Sunday, 16 February 2014
Monday, 10 February 2014
The Weasel by Neil Nylund 1981
In the fall of 1949, I was assigned to a timber cruising job with two professional foresters, whom I will call Jim and Buzz.
The location of our camp was about seven miles north of ozone, off highway number 17.
On October 5th, we packed our 7' x 9' tent, and supplies to the location, at the foot of a mountain, by a small creek in a cozy mixed stand of deciduous and coniferous bush cover. We set up our tent and made a comfortable bed of balsam boughs, covered by two 90" x 90" eiderdowns, one of which was placed under us, and the other over us.
The first day the three of us ventured out to look over the timber situation, and in the evening arrived at our camp, hungry and almost too tired to eat. The next morning Buzz and Jim decided to appoint me as cook, while the two of them did the cruising. While I was preparing the first meal I noticed a large weasel on the edge of the camp area, his coat was already three-quarters white. I threw him some scraps of meat. The next day he was back again observing who had moved into his territory. His movements were so fast that for a minute I thought that there were several weasels present. He seemed to be looking at me from several different places at once.
As time went on he remained around the camp and was getting tamer, even accepting bits of meat, which I placed on a moss covered log. I noticed his coat was getting whiter as time went on. His favourite meat was hamburger. I kept putting the food on his favorite moss covered log and now instead of carrying the meat away, he ate it all on his feeding station. One day I placed the hamburger on the toe of my rubber boot, and low and behold, he jumped on my foot and ate the meat. By now he seemed to have lost all fear of me. I kept on feeding him off my toe and eventually my knee and then my shoulder. He accepted the food on just about any place I put the meat, but to touch him was still a no, no. As soon as I made any sort of movement with my hand, he was away in a flash.
One day, as I was peeling potatoes, he climbed up my leg and onto my shoulder and proceeded to smell the lobes of my ears. I left him alone and from then on we became fast friends. Since he was so small, although big for a weasel, I decided to give him a big name, so I named him George Fleming Wilhelm Washington. By now he was around camp all the time as long as I was there. his favourite look-out, was a scraggy diamond Willow, which he used to climb just to look around and then come down if he saw nothing that was disturbing.
My two friends didn't know anything about my strange pet and I didn't tell them, for when they were home to camp, George Fleming Wilhelm Washington was nowhere in sight. At night he used to come and see me in bed and sniff about my face. I would take some lunch for him and put it beside my pillow, which he eagerly seized, and carried away.
One night in particular, I prepared a foot long piece of garlic sausage, and placed it in the usual place. As I was reading by a candle light, as usual before falling asleep, along came G.F.W. Washington, to scrounge something to eat, so I let him clinch his teeth on one end of the sausage and we began to have a game of tug-of-war. He would brace his little feet and pull and growl in a fit of temper, while I pulled at the other end. This was repeated for several evenings. One night as we were having a sausage wrestle, my friend Buzz awakened, unknown and looked over my shoulder.
"What in hell is going on?" I heard.
At last, George Fleming Wilhelm Washington was introduced to my friends, and I gave them a full report on the activities of my little pet every day when they arrived from the bush.
After our job of cruising was completed we left the camp intact, and later on I returned with two other men to break camp and pack out our supplies. Sure enough the weasel was still there waiting for me, as tame as ever. I left him a generous supply of hamburger sausage and bully beef to last him the rest of the winter, and as I was leaving with my pack on my back, George Fleming Wilhelm Washington climbed up to his look-out, shoulder high in the diamond Willow and looked at me with his beady eyes as much to say, "So long pal it's been nice knowing you - Be seeing you some day - maybe."
This story is true - not like some of the stories Neil has been known to tell. If you have to ask who the Buzz is, you should be exiled to Hurkett. The "Jim" mentioned is today (Oct 1981) Professor Thomas Bjerklund of the Faculty of Forestry in the University of New Brunswick. he used to play hockey for Nipigon back in them there days. -L.M. "Buzz" Lein
Monday, 20 January 2014
WAITING FOR BREAKFAST
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| Lynx, January 17, 2014 |
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| The snow background sets off its ear tufts. |
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| It waited long enough that the sun rose. |
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| Comparing this photo to 2013 pictures it now looks like a mature cat, the innocence is gone. |
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| 10:49 a.m. Giving up. |
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| One last look at the red squirrel on the wall. |
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| Moving right along. |
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| Making a trail in the fresh snow of the lawn as it leaves. January 17, 2014 Lynx |
Monday, 6 January 2014
CLEARCUTTING CAN WORK IN THE BOREAL FOREST
BY MAC SQUIRES
AS PRINTED IN THE CHRONICLE JOURNAL, THUNDER BAY , JANUARY 4, 2014
reprinted here by permission of Mac Squires (retired professional forester)
"There is a common belief that clearcut timber harvesting is wrong in the boreal forest. Is it?
