Sir John went to Prince Edward County

We took Sir John along on our 10th Wedding Anniversary trip to Picton. Never having been to Prince Edward County, despite having lived my first 25 years in Toronto, we went upon recommendation of another Jennifer Anne! Prince Edward County, Ontario

Prince Edward County is a single-tier municipality and a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Wikipedia 

Prince Edward County Trip

What I noticed most is the battle between those who want wind energy and those who don't.

Wonderful wines and restaurants

  

Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Milkweed tussock moth caterpillar
They are su cute!


Milkweed tussock moth caterpillar in Ontario.

Today is our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

 Aug. 22, 2002. Mom put off her cancer surgery until after the wedding. Hubby was sworn to secrecy.

Reception at Mom's house the day after.

The kids did a trio

Married on the front lawn, by the lake

The nine of us went out for a dinner cruise.

You'll notice I wore my 'wedding dress'
to my daughter's wedding, too!

Mailboxes around Ontario!

These three is a row are quite different. One on a soldered chain, the other an old hydro pole.
I have had fun collecting photos of them.
They can be quite intriguing! Many are a bit tipsy, too!

Margaret Neil at the Perth Garlic Festival

It's chic to reek!

The Perth Garlic Festival is a riot! Everything garlicky, and yummy, with delicious sights and sounds. What more could you want from a festival? The t-shirts read, "It's Chic to Reek!"

Local growers, people who live, eat, breathe garlic. Marvellous people. You have to shop carefully. Might not want to buy food from someone who hasn't shaved. Just sayin'!


We met Margaret Neil. A woman who developed recipes based on celiac issues. She has some wonderful products, which I know we will enjoy. It is my daughter's birthday coming up, and we bought her some for fun! What do you buy the woman who has everything?! Fruit mixed with chocolate! Yum.

Margaret has credentials, Food Supervision Diploma from Kemptville. Owning her organic farm. Her products are amazing.

Now, Muffin Muncher came along for the ride. He had a grand time, but rather than muffins, I bought Curry in a Hurry, and Sex in a Jar ! (Better than sex!)

Biodiversity, invasive species, zoos

It occurs to me that with the alarm about invasive species, we seem to be coping with it in some situations. We all adapt to them and I wonder about the long-term effects. We see the odd purple loosestrife plant in our remote wetland.
We have weird Alewives in my hand-dug pond that have inbred with the goldfish.

I heard a TVO podcast, Zoo History. Zoos are having issues with breeding in captivity, as funding dries up, and they begin to fill up their so-called Utopian Zoos. Zoos with extended acreages, to keep animals in suitable habitat.


Toronto's zoo, for example, is 700 acres. But how much walking do you do, in order to see the critters? This is the newish zoo, but they are expensive.

Zoo began in the 1800s, as people sought to show us foreign species. Unfortunately, many zoos are unable to keep animals in the manner to which they should be accustomed. There is talk that with video and images readily available on the WWW, that zoos are becoming redundant.

I don't know. There comes a point at which, when natural habitat is gone, that spending the time and energy on a species seems futile.

Alewives with goldfish colouring

Inbreeding is a difficult issue, as normally a juvenile male leaves a habitat, while the females remain. In a zoo they realized they had to control breeding. This is true of our Mama Bear in our forest. She had twins a couple of years ago, last we heard, and the males would be kicked out of the nest, so to speak!

What do you think?

ZOOS

Jeffrey Hyson: Zoo History Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:00:00 EST

Raffi said we're all going there. And many of us still visit the zoo. But our view of animals and how they should be treated has changed considerably in the past several decades. Modern zoos, in turn, are changing to reflect that. The Agenda examines our relationship with zoos, and the animals in them.

THE ANIMAL LIFEBOAT

When Babies Don't Fit Plan, Question for Zoos Is, Now What?

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

When endangered species breed in captivity, it does not always help the larger mission of saving them, and zoos have to decide how to handle it.

To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

As the number of species at risk of extinction soars, zoos are being called upon to rescue and sustain some animals in favor of others.

May 28, 2012

Date Night at the Zoo, if Rare Species Play Along

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

Zoos are trying to mate captive cheetahs and many other animals as so-called insurance populations before their situation in the wild becomes untenable.

