Thursday, April 26, 2007

pictures


Watching the trappers set up to catch the otters.
Update May 30th: The otters escaped. The traps are now gone.


The City of Ottawa came by and placed a couple of stakes (see orange lines on left side of photo by road).
Update May 30th: The street sign & stop sign are now installed.


Here's Tawny sitting by the stake for the stop sign.


Apr 23rd - it was very windy. Shingles blown off houses all over Ottawa. We were lucky - didn't happen to us.
Update May 30th: It turns out that we may have lost a shingle on the garage roof.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Pano Apr 7/07


Saturday April 7th, 2007
There was a bitter cold window today. That didn't stop Tawny from swimming.

Tawny actually gave us quite a shock today. Well, she got a shock too, to be honest. Tawny was walking on the ice on the lake and suddenly the collapsed under her, and she got thoroughly and totally dunked! Our worry about this, of course, would be if she ended up under the ice and could not see how to get out from under the ice. That didn't happen today, thankfully. Although Tawny shook quite a number of times after she got out of the water (which did did right smartly after the dunking!), her coat was covered in little icicles by the time we got home.

Tawny antics & occupations

Saturday April 7th
Occupation: Lumberjack

Friday April 6th
Occupation: Icebreaker (not the conversational type, though)
Tuesday April 3rd
Occupation: Goose spotter
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Monday, April 02, 2007

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Tired after all that playing


Tawny really wore herself out after a lot of playing on Saturday morning. Afterwards, she lay on the deck for a long time, soaking up the sun's warm rays...

The phrase "it's a dog's life" certainly should now mean a life of relaxation and fun, with no worries. The phrase apparently dates from the 16th century, when it would have meant “a life of misery, or of miserable subserviency” (according to World Wide Words).

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm (very rare!)


This is a photo of the elusive Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm. Due to its colouration, it is rarely seen except in winter and is generally seen only on milder winter days. This soft-bodied invertebrate is a much larger distant genetic relative of the Ice Worm (click here for Ice Worm info), but has adapted to tolerate milder winter temperatures and can survive year round in Eastern Canada by hibernating in the warmer months.

The Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm is very slow-moving, and due to its low metabolic rate, one good feeding a year is usually sufficient. After a large feeding the creature generally goes into hibernation in small burrows underground. Although the Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm can tolerate milder temperatures, extremely hot summers can severely decimate the dormant population so global warming poses a severe threat to this rare species.

The Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm is a very shy creature and easily alarmed. Although it is most active in narrow temperature range of -5C to +3C, when frightened it freezes in position. To observe the movement, one must make an observation, leave and then return some time later. You will find the Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm has moved. The worm is never seen in bright sunlight conditions, as they die quickly when exposed to direct sunlight with its strong UV content, and are more vulnerable to predators such as birds.