The common natural forest pattern found in the boreal forest of Northwestern Ontario is a jigsaw puzzle of tree stands. Pieces of the puzzle are tens of square kilometres of contiguous variable stands of trees all of the same age, often of a single species, and seldom of more than three tree species. I maintain that if we are going to continue living close to, and in that forest and maintain its natural structure and fauna, our choices are limited.
We can allow natural wild-fire to renew the landscape as is has historically done. That would require us to always be ready to move, or concentrate development in natural or man-made safe zones, with massive redesign and relocation of homes and infrastructure, and still occasionally experience massive losses of life and property.
I believe that the only practical alternative to that disturbing scenario is to remain where we are and work with nature. That will require us to prevent and control wild-fires where practically possible, and utilize and renew the forest with methods that approximately maintain a landscape that is similar to that created by wildfire.
I have some questions that I believe we should all ponder with open minds.
Are we blinded by what to us appears ugly, and are some of us abandoning objective reasoning to achieve our own ends? Would we be even less satisfied with the consequences of alternative silvicultural techniques such as selection cutting? Are the things that disturb us most about current harvesting more a result of how we behave when harvesting, than of the silvicultural techniques being used? Are our concerns really supported by the best available current knowledge?
How do the impacts of clearcutting differ from those of wildfire? Are they more or less acceptable? Is one uglier than the other? What would happen to plant communities and wildlife habitat if we ban clearcutting in favour of partial (selection) cutting? Will wildfires burn more intensely in selection harvested stands? If so, what will be the new plant and wildlife succession? What will happen to existing development and homes if we chose wildfire over harvesting? Which will have the greater impact on climate change - selection, clearcutting or no harvesting?
Is our concern about current harvesting techniques distracting us from possibly greater undesirable consequences from its alternatives? I believe it is.
My previous articles have detailed how the variety of trees and some other plants respond to common disturbances, how they interact and follow, or eliminate each other in the natural forest succession. A review of those articles will explain the following.
I believe if we ban clearcut harvesting in Northwestern Ontario, in order to maintain natural forest succession, we will have to allow uncontrolled wildfire across the landscape. I believe that a selection-harvested forest will follow a successional pathway that we will not like. I believe that it will have fewer jack pine, black spruce, trembling aspen and white birch and more balsam fir and white spruce. I believe we can then expect more insect epidemics, tree diseases, wind damage, and unwelcome changes in wildlife species and populations, and be inviting even more intense fires.
I believe that right and wrong are constructs of our human minds, and that nature makes no such distinctions. The forest has evolved with amazing resilience to eventually return to its historic structure. When we recognize that resilience, and accommodate it by utilizing the forest with methods that best enable the continuation of natural trends, we hasten the return to a natural forest structure . I believe that clearcut harvesting is the silvicultural technique that best enables those trends to continue in Northwestern Ontario forests."
AS PRINTED IN THE CHRONICLE JOURNAL, THUNDER BAY , JANUARY 4, 2014
reprinted here by permission of Mac Squires (retired professional forester)
"There is a common belief that clearcut timber harvesting is wrong in the boreal forest. Is it?
The common natural forest pattern found in the boreal forest of Northwestern Ontario is a jigsaw puzzle of tree stands. Pieces of the puzzle are tens of square kilometres of contiguous variable stands of trees all of the same age, often of a single species, and seldom of more than three tree species. I maintain that if we are going to continue living close to, and in that forest and maintain its natural structure and fauna, our choices are limited.
We can allow natural wild-fire to renew the landscape as is has historically done. That would require us to always be ready to move, or concentrate development in natural or man-made safe zones, with massive redesign and relocation of homes and infrastructure, and still occasionally experience massive losses of life and property.
I believe that the only practical alternative to that disturbing scenario is to remain where we are and work with nature. That will require us to prevent and control wild-fires where practically possible, and utilize and renew the forest with methods that approximately maintain a landscape that is similar to that created by wildfire.
I have some questions that I believe we should all ponder with open minds.
Are we blinded by what to us appears ugly, and are some of us abandoning objective reasoning to achieve our own ends? Would we be even less satisfied with the consequences of alternative silvicultural techniques such as selection cutting? Are the things that disturb us most about current harvesting more a result of how we behave when harvesting, than of the silvicultural techniques being used? Are our concerns really supported by the best available current knowledge?
