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Give a Hoot!

Give a Hoot – Owl Attraction Owls in Abundance – Banding Evidence Nocturnal Nature and Volunteers by Back Roads Bill What is it about owls that so captivates us? The answer may be a simple one. Owls inhabit the one landscape that we weak-sighted, day-loving primates still haven’t mastered. Night-time. There is the expression “I don’t give a hoot” but on the contrary there are others who do because as volunteers they like and care about owls. They are the real “night owls” because they like working in the dead of night. Owls are stereotyped for their hooting calls, but a number of species don’t hoot at all. Owls stand out among all living bird groups. These slightly anthropomorphic winged creatures have conquered the night, while nearly all other birds are confined to the daylight. And just so you know, owls can rotate their heads 270 degrees, lots of little neck bones and flexible arteries allow for the mobility. We humans can rotate our heads less than a third...

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Seasons Greetings from the Privy

Privies Enduring Symbol Holiday Season Outhouse by Back Roads Bill Full Christmas Card  Christmas images pdf The ground is almost frozen but not everywhere, not in an outhouse anyway. And I wanted to match the Back Roads holiday season greeting card with a story. One of the rural ways of life’s most enduring symbols has been the outhouse and you can see them on the back roads. It also goes under the name of back house, john, the wee or little house, the house of parliament , the inconvenience or the privy. “Thunder boxes” without the protective shed are most often found along canoe routes at designated Ontario Parks’ campsites. Outhouse owners take advantage of this self-supporting abode to sit and browse through magazines and the shopping flyers within ‘Community Voices.’ In the past, Sears and Eaton’s catalogues were the reading material of choice. It’s actually a tribute to the popular makeshift toilet paper of the past. The farmers would take these catalogues and when they were done with...

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Newman Mine – Uranium – Lake Nipissing

Heritage Past – Mine Landmark in the Present and Future by Back Roads Bill Many back roads lead us to stories. We choose our land and water jaunts with an eye for scenery, heritage and nature. The Manitou Islands have all of that. Depending on where you are on the North Bay shoreline or driving down Airport Hill, the islands, on some days, seem to rise up or float on the horizon. The cluster of five islands often looks closer than the eight kilometre distance, from the “government dock.” The Manitou islands are part of an eroded volcanic pipe. The vent was formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of a deep-origin volcano. The resulting magma that is pushed toward the surface is now the islands; an aerial view reflects the circular rim. It is now a non –operating, provincial park, a nature reserve.  The islands are important to more than 50 species of breeding birds and include significant Great Blue Heron colonies, and osprey nesting sites (one of the...

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All Star Surveyor – Niven’s Meridian – Cochrane

Not by Chance Lines – Straight Roads and Boundaries by Back Roads Bill Some lines are more important than others and these lines are not online or the dramatic lines of actors. Three of the most significant imaginary lines on the surface of the Earth are the equator, the Prime Meridian and the International Date Line. There is a lot of history in our province and much of it is found on the roadside sometimes literally. You have been wondering where all those dark blue highway plaques come from anyway. The stories are interesting to read and you wonder about the location. There are about 1,200 provincial roadside plaques across Ontario, each commemorating people, events and places that define our heritage. There is one plaque that has much to do about our back roads and its very specific location tells us why the byways appear as straight lines, running north-south (not including the curves that circumnavigate wetlands, rock cuts and hills). It is located three kilometres west of Cochrane...

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Wildlife Corridors – Hwy. 11 South – Callander and Highway 69 South – Sudbury

Moving Our Moose – Under the Highway by Back Roads Bill We can’t give animals too many human characteristics, termed anthropomorphism; that is ‘The ‘Wonderful World of Disney’ syndrome.   We can reduce our impacts on wildlife habitat. Here is a stateside government, department of highways, definition. “Road kill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by motor vehicles. It occurs because wildlife and people driving vehicles are on the roads simultaneously, and cannot predict the behaviour of one another. Wildlife may wander onto roadways for various reasons and become road kill.” The Iconic Moose Driving along, there is not much worse than seeing a dead moose on the side of the road. There is now a newly designed, moose highway underpass to help mitigate this tragic eventually. Moose are majestic animals the largest of our ungulates and a Canadian icon. Its ubiquity in gift shops is difficult to miss. A moose is distinguished by its conspicuous “dewlap” (the hair-covered flap of skin hanging from its...

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Loring Deer Yard – Habitat Relationship – Highway 522 – Port Loring

Loring Deeryard – Unique Habitat – Energy Conservation Browsing – Winter Behaviour and Protection by Back Roads Bill What are the deer doing and where are they? There are thousands of deer in the North Bay area and viewing of the white tails is easy enough within three seasons of the year. At present they are not bounding through the fields, they are conserving energy in certain areas.  It is all about the relationships defined within ecology. The Loring deer yard is not a legislated or protected area, it comprises about five townships south of Lake Nipissing, it is about 500 square kilometres in size, centered on the Golden Valley, Port Loring area, about a third of which is private land. It is special because of the habitat. And it is easy to access because Highway #522 bisects the area with many side roads to explore. (The other significant deeryard, north of the Mattawa River and Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park is best accessed by snowmobile; OFSC, trail A112A.)...

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