July 5, 2012

Zoos’ Bitter Choice: To Save Some Species, Letting Others Die By LESLIE KAUFMAN

As the number of species at risk of extinction soars, zoos are being called upon to rescue and sustain some animals in favor of others.

May 28, 2012, 

Deciding Which Species to Keep

More than 200 American zoos and aquariums have joined an effort to prevent extinction. Zookeepers are now pressed to choose which animals to rescue.

Invasive Species


 New pathway for invasive species -- science teachers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...

A survey of teachers from the United States and Canada found that one out of four educators who used live animals as part of their science curriculum released the organisms into the wild after they were done using them in the classroom.

Biological control with specialized plant-eating insects may provide a long-term sustainable control strategy for purple loosestrife. These folks were hired to count the nanophyes remaining from an experiment a couple of years ago.

Biological Control of Purple Loosestrife with Nanophyes mamoratus - Manitoba Purple Loosestrife Project

Bad bugs, bad!

They've destroyed my pumpkins, cucumbers, squash. I was not vigilant. I tried a couple of things but this did not work. Ed Lawrence's 1 part soap to 40 parts water might have worked if I'd noticed earlier.

Flutterbys - too many to name or count!

They are tricky little beasties, and the photos on the Internet, and books are only some help. BAMONA has been good. They have volunteers who will ID them for you. It's been a challenge! I think this is a Great Fritillary Butterfly, but I have to do more research!

Fritillary, methinks

This is the time of year for them. Happily bopping along from blossom to blossom.
There are lots more than butterflies, though. Wasp-mimic moths, as well as the other insects,

Sweetheart Underwing (Catocala amatrix)
They have a bright orange underwing,
but I didn't disturb it!

Forage Looper (Caunurgina erechtea) - HUGE!

Way too many moths to identify, but I'm working on it!

CC #228

This one was inside on the window of the pub!

Another big one:
Darling underwing, perhaps.
Bright pink or red underwings.

   

Tails of the goldfish pond or One Fish, Two Fish, Orange Fish, Goldfish

     Friends and family know of my fishing tales. For a long time I've had tropical fish. It all started with my Uncle Bob. Not a real uncle, but family friend. He showed me how to manage my guppies in my wee fish tank, a Christmas present from mom and dad when I was in my teens. My ex-late-father-in-law raised tropical fish, including an 8" Percy Piranha. He gave me some fancy dancy Cichlids, once I was out of university and settled (1979!).

Over the years I've had various tankfuls and enjoyed them.

Alewives - kinda cute! Shiners, shining in the sun.

In 2006, I inherited my parent's home. Our three dime-store feeder goldfish went in my parent's large, two-tier pond.

We moved to Lanark County, and brought Shirley, our remaining fish, with us. Shirley was lonely, and I bought two Shubutkins. Calico and Not Nemo had a grand time with Shirley. Oliver went fishing one day, directly in the fish tank, and scooped out Not Nemo. Back down to two fish. Shirley became ill, and we bought Shirley Two.

Shirley, Calico and Not Nemo, bless their wee souls

Shirley Two and her buddies

I had-dug a pond last year, and bought a 2nd-hand 8 x 10' liner, and Shirley Two went outside with Calico. Now, the pond was going along swimmingly. Calico swam over the Rainbow Bridge last month (we're on a roll), but Shirley Two has 4 new friends, ditch fish from biologist Heather Lunn. (Long story!)

I repaired holes from the field mouse. Put water plants in from the bog. Buy local, or transplant locally. Pretty safe, I thought. Startingly, I ended up with some new fish. They must have been in the muck from the bog plants. Identified by Brock, a real naturalist keener, and one of our Murphys Point Park employees, said they are Alewives, sort of a herring, that truly doesn't belong here. Sigh.

Look at the orange gills!

   Today, out fishing with Buster Brown, I noticed a flash. It was an orange flash. OH NO! The dang goldfish, prolific things, surviving in a ditch, ought to be able to reproduce in a goldfish pond, but we don't have space. I was worried about this. We had planned to buy a bigger fishtank when some bills are paid in fall. But this had me daunted.

You can see my wetland plants!

They are pretty big!

They have gained weight!

 I looked closer and realized that not truly goldfish, these are the size, shape, and form of the Alewives, but with orange colouring. I think there is a Ph.D. research paper here somewhere, but I have sworn not to take any more courses!