How do the impacts of clearcutting differ from those of wildfire? Are they more or less acceptable? Is one uglier than the other? What would happen to plant communities and wildlife habitat if we ban clearcutting in favour of partial (selection) cutting? Will wildfires burn more intensely in selection harvested stands? If so, what will be the new plant and wildlife succession? What will happen to existing development and homes if we chose wildfire over harvesting? Which will have the greater impact on climate change - selection, clearcutting or no harvesting?
Is our concern about current harvesting techniques distracting us from possibly greater undesirable consequences from its alternatives? I believe it is.
My previous articles have detailed how the variety of trees and some other plants respond to common disturbances, how they interact and follow, or eliminate each other in the natural forest succession. A review of those articles will explain the following.
I believe if we ban clearcut harvesting in Northwestern Ontario, in order to maintain natural forest succession, we will have to allow uncontrolled wildfire across the landscape. I believe that a selection-harvested forest will follow a successional pathway that we will not like. I believe that it will have fewer jack pine, black spruce, trembling aspen and white birch and more balsam fir and white spruce. I believe we can then expect more insect epidemics, tree diseases, wind damage, and unwelcome changes in wildlife species and populations, and be inviting even more intense fires.
I believe that right and wrong are constructs of our human minds, and that nature makes no such distinctions. The forest has evolved with amazing resilience to eventually return to its historic structure. When we recognize that resilience, and accommodate it by utilizing the forest with methods that best enable the continuation of natural trends, we hasten the return to a natural forest structure . I believe that clearcut harvesting is the silvicultural technique that best enables those trends to continue in Northwestern Ontario forests."
Friday, 3 January 2014
LOOKING BACKWARD
Headlines in the Thunder Bay Newspaper , TIMES NEWS of January 29, 1992
GREENPEACE "PROPAGANDA" KILLING FOREST INDUSTRY, SAYS EXECUTIVE
MONTREAL, (CP) - The head of one of Canada's leading forest companies said Tuesday that Greenpeace is spreading lies to hurt his industry.
"There's environmental thuggery going on here," declared Ian Donald, chief executive of Vancouver-based Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd., at a news conference.
Greenpeace officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Donald accused the worldwide Greenpeace organization of employing "propaganda and fear tactics" that threaten Canadian pulp and paper markets, particularly for chlorine-bleached pulp and the white paper made from it.
Donald said that as a result of lobbying by the environmentalists, Germany will likely ban pulp bleached with elemental chlorine within a few months and the ban would probably be adopted by other European states.
He said Greenpeace has an 80 per-cent rate of public support in Germany, which buys more than 1 million tonnes of Canadian bleached pulp annually.
Canada is the world's largest supplier of pulp. It sells $6 billion worth of bleached pulp abroad, of which 85% is bleached with chlorine.
Tests show the process releases dioxins and furans which, if injected into rats, gives them cancer.
Donald said Greenpeace is picking on the high-profile pulp and paper industry to create alarm and help Greenpeace raise funds for its annual budget of $180 million.
COME CLEAN
"It's time Greenpeace came clean" on its true objective, said Donald in a speech to the annual convention of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association.
Earlier this month a new attack front formed when Time magazine announced it was going to start using chlorine-free pulp, if available, after getting 20,000 letters from readers demanding it.
Donald, whose company supplies Time with 20,000 tonnes of bleached paper a year from a plant in Minnesota, said he met with Time executives who told him they were embarrassed by the decision " taken at a junior level."
'Unfortunately Time blinked instead of saying "prove your case."
"It's just not proven that chlorine bleaching is bad for the environment," said Donald, calling the contention one of the untruths spread by Greenpeace.
He also said Greenpeace claims falsely that dioxin, released in chlorine bleaching, is the most deadly chemical known to man.
"This is untrue. Nobody has ever died from dioxin," said Donald. The worst effect known is skin rash from direct contact", he said.
The federal government has imposed limits on emissions of dioxins and furans from pulp mills.
Donald snorted that humans can be made sick if they are injected with table salt, which is found naturally in the body.
He added that the Canadian industry has spent in the past three years $2 billion out of $5 billion committed to reducing emissions of dioxins.
GREENPEACE "PROPAGANDA" KILLING FOREST INDUSTRY, SAYS EXECUTIVE
MONTREAL, (CP) - The head of one of Canada's leading forest companies said Tuesday that Greenpeace is spreading lies to hurt his industry.
