Shoreline Restoration

Watersheds Canada is thrilled to come back to Loughborough Lake with an action project! In the Love Your Lake report for Loughborough Lake, several recommendations were made for landowners to voluntarily restore their shorelines to more natural states to benefit the health of Loughborough Lake. Because of generous funding support for Love Your Lake follow-up projects from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Watersheds Canada is able to provide shoreline property owners on Loughborough Lake with an opportunity to have their shorelines professionally restored with native plants at only 25% of the cost to landowners.

The Natural Edge is a shoreline planting program developed by Watersheds Canada and made available to waterfront property owners in Eastern Ontario. This is your opportunity to restore your shoreline with native trees, shrubs, groundcovers, wildflowers, and grasses. Staff from Watersheds Canada will provide you with:

• A free site visit to discuss shoreline concerns, provide recommendations, and assess planting conditions;

• A personalized planting plan, including photos of selected planting areas and ideal plant species;

• The ordering, delivering, planting, and mulching of all plants;

• A free Stewardship Manual to ensure that the newly planted vegetation thrives in the first few years of establishment and growth; and,

• Follow-up and support with your new plants.

Shorelines are among the most important places on earth for wildlife - they are the ribbon of life. Throughout their lifetimes, over 90% of wildlife species use these land-water interfaces for food, shelter, breeding, and rearing areas. Healthy layers of vegetation including trees, shrubs, groundcover, grasses, flowers, and aquatic vegetation benefit wildlife, protect these shorelines from degrading, and support natural processes that are essential to a healthy lake and  a healthy watershed.

With the growth of new cottage developments, cottage-to-home conversions, and commercial and industrial developments along shorelines, these sensitive areas are threatened. With the loss of natural vegetation, several benefits to the lake are compromised, including water clarity and quality, safe swimming areas, and loss of wildlife habitat. With the help of stewardship programs such as these and with the support and participation of individuals like you, our community is coming together to protect and restore these sensitive areas for improved lake health and sustainability.

To participate in this, please contact Chloe Lajoie from Watersheds Canada, at  lajoie@watersheds.ca or 613-264-1244. Site visits begin as soon as the snow melts, and planting takes place in October when the leaves fall! If you have a shoreline with grass to the water's edge, significant erosion issues, or a small existing buffer, your property would be an ideal candidate for the Natural Edge! There are a limited number of properties available for naturalization projects, so be sure to get in touch soon!

Bats

Bats are nocturnal flying mammals that feed at night and can be found in both city and rural locations.  During the day, they roost in caves, in holes or leaves of trees, in attics or in abandoned buildings.  Although they look like a little mouse with wings, they are not related to mice at all, as most people think.  Most bats are very tiny with the smallest ones weighting 1.8 grams (weighing less than a dime).  It is their wings that make them appear larger, but their body size is generally quite small.  They range in size, with the largest ones being flying foxes which are located in the tropics.  Their life span is usually 4-8 years, although they can live longer than this. They emit a high pitched shriek or shrill call that is undetectable to human ears.

Some bats have larger ears and have very good hearing and some have a type of sonar that allows them to find their prey at night.  If they have large eyes and small ears, then sonar is probably not as important to the bat.  They usually hunt for food around ponds, marshes, streams, damp ditches and on the edges of wooded areas.

Bats are migratory in nature and follow the insects south in the winter. They will look for moist, warm caves to hibernate in the winter, so that they don’t dry out, and they do not eat while hibernating.  They need quiet and peace in winter so it is best not to disturb their hibernation places as this could be destructive to their survival. 

In total there are close to 1000 different species of bats in the world, but in Ontario there are 9 different species of bats, the most common being the Little Brown Bat and the Big Brown Bat.      They mate just before they hibernate, are warm blooded and give birth to live young.  Most brown bats have only one baby per year, although it is possible for them to have two.  They carry their babies on themselves at first and feed them milk. 

There are some myths out there that bats will get caught in your hair, attack and bite you or suck your blood.  There is such a thing as a Vampire Bat, but it is not located here in our country. So no, they don’t suck your blood and they won’t get caught in your hair.  They will however fly close to humans to catch insects attracted to humans and if feeling threatened, they will bite to defend themselves, and they do have very sharp teeth so it is best not to antagonize them. 
 
