It's hunting season in Ontario: 6 injuries!

Deer-hunting season comes with self-inflicted hazards

UPDATE: We're up to 6 injuries in Southeastern Ontario!
It's better than the 'good old days!'  In the 1960s there were more than 100 incidents a year. By the 70s, there were 16 people that died. Now, there is better training. These days, we can expect about 10 incidents per year.

• All ages get hurt, it seems. A 75-year-old in North Glengarry Township.
• A 23-year-old in North Grenville.
• A 59-year-old outside Smiths Falls.

On their way, via boat,
to hunt on Crown Land.

A 22-year-old died last year. This year 6 men have had serious incidents.


Deer hunting season begins.
I've whined about the hunters near-by, since our property abuts one where they target shoot (for hours all day) and hunt sporadically, which isn't so bad. We have 16 acres, they have 35. I'll not go on about it. Sorry! For me, the noise is terrible.

I think it terribly sad that with the season just beginning, there have been 5 shooting incidents. (You cannot call them accidents. I figure it is a self-inflicted wound!) Basic safety says, keep you finger off the trigger, point it away from yourself, keep the safety on until you're ready!

Excellent grounds crew!

 Illegal hunting is the bane of landowners around the province, whether they hunt or not. Hunting violations are reported by the MNR. One neighbour, with 600 acres, finds hunters parking near their land, and off they go in, without permission. I understand the traditions of the 'sport', and further understand that many fill their freezers, especially in the north, whilst culling herds, but stupidity abounds. Disrespect for property and property owners, and pollution, exists on the land, water and in the air.

Man seriously injured in hunting accident in Madoc, Ont.
This incident involved a 59-year-old man on Weedmark road in Montague Township.
"Provincial police say officers were called to the scene in a wooded area north of Madoc on Monday after a man who was with a group of hunters accidentally shot himself."

target practice

The others took place in Tudor and Cashel Township, about 80 kilometers north of Belleville, and in Odessa. There were two who shot themselves in the hand, one on the torso.
Next: a Barrie report:
Since Monday, five people have been accidentally shot while hunting in Ontario – one incident was on Monday near Ottawa, and four people were shot yesterday including a 17-year-old near Peterborough, a man in Huron County and two people in Essa Township.
A North Glengarry man, 75, also sustained a gunshot injury when his shotgun accidentally discharged on Nov. 7. So far police have laid charges in only one of these cases – a teen from Essa has been charged with careless use of a firearm and that gun has been seized by police as part of the investigation.

Hunting Regs.
for 2013/2014

The Ministry of Natural Resources is asking for our help to curb illegal hunting. (Hunting Regs. for 2013/2014) Hunters are reminded they have to unload and encase firearms from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise. It is also illegal to possess a loaded firearm, or shoot a firearm in a vehicle. 

If you know of anyone partaking in any illegal hunting, which also includes hunting without a license, you’re asked to call your local police and report it. 1-888-310-1122 You’re also reminded that your report can be completely anonymous. To contact the Ontario MNR about hunting concerns or illegal hunting practices contact the MNR’s tip line: 1-877-TIPS-MNR (1-877-847-7667).
For hunting rules and regulations, visit mnr.gov.on.ca or ohep.net.
That ends my public service information!

Men fined $53,000 for damaging snake habitat

Can you imagine?

A hermit thrush who lives on the edge of the wetland.
I spotted it last spring.

Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. 
-Milan Kundera, novelist, playwright, and poet (b.1929) 

I often read the Ontario MNR News Releases. It isn't amusing and it is shocking. People with no respect for a wetland, or the critters that inhabit it.

