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The
Squamidian Report – July 10 / 21
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#998 From
Russ
Hi All, So here’s a question for any of you who are really, really good at math…. What does one thousand take-away nine hundred and ninety-eight equal? Don’t know? Ok, I’ll tell you. The answer is 2. Hmmm, I wonder what the significance of that number is? * It’s kind of funny but I seem to have the reputation of being a ‘dog whisperer’ in our neighborhood. When dogs see me, they make a bee-line right to me. I can usually get them to calm down, or do whatever. A big part of that is the fact that I tend to carry freeze dried liver treats in my pocket. Dogs don’t just love that stuff, they will sell their souls for it. But part is that I understand dogs and how they think. I know when to make eye contact and when not to. I know when they want or will tolerate petting and when they don’t want that kind of attention. We have a neighbor who has a pair of ‘problem’ dogs. One is now so old it can hardy walk but the other is a bit crazy and often out of control. Both Sue and I can usually calm it right down just by speaking softly and using body languages. This particular dog has the bad tendency of finding and insisting on keeping bones. While most dogs like to chew on an old bone, this one will fight to keep any he finds. He would and has injured his owner when an attempt to take a bone away has been made, and they do have to be taken away because the dog will swallow a bone that is way too big, and they end up with rather high vet bills. One time when they had the dog up at their cabin, he found and swallowed a deer’s foot. After some days of distress, he managed to poop out a hoof. I digress. The other day while on a walk the dog found a bone and would not let it go. The owners were quite concerned. I told them not to worry, I’d get the bone away, and I did. With the owner holding the dog’s leash, I simply held a piece of dried liver at the dog’s nose. He wanted it badly but found he couldn’t bit it because his mouth had a big bone in it. So, he finally set the bone down, grabbed the liver treat, and picked the bone back up, all in a split second. I had anticipated this and simply let him do it. In doing so, he was less concerned about loosing the bone the second time around as no one had tried to get it during the first treat. He again tried to take the treat with the bone in his mouth and found he couldn’t, so, again, he set it down but was a bit more relaxed about it. I simply gave him his treat and stepped on the bone at the same time. The owner pulled him away. The dog had a rather confused look on his face, and all was well. Then the next evening, a guy from up the street was trying to catch his dog, a small, fluffy, cute kind of thing that never lets anyone touch him, including at times his owners. This poor guy had left a door open and George the dog ran out. No leash, no collar. The owner made the mistake of trying to catch George. All that meant to the dog was ‘game on’. The dog would disappear into someone’s back yard, pop out a few doors down and so on. The owner was getting concerned and a bit steamed. I told him to not worry, just relax and go home and open his front door. I’d bring the dog home for him. Once I got George’s attention and showed him that I really didn’t have any interest in him, or catching him, he settled down a bit and approached close enough to check out the dried liver treats (I’ve often given liver treats to him when he has been on a leash). At first he was suspicious but when I gave him a tiny little sliver of liver, he became interested. I then walked away, talking calmly to him all the while. He followed at a distance and when he hesitated, I again offered a tiny taste. We did this numerous times, all the while getting closer to his house. Now here’s the thing. I was not trying to lure George, he would have caught on quickly and bolted. The treats were a distraction to keep him from thinking about what he had been doing or what he or I was doing. And the teats were very tiny so he wouldn’t be distracted from the distraction by the act of biting or chewing them. I got him to follow right onto his driveway and at that point he noticed where he was, and ran for the front door which was open, and into his house. That simple. George was home and his owner was ecstatic. End of story. * In Ian Tyson’s autobiography, he claims his music has never been ‘political’. That he has no interest in being political. For the most part that is true. However, there is one very obscure song he wrote way back in the beginning of his Ian & Sylvia days that does qualify as having a political message, called ‘The Renegade’. Most of you will have never heard it or heard of it unless you are like me and have a head chocked full of all sorts of stuff. The Ian & Sylvia version of this song is a bit weird in it’s delivery with some tempo and key changes. My version is, typically, laid back. The song is about a lone renegade making a last stand against the white-man and his ways, the loss of traditions and culture. In a lot of ways it fits very well with the current situation taking place across the country. Give it a look-see, hope you enjoy it. One or two of you might even remember it. Small Size Video doug ****