"There's environmental thuggery going on here," declared Ian Donald, chief executive of Vancouver-based Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd., at a news conference.
Greenpeace officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Donald accused the worldwide Greenpeace organization of employing "propaganda and fear tactics" that threaten Canadian pulp and paper markets, particularly for chlorine-bleached pulp and the white paper made from it.
Donald said that as a result of lobbying by the environmentalists, Germany will likely ban pulp bleached with elemental chlorine within a few months and the ban would probably be adopted by other European states.
He said Greenpeace has an 80 per-cent rate of public support in Germany, which buys more than 1 million tonnes of Canadian bleached pulp annually.
Canada is the world's largest supplier of pulp. It sells $6 billion worth of bleached pulp abroad, of which 85% is bleached with chlorine.
Tests show the process releases dioxins and furans which, if injected into rats, gives them cancer.
Donald said Greenpeace is picking on the high-profile pulp and paper industry to create alarm and help Greenpeace raise funds for its annual budget of $180 million.
COME CLEAN
"It's time Greenpeace came clean" on its true objective, said Donald in a speech to the annual convention of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association.
Earlier this month a new attack front formed when Time magazine announced it was going to start using chlorine-free pulp, if available, after getting 20,000 letters from readers demanding it.
Donald, whose company supplies Time with 20,000 tonnes of bleached paper a year from a plant in Minnesota, said he met with Time executives who told him they were embarrassed by the decision " taken at a junior level."
'Unfortunately Time blinked instead of saying "prove your case."
"It's just not proven that chlorine bleaching is bad for the environment," said Donald, calling the contention one of the untruths spread by Greenpeace.
He also said Greenpeace claims falsely that dioxin, released in chlorine bleaching, is the most deadly chemical known to man.
"This is untrue. Nobody has ever died from dioxin," said Donald. The worst effect known is skin rash from direct contact", he said.
The federal government has imposed limits on emissions of dioxins and furans from pulp mills.
Donald snorted that humans can be made sick if they are injected with table salt, which is found naturally in the body.
He added that the Canadian industry has spent in the past three years $2 billion out of $5 billion committed to reducing emissions of dioxins.
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
BIRD LIST FOR 2013
JANUARY 2013
January 1
Black capped Chickadee
Common Redpoll
Pine Grosbeak
Hoary Redpoll
Downy Woodpecker
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Raven
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Canada Jay
Ruffed Grouse
January 2
White winged Crossbill
Pileated Woodpecker
January 5
pigeon
January 7
European Starling
Evening Grosbeak
January 9
Crow
January 11
Barred Owl
FEBRUARY
February 3
House Sparrow
February 19
Northern Shrike
February 27
Common Goldeneye
(Nipigon River)
NO NEW BIRD FOR MARCH
APRIL
April 5
Herring Gull
(garbage dump)
Golden Eagle
(garbage dump)
Bald Eagle
(garbage dump)
April 10
Canada Goose
(Thunder Bay)
April 16
Yellow rump Warbler
April 17
Dark eyed Junco
April 23
Fox Sparrow
April 24
Ringbill Gull
April 25
Tree Sparrow
White throat Sparrow
April 28
Pine Sisken
Purple Finch
Grackle
Rusty Blackbird
April 29
Merlin
April 30
Robin
Kestrel
Swamp Sparrow
White Pelican
(Nipigon Marina)
Double Crested Cormorant
(Nipigon Marina)
Common Merganzer
(Nipigon Marina)
Hooded Merganzer
(Nipigon Marina)
MAY
May 2
Savannah Sparrow
Red Wing Blackbird
Song Sparrow
May 6
Turkey Vulture
May 10
Bufflehead
(Nipigon Marina)
Common Loon
(Nipigon Marina)
May 11
Lincoln Sparrow
May 13
Mallard Duck
Great Blue Heron
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Green wing Teal
Piebill Grebe
Widgeon
Tundra Swan
Red breasted Merganzer
Ring Neck Duck
(all Nipigon River)
May 15
White crown Sparrow
Broad Wing Hawk
Solitary Vireo
May 16
Rose breasted Grosbeak
Ruby throated Hummingbird
American Goldfinch
May 23
Harris Sparrow
May 31
Morning Dove
JUNE
June 2
Blackburnian Warbler
June 11
Eastern Bluebird
June 14
Black Duck
Yellow Warbler
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
( all Red Rock marina)
Kingfisher
June 24
Red-eyed Vireo
JULY
July 18
Orange Crown Warbler
Warbling Vireo
July 21
Coopers Hawk
Veery
July 28
Wilson's Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Palm Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
AUGUST
August 3
Mourning Warbler
August 11
American Redstart
Ovenbird
August 22
Black throated Blue Warble
Chestnut sided Warbler
August 29
European Goldfinch
(immature . Two of us saw it but the closest we can come to identity is this bird. Tried for a photo but the leaves were hiding it.)
