SNOWSHOE TRACKING

Snowshoe rabbit tracks.

Lots of action around this tree.

They are eating spruce twigs this year.

There it is in the exact centre of the photo. See the eye?

Snowshoe rabbit eating lunch.
November 28, 2012

SNOWSHOES - THE RABBIT

Lepus americanus or Varying hare

Quite visible when there is no snow.

Body 13 to 18 inches
hind foot pad = 6 inches
Tracks one to ten feet apart

Age to five years in the wild.
Population fluctuates
Example: (from Ontario)
3400 per square mile
 to a ten year low of
 one to two per square mile

One of this hare's habits is to make trails, which in turn make it easy prey for a snare.

This photo was taken the 29th of October . We are still waiting for our winter snow.

How to make snow-shoes for OUR transportation is the subject of a three part Nipigon Museum Blog post this week written by Martin Hunter at the turn of the century (1900). I was holding off typing it up until we had snow so I could put in current snowshoe illustrations. Ha!  Well, I do have a snowshoe comparison post on the museum Blog that you can check out to see what Martin is explaining.

4,000 PAGEVIEWS

THANK YOU TO THE READERS AND VIEWERS.

Most read Post this "thousand" reads : The Romance of Paper

There is a lot of conflict in the Boreal, but, as the previous Post says, it's not something new. What is new is the money behind the words.

Conflict can come from something as mundane as saying a plastic bag is better than a paper bag. The OFIA has taken the Toronto commenter to task on that one.

Nuclear Waste Disposal (and the transportation of same) is being talked about with Bruce Hyer, MP, as he visits communities along the possible routes in Ontario. Say It Ain't So, Joe is my Blog Post on that subject.

Also in the news : Clean-Coal fired power vs Bio-Fuel vs use of the boreal trees.

Caribou Habitat is heating up again as Santa's reindeer get roped into the discussion... all across Canada.

And, I have finally concluded that there is a good use for Black Bears - the fat required for subsistence hunters of the Boreal. I based that on my Nipigon Museum the Blog Post - Hunt Tallies of 1912-13 - they only killed three Black Bears each year for a family of six.

NOT SOMETHING NEW

As Bert Styffe, President of the Thunder Bay Timber Operators Association, remarked in his Report to the Annual Meeting (Log Book, January 1950 ):..."It is regrettable that some citizens from time to time have been making public remarks which have tended to disparage the accomplishments of the industry and the forest administration in general. This district, more than ever, is dependent upon the continuance of a high level of production in the woods. A great deal has been contributed to the level of our economy by the volume of work performed in the woods. This is a great and important industry and certainly we could only ask that those who wish to criticize the methods used, base their conclusions upon solid fact and that the criticism be constructive."

DESCRIPTION OF NEPIGON RIVER

For a good description of the Nipigon River when it was still dam free read the book:
 "Days on the Nepigon " by  E.E. Millard (Edward Eames Millard) written in 1917
It is Public Domain and lots of sites  pop up with free downloads
He includes photos of the magnificent Rapids.
The Nipigon Museum has a copy of the book.
Fishermen are good at describing the country.