From Russ Birds in trouble. "They're only starlings darling" said he."But they're suffering" said she, as she gently picked up one of the injured birds. "We'll have to take it to Animal Control". A vet at animal control performed an necropsy as the starling had died enroute. "This was a perfectly healthy bird until it fell from the sky in a powerful dive - the cause of death being 'blunt force to the chest', said the vet. Why would a bird fall from the sky with enough force to cause death? Suicide? Not likely, we say. Someone took a picture of the starlings as they flopped and shivered, unable to walk or fly. There were about a dozen injured or dead lying upon the pavement. What do you think of this theory? Several species of wild birds fly in flocks for safety reasons, like when being pursued by some larger predator(s). They perform some frantic stunt-flying as they instinctively "follow-the leader" - if the leader makes a vertical dive the whole flock takes a steep dive - - as the leader pulls out of the dive, the birds in the rear of the flock may not have the same time to rapidly change direction - - resulting in dangerous, deadly, 'belly-flops'. That's the theory, anyway. * I can hear myself saying, "It's only a starling, darling". Up until now I always considered starlings to be a nuisance - they're noisy, dirty, too abundant, and certainly not song-birds!! So what if a few die here-and-there? As I'm typing this article, blue jays, cardinals, robins, and other song-birds along with grackles, crows, red-wing-blackbirds, and other migratory birds are dwindling in numbers around Point Clark. This old man loves to sit on the deck with a cuppa and just listen to the chorus of singing birds. I'm afraid it will soon be only an octet, or quintet, trio, or duet. Not far from here in Ohio, something has infected their song-birds: "Eye issues were reported in what otherwise looked like healthy, juvenile grackles and blue jays; causing 'blindness', and the birds to land and stay on the ground". Animal Control is now seeing additional species of birds affected - "we are testing dead birds to find out if it's contagious to, or caused by, humans?" "Just found a poor bird in my front yard - it's still alive, but not doing well" came the report. "It's possibly a young mocking bird - it's head is extremely swollen - eyes are bulging" Animal Control stated, "When something is happening on a large scale in nature, it's frightening to think about - I'm worried this is 'the canary in the coal mine'". They went on; "The volume of reports of birds in trouble, and clinical signs are not suggestive of something routinely in this area, so we may be dealing with an emerging or novel issue" I think insecticide spray may be behind the problem - there has been a large influx of cicadas which has caused some people to panic - trying anything/everything to halt their relentless invasion. I would warn people not to use insecticide spray, as many animals, including birds, bats, and cats eat cicadas and, can get very sick if they ingest insecticides! Birds in Ohio, and several other nearby States, are suffering from a mysterious illness that is causing severe disease and even death. "It's terribly scary - horrifying, particularly because we don't know what it is. We don't know how to treat it. We don't know how to save these birds!" say Animal Control in Ohio, and they went on, "There are signs of a mysterious illness that is causing 'crusted-over eyes, blindness, neurological issues, and even death'". Their findings are, larger birds such as blue jays, starlings, robins, and grackles seem to be most noticeably affected, but other birds may be victims as well. Until the cause is determined, park officials have removed bird feeders to avoid any possible spread if the issue does happen to be caused by individual contact with other birds. OK. That's the situation with our neighbours in the south, what about Canada? Before you know it, fall will arrive, and our wild birds, except the brave blue jays, and colourful cardinals, will begin their migration to warmer climates. (and who can blame them?) Then, after a long, long, winter our feathered friends will return, often to the same place they nested last spring! How do they do that? It's still a mystery to scientists, and a 'boondoggle' to me. Canada conducts a Wild Bird Influenza Survey, part of a global effort to detect highly pathogenic avianinfluenza viruses that could threaten the agricultural sector and human health. "The wild bird survey is an important part of Canada's avian influenza prevention and preparedness biosecurity strategy", said Dr. Brian Evans, Canada's Chief Veterinary Officer. "It's an early warning system designed to detect highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses such as the Eurasian strain of H5N1." To date, this highly pathogenic strain has never been found in Canada. (we hope!) Finally, if this is the culprit that's causing the "mysterious sickness" to the wild birds in the US, Canada's warning system may detect it in time to prevent another unwanted virus in our home and native land. You may remember the "Bird flu" that struck our poultry industry a few years ago when thousands of chickens were euthanized! PS I $upport The Canadian Wildlife Federation. Searching their website, I found no mention of the "mysterious illness" . Don't they know about it? Uncle Russ. ****
From Carol