• $30,000 Fine For Importing Live Asian Carp (Dec 20, 2012) (pdf)
• Multi-Agency Investigation Leads to $70,000 Fine and Jail Time for Selling Snakehead (Nov 14, 2012) (pdf)   [Photo 1]  [Photo 2]  [Photo 3]
• Fines and Forfeitures For Transport and Possession of Illegally Killed Muskox (Sep 4, 2012) (pdf)
• Hamilton Company Fined For Illegal Development In Niagara Escarpment Wetland (Aug 23, 2012) (pdf)
• Fine And Court Order Issued For Dredging Shore Lands (Aug 15, 2012) (pdf)
• Sudbury Man Ordered To Pay Suppression Costs For Careless Burning (Jul 6, 2012) (pdf)
• $50,000 Fine For Importing Live Asian Carp (Jun 22, 2012) (pdf)
• $3,900 In Fines For Illegal Moose Hunting (May 15, 2012) (pdf)

pond puppy

There are many who violate not only common sense laws of the land, but the specific details. Thing is, the latest report is of these people sentenced in Parry Sound, but they live in south west Ontario. That is a distance of more than 460km (285 m)!

This latest report is of a pair who apply for a work permit in 2010 in spring, to build a trail across Crown Land. They are denied the permit. The reason is that this land contains an endangered species, including the eastern fox snake. They are endangered because they are similar to rattle snakes, and people feel obliged to kill those. The thing is, there aren't just snakes, but many critters the snakes keep in check.

baby watersnake

They go ahead anyway, and on July 8th rent a backhoe and begin. The MNR issues a stop work order July 9th, which they violated. Back they were, July 12th they were reported and caught having done work all weekend. The fines are substantial. How dare they? An enormous lack of understanding of habitat, the importance of ecosystems, and the cycle and the balance of life.

 Paul VanErp, of Bothwell, Ontario, and Kyle VanDeven, of

rattlesnake

Kerwood, Ontario, were convicted and fined a total of $53,000 for offenses under the Endangered Species Act and the Public Lands Act.


From CottageCountry.ca
Justice of the Peace Diane Lafleur heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in Parry Sound on October 22, 2012.

The fines for VanErp:

• $20,000 for damaging endangered species habitat
• $8,000 for constructing a trail on Crown land without a permit



red snake

• $5,000 for violating a stop work order. 

The fine for VanDeven:

• $12,000 for damaging endangered species habitat
• $4,000 for constructing a trail on Crown land
• $4,000 for violating a stop work order. 

dock spider

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf and take an insect view of its plain. 
-Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

garter snake

To report a natural resources violation call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contacting your local ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Hunting migratory birds

We think adult siblings cared for their broods together!

Environment Canada lists all of the violations here. 
This one pissed me off!

Poachers Hit with Large Fines and Hunting Suspensions for Violations under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994

GANDER, NL -- May 9, 2011 -- A two-year investigation by Environment Canada’s Enforcement Branch into the excessive harvest and illegal selling of migratory birds in the Twillingate and New World Island areas of Newfoundland and Labrador has resulted in convictions and heavy fines for local poachers.

Hardy Brian Dove, age 55 of Twillingate, pleaded guilty on April 11, 2011 in Provincial Court in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador to charges under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. He was sentenced on May 6, 2011.

Mr. Dove was fined $4,800 for illegally selling murres and eider ducks, and for exceeding the possession limit for these species. He was also fined $1,360 for monetary gain from the sale of migratory birds. Mr. Dove was also ordered to surrender a 5.8 metre boat and motor, one shotgun, a number of duck decoys, and other hunting items to the Crown. He is also prohibited for six years from hunting or being in the company of anyone hunting migratory birds.

U.S. Hunter Charged With Violations While Hunting Waterfowl

It is alleged that Foiles committed violations while hunting and filming in Canada.
The fine = $1 million/offence.
The charges relate to alleged violations of Canadian hunting and criminal laws occurring between 2003 and 2007, including:

• causing unnecessary pain and suffering to a bird contrary to the Criminal Code;
• taking over the daily bag limit of geese;
• taking over the daily bag limit of ducks;
• continuing to hunt after daily bag limit is reached;
• hunting from a moving boat or boat under power;
• failing to immediately retrieve a migratory game bird; and
• failing, after retrieving a migratory game bird, to immediately kill the bird
• Under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, the maximum penalty for indictable offences is $1 million per offence or the possibility of imprisonment for a term of not more than three years, or both.

and another:

Stratford Area Man Convicted of Killing Swan and Destroying Eggs