People automatically assume that if a bat doesn’t fly away it is sick and possibly rabid, but this is not necessarily true. One of the reasons that they don’t fly away, is that while resting, bats drop their body temperature and before they can fly they must warm up and this can take as long as 30 minutes.  During this warm up time, they shake and vibrate.

Although Bats can carry rabies, rabid bats usually lose their ability to fly or do not fly well.  They rarely become aggressive.  Careless handling of bats is the primary source of rabies exposure from bats. Although the percentage of rabid bats is low, any bat should be approached with caution just in case. The major predators of bats are owls, red tailed hawks, snakes, skunks, racoons, and of course humans who sometimes hit them with brooms or tennis rackets.

Black Bear

We do live in bear country, although they are not always visible. We had a reminder of that recently when a young bear decided to investigate one of the garbage boxes, in broad daylight, along North Shore Road in the East Basin of Loughborough Lake. Probably most of the long term residents of Loughborough Lake have heard of bear sighting incidents at one time or another. They may have also seen them. Typically this does not happen often although there is some evidence that sightings may be increasing. A story that was reported in the Whig Standard in 2010 talked of sightings that year in Bath and the north and west end of Kingston. The Whig Standard stated: "Ministry officials do not think the bear population is expanding. Instead, they suggest development encroaching on traditional bear habitat is at the root of the increased number of sightings.

"As development continues, people are bound to have more interaction with bears," said Jamie Prentice, of the MNR.

A bear nosing around a berry patch in the back 40 of a farm might not be worthy of note; one poking around a suburban garage is. Supporting the theory is the fact that many of the bears being seen are young and are opportunistic eaters rather than skilled hunters.

"Yearling bears ... are moving away from the sow -- their mother -- for the first time," Prentice said, "so it's not unusual to see them out and about looking for an easy feed."

This appeared to be the case in this instance. The bear tried unsuccessfully to enter the garbage bin from the hinge side - this was a slightly stronger than normal box, being clad in metal - and then resorted to overturning the bin and getting at the garbage that spilled out. Several nearby residents spotted the bear, and in a couple of cases, people delayed their morning commute to come back and get cameras or neighbours to witness the event. One neighbour was walking her small dog, off leash, towards the end of the lane and the garbage bin and bear. Fortunately she spotted the animal before her dog and was able to leash the dog and reverse course without incident.

It doesn't take too long before the novelty of the situation wears off and the realization occurs that there could be a problem. The following is from the Ontario MNR website on Bearwise:

"Most problems between black bears and humans occur when bears are attracted by the smell of and rewarded with an easy meal. When bears pick up a scent with their keen noses, they will investigate it - even at your cottage property. If bears are rewarded with feasts of bird food, garbage or pet food, they will return as long as the food source continues to be available. It takes all cottagers working together to eliminate these attractants and to stop bear problems."

They go on to recommend that garbage be put in containers with tight fitting lids and only put it out on garbage day and not earlier. Use bear resistant containers. Do not store garbage in plywood boxes (which make up most of the lane way garbage bins), old freezers or vehicles. They even recommend that if you are leaving cottage country on a day that is not garbage day then take your garbage home with you.

In case of nuisance bears contact 1-866-514-2327 or in the case of an emergency contact 911.

Coyotes

We live in Coyote territory. Yes, the coyotes do live in our area and they are here to stay.  It is the Eastern Coyote who is most predominant in our area. The wolf population prior to 1850 was extensively hunted by man and as the wolf population decreased, the coyote population expanded. 

The Eastern Coyote is a hybrid species – a mix of Western Coyote and Eastern Wolf. The Timberwolf or Grey Wolf is mainly located in Northern Canada and is the largest of the species ranging from 80-125 lbs.  The Eastern Wolf located in mainly northern areas like Algonquin Park is a bit smaller ranging from 45-75 lbs.  The Eastern Coyote (the main one in our area) is the smallest of the species ranging from 30-45 lbs.  Since the Eastern Coyote is a mix of Western Coyote and Eastern Wolf, you may see a larger coyote in our area as well.  What we see and hear are mainly coyotes and not wolves. 