We were at our place in Wiarton over the long weekend, accompanied by Beth, Jamie, Duncan & Vivvy. Most people living there are either retired or work in Owen Sound, a local quarry, Bruce Point or the medical, teaching, police sectors’ but many also work in the retail & tourist industry. Wiarton businesses have not only been hit by Covid-19 but by “the big dig”. For the second summer in a row the main drag has been torn up for infrastructure work. Traffic has been routed around the work and it is difficult for locals, let alone tourists, to access the businesses there. The government has helped businesses that were shut because of Covid shutdowns but once they were allowed to open the help stopped. The accompanying picture was taken at noon last Saturday and as you can see not a single person is in sight. A few businesses closed last year but we expect more will fail this year. Wiarton will become a place people pass through, no longer stopping at what was an attractive tourist village. Of course the Grocery store, LCBO, Beer store and Timmys are still going strong. Two of the places we like to visit while up north are Big Bay and Red Bay. To get to Big Bay we take a scenic drive north along Colpoy’s Bay to the self-proclaimed “stone skipping capital of the world”. We always take a few of the bigger flat rocks home to Wiarton and, if open, we check out the local homemade ice-cream. Red Bay is located on Lake Huron, about a 20 minute drive from our place. This is where we swim as the water is warm & shallow for a long way and the sandy beach is located next to a nice park with free parking. Sauble Beach is slightly farther, very crowded and now charge for parking. Nick has not been up to Wiarton since 2019 but, as he is on holidays next week, we will be taking him up for a few days relaxation. Al would have liked it if we had chosen to move to Wiarton but I want to keep Kitchener our home. Next year we hope to build a granny flat at the Homestead so more time up north will be possible, a nice compromise. Carol
**** ? **** THE ONTARION REPORT Hello everyone! I can’t help thinking of Doug and Sue and their proximity to all those huge forest covered mountains that are potential tinder boxes during this wild fire season in BC! I’m sure they are wondering if they might be next on the list of some foolish and careless camper or smoker that might discard a lit cigarette as they drive aimlessly through the forested mountain roads and highways! It sounds like the authorities in BC should be making a prime example of the first person they can prove lit one of the many wild fires that province is combating this year! However I gather it may be very difficult to catch one of these perpetrators in the act! If they do though, a hefty jail sentence along with a serious fine might go a long way in curbing the spread of such dangerous happenings. Let’s hope that Doug and Sue’s area of BC is safe from such incendiary problems! I’ve heard Doug mention a town called Lillooet (not sure of the spelling) during his writings about their bike travels over the years. I’m sure he and Sue are quite familiar with most of the areas that are in serious fire situations on the news this year. I wonder if the urban areas are having more and more wild animals venturing into residential neighbourhoods during this fire season when their habitats are burning? I’m sure Doug can comment on some of these questions I’ve posed! We are just lucky that here in Southern Ontario we don’t have such drastic fire problems! The rest of Canada has enough troubles with all the burning of churches that have been going on! Speaking of that, in my opinion the indigenous people that are involved with the vengeful burning of many such churches are not doing their cause any favours by committing acts of arson! It’s high time the authorities started making serious arrests in these cases! Acts of vandalism and dangerous happenings like arson and defacing public properties such as historical statues should garner some serious jail time no matter who commits them or what race of people they belong to! The discovery of so many deceased (murdered) children is indeed a crying shame but more acts of violence is no way to right a wrong. There are many more less criminal ways of expressing your anger and garnering some form of proper reparation than committing serious crimes! I sincerely hope that the elders of the indigenous bands across Canada can stop the committal of arson and other acts of violence and find ways of coaching their band members to do better with their anger and requests for reparations from the Canadian government than to allow the few involved to continue with their reign of terror and violence against the religious organizations they believe and know were involved in the heinous acts against their people in years gone by! I sincerely hope they can find more peaceful and less destructive ways to gain support for a better future for all their peoples in the coming months and years! God Bless the souls of those departed children as well as the ancestors that are still feeling the results of such serious mistreatment by those in control of the indigenous schools we are hearing about and discovering across Canada this century! * That’s about all I have to talk about this week in The Ontarion Report! Thanks for taking the time to visit with us here in The Squamidian again this week! We are getting closer and closer to number 1000 every moment so please stay tuned and get your submissions ready for the big event! Bye for now … Greg PS:
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