SEPTEMBER
September 4
Spruce Hen (Grouse)
Goshawk (northern)
September 7
Black and White Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
September 20
Canada Warbler
(Species # 100 for my list this year)
September 25
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
OCTOBER
October 10
Snow Goose
NOVEMBER
November 28
Boreal Chickadee
(#104)
NO NEW BIRD FOR DECEMBER
 |
| Ruffed Grouse |
January 1
Black capped Chickadee
Common Redpoll
Pine Grosbeak
Hoary Redpoll
Downy Woodpecker
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Raven
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Canada Jay
Ruffed Grouse
January 2
White winged Crossbill
Pileated Woodpecker
January 5
pigeon
January 7
European Starling
Evening Grosbeak
January 9
Crow
January 11
Barred Owl
FEBRUARY
February 3
House Sparrow
February 19
Northern Shrike
February 27
Common Goldeneye
(Nipigon River)
NO NEW BIRD FOR MARCH
APRIL
April 5
Herring Gull
(garbage dump)
Golden Eagle
(garbage dump)
Bald Eagle
(garbage dump)
April 10
Canada Goose
(Thunder Bay)
April 16
Yellow rump Warbler
April 17
Dark eyed Junco
April 23
Fox Sparrow
April 24
Ringbill Gull
April 25
Tree Sparrow
White throat Sparrow
April 28
Pine Sisken
Purple Finch
Grackle
Rusty Blackbird
April 29
Merlin
April 30
Robin
Kestrel
Swamp Sparrow
White Pelican
(Nipigon Marina)
Double Crested Cormorant
(Nipigon Marina)
Common Merganzer
(Nipigon Marina)
Hooded Merganzer
(Nipigon Marina)
MAY
May 2
Savannah Sparrow
Red Wing Blackbird
Song Sparrow
May 6
Turkey Vulture
May 10
Bufflehead
(Nipigon Marina)
Common Loon
(Nipigon Marina)
May 11
Lincoln Sparrow
May 13
Mallard Duck
Great Blue Heron
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Green wing Teal
Piebill Grebe
Widgeon
Tundra Swan
Red breasted Merganzer
Ring Neck Duck
(all Nipigon River)
May 15
White crown Sparrow
Broad Wing Hawk
Solitary Vireo
May 16
Rose breasted Grosbeak
Ruby throated Hummingbird
American Goldfinch
May 23
Harris Sparrow
May 31
Morning Dove
JUNE
June 2
Blackburnian Warbler
June 11
Eastern Bluebird
June 14
Black Duck
Yellow Warbler
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
( all Red Rock marina)
Kingfisher
June 24
Red-eyed Vireo
JULY
July 18
Orange Crown Warbler
Warbling Vireo
July 21
Coopers Hawk
Veery
July 28
Wilson's Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Palm Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
AUGUST
August 3
Mourning Warbler
August 11
American Redstart
Ovenbird
August 22
Black throated Blue Warble
Chestnut sided Warbler
August 29
European Goldfinch
(immature . Two of us saw it but the closest we can come to identity is this bird. Tried for a photo but the leaves were hiding it.)
SEPTEMBER
September 4
Spruce Hen (Grouse)
Goshawk (northern)
September 7
Black and White Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
September 20
Canada Warbler
(Species # 100 for my list this year)
September 25
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
OCTOBER
October 10
Snow Goose
NOVEMBER
November 28
Boreal Chickadee
(#104)
NO NEW BIRD FOR DECEMBER
 |
| Barred Owl came for a visit in December. |
 |
| American Tree sparrow showed up on December 15 and got onto our Christmas Bird Count count-week. Still here December 31, 2013 so I will get a Tree Sparrow on my 2014 Bird list for January Coping with the minus 30 degree F. temperatures. |
Sunday, 22 December 2013
WEASEL
December 22, 2013
What bad home cookin' brings out of the wild.
What bad home cookin' brings out of the wild.
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| Weasel |
 |
| Weasel |
 |
| On the dining table (barrel top) with roast beef. |
 |
| Gray Jay. This is whom I planned to feed. |
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