right into the Jeep and drove to Mill St to pick up my blower! He explained that they had cleaned the spark plug and air filter and had also flushed out the fuel system to get it running. He showed me that it would start with the first pull of the start cord! I paid the bill and headed for home happy in the fact that I wouldn’t have to purchase a new blower after all! When I got home, I tried to start the blower and it started first pull of the cord! So, I tried it again and once again it started first pull! Then today I went out to blow off the drive and walkway and after only about two minutes, the blower stalled and would not start no matter how hard I pulled on the cord! I called Reg and he said “is there gas in the tank?” To which I replied “Yes, of course, that’s the first thing I checked!” He chuckled and said “Give it one more try and if you can’t get it to start, bring it back here and just maybe you will have to buy a new one!” So, after letting it sit for a few minutes, I tried to start it once again and away it went! It ran again for a minute and as soon as I tipped it forward to blow the drive, it quit again! After cursing a little to myself, I looked at the blower again and to my surprise, I noticed that the spark plug wire was dangling loosely on the end of the spark plug! I pushed the plug wire onto the plug firmly and away it went! I guess Reg or his service guy hadn’t put the plug wire firmly onto the spark plug and it had only been making contact intermittently! So, with the problem solved I finished blowing the dust etc off the driveway and put the little blower back into the shed until it’ll be needed again! A few minutes later the phone rang and it was Reg calling to see if I had gotten the motor to start after calling him earlier. I told him what had happened and he laughed and said “At least you don’t have to buy a new one now!” I thanked him for calling back and also for the reasonable charge for the service on my blower!

I really didn’t want to spend another couple of hundred on another blower so I’m happy that it’s been fixed and hopefully it’ll last another 30 years! LOL!

That’s about it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now … Greg

PS: Something To Think About>
Above all, a good roof!