Category: Community Blog

After months of reports of bovine escape artists lingering around the Wavey Lake Forest Service Road access, a wayward cow and calf made their presence known along Boultbee Road and in several cabin driveways early in November. Cattle are notorious for their prolific waste and these two uninvited guests did not hesitate to show their appreciation for all the fresh foliage they nibbled on along the road, their very own private and pristine pasture.  Their appearance  was probably just about the time they would have been brought in and taken home from the permitted range land on the north side of Highway 24. Earlier this Fall, a resident called the range office with the Ministry of Forest to report a bull on the highway. Apparently there are three permit holders for the range nearby and the range office needed a picture of the brand to positively identify the bull’s owner. Not surprising, it was impossible to find a resident willing to get that close to the huge bull, so presumably he – the bull – enjoyed a long, albeit lonely, month or so foraging along the highway, relatively undisturbed.

On October 22, a hand full of residents met at the Lac des Roches Resort for the annual general meeting of Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake society.  While the meeting is a necessary formality, it provides an opportunity for members and guests to meet some of the executive and make enquiries about stewardship activities around the lake. Membership to the society is open to anyone although most of the members are residents, full and part-time at the lakes in the watershed. Although much of the stewardship work done by the society volunteers is posted on this website for all to see, paid members receive regular updates via email of activities, issues and concerns about the society, the lake and the community.  New members are always welcome.

For 3 months in a row, there have been confirmed cougar sightings at Lac des Roches.  In August a cougar was seen at the east end of Boultbee Road and in September, it walked through a yard at he halfway mark of Boultbee Road.  On October 20 and again on the 21, cougar droppings were identified at the east end of Boultbee Road and today, October 30, the cougar plodded through a yard at the west end of big Lac des Roches. The presence of this cougar, assuming it is the same animal, may account for the absence of everything else.  So few deer, no wolves, coyotes or fox and absolutely no sign of moose. While normally very elusive, cougars in the neighbourhood are cause for concern and residents should be very careful with children and animals left alone outside. All of these sightings have been during daylight hours, ranging from 6:30 in the morning to late afternoon.

 

A logging contractor is now actively working along the Eakin Creek corridor, also known as “the old highway” to Little Fort. The targeted trees are those that have been affected by beetle and pose a danger to the public by falling on the the road. Although the road is not closed, the tree falling activity and the equipment moving on this narrow winding road will cause delays for traffic. Now is not the best time to be taking a leisurely drive down the old highway however it is likely that the contractor is not working on the weekends. As previously mentioned, active logging up the Wavey Lake Road occurs Monday through Friday, but equipment is moved and maintained on the weekends so there can be high volumes of industrial traffic any time. Fall logging and hunting in the area will keep the roads busy for a while yet so do take care venturing out on our nearby backroads.

In the last few weeks, there have been few days where the wind has not been howling from the east. Several trees have snapped off or uprooted causing minor structure damage all around the lake. Many trees are leaning and will soon go down. Take care walking in the woods! The warm temperatures brought by the wind are extending the summer work well into Fall.  Several residents have been successfully working on outdoor painting projects that would otherwise have been left for next spring. Although windy conditions are not ideal for fall burning, there has obviously been some logging slash burning in the area, evidenced by heavy smoke on Oct. 29, one of the few calm days this month. Hopefully the snow will hold off long enough to allow residents to clean up and burn the many scattered branches and trees in yards, the unsightly aftermath of these strong winds.

Although there are several elusive white-tailed deer moving about the neighbourhood, (does only), there is certainly a notable lack of wildlife to get excited about. So much so that evidence of cattle at large on Boultbee Road and in some yards became the subject of talk about wildlife recently. Other than the odd rabbit, too fast to catch capture in a picture, this Garter snake, taking a break as it crossed Boultbee Road, was reason enough to stop for a picture.

A stretch of constant wind has stirred up the lake. Gusts have many trees doing “the hula thing”, a circular spin which makes them totally unpredictable should they snap off, an all-to-common occurrence. The winds are relatively warm but strong enough to keep most people off the lake.

Thanksgiving weekend brings out Boultbee’s best ringers as the residents and guests enjoy the annual horseshoe tournament.  The weather was great this year and once again, the organizers did a terrific job.  Several long term residents entered the tournament for their first time, and from all accounts, they are hooked on the sport. Congratulations to Dale Yeager and Dan Veldhuis, the winning team for 2014.

Residents have noted a steady stream of hunters cruising our local roads using on and off-road vehicles . It is hard to believe that while we are surrounded by thousands of acres of wilderness crown land, a populated residential neighbourhood would look attractive to an outdoorsman in search of elusive deer. Perhaps it is a very good thing that very few sightings of mule or white-tail deer have been reported in local yards. On that note, local wildlife sightings seem to be very low this year although the otters have been entertaining waterfront property owners throughout this Fall.