Coyotes mate for life.  If one of the pair dies, they find another mate.  Coyotes generally breed once per year, in February.  The pups are born approximately 2 months later in April or May.  The litters range in size from 3-9 with the average being 6 pups.  After one month they leave the den to start investigating outside and 3-4 months after birth, they learn how to hunt.   In the fall, the pups leave the parents to find their own mates and to establish their own territories.  Because they do not stay with the parents or in the parent’s territory, the number of coyotes in any given territory does not increase.  

Up to 50% of the pups do not survive the first year.  If they reach adulthood, they have a better chance of survival.   The life expectancy of a coyote ranges from 8-12 years with an average being 5 years.

Coyotes are very territorial.  Each territory houses one mated pair of coyotes and their pups (up until fall).  Then only the mated adults remain in the territory.  The size of the territory depends on the amount of food supply.  In an agricultural area where there is not a lot of food, there may be 20-40 coyotes in a 100 sq. km. territory.  In an urban area or anywhere there is an abundance of food for them there may be 100 coyotes in a 100 sq. km. territory.  It is all dependent on the amount of food.  When more food is available, the territories can become much smaller.

Most of us have heard the yipping and howling of the coyotes.  Howling does not always mean they are hunting or have just made a kill.  It is their way of communicating with their mates and pups to let them know where they are while hunting or travelling alone.  It also lets other coyotes know that this territory is taken and to stay out. 

Depending on their size, the average food requirement per coyote is approximately 1 kg/day.  Their main diet consists of rabbits, birds, small mammals such as squirrels, moles or mice, amphibians, grasshoppers, wild berries and fruit.  And yes they will eat vegetables in a vegetable garden.  They do like deer, especially if it is wounded or young and if they kill a deer, and have lots of food, then they can fast for a while.  And yes, they will eat cats and small dogs.

Coyotes can adapt to any environment where there is an abundance of food.  This includes urban areas.  They are often found in city parks where squirrels are plentiful, in industrial parks, in abandoned properties, and wherever garbage is stored or freely available.  Some people intentionally feed the coyotes and this is not a good idea, because once the coyotes learn that food is easily available in a certain area, they cannot unlearn it and will continue to come back to that area.  They generally stay in bushy areas during the day and do their hunting and scavenging at night.

If there is not an abundance of natural prey and livestock such as sheep or chickens are available, the coyotes can become a problem for farmers. They are opportunistic hunters and will kill livestock if it is freely available, especially when natural prey is scarce.  

It is permitted to shoot a coyote that is killing livestock on your own property, but not on anyone else’s unless you are a licensed trapper or hunter or animal control person authorized by MNR.  You do require a small game license to hunt coyotes and hunting them is open season all year long in Southern Ontario.  Do check with your municipality though to make sure you are not breaking any municipal bylaws by hunting in your area especially near an urban area.  

It is illegal, however, to poison them or cause them undue suffering.  So if coyotes are causing a problem for your livestock, and you don’t want to hunt them, contact MNR and get a person authorized by MNR to deal with your problem.  If you have a problem with coyotes killing your livestock, call MNR for information on what to do.  Some municipalities will come to investigate and if it is proven that coyotes are killing your livestock, there may be a compensation plan for farmers. 
 
Remember that coyotes don’t want confrontation.  They are simply wild animals trying to survive, to eat and to feed their young.  So to discourage coyotes, there are several things you can do.

Keep Your Garbage in closed containers or inside until garbage day.  If you can, put your garbage out the morning it is to be collected.  They hunt and look for food at night.

Be careful with compost.  If it is freely available, it will attract coyotes because they like fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs.  So keep your compost in a closed compost container.

Do not put food out and intentionally feed them.  This will keep them coming back for more. Once they learn there is food in a certain area, they will never unlearn it.

Fishers

The Fisher is a member of the weasel family and it got its name from the European Poul Cat that the French called Fitch (pronounced Fiche).  This developed into the name Fisher.   The males, slightly larger than the females usually weigh about 15 lbs while the females who tend to be a bit smaller, are in the range of approximately 9 lbs.  They are dark brown ranging to almost black in color. Twenty years ago our area did not have any Fishers, since Algonquin Park was the furthest south that they ventured. Their range of locations had been greatly diminished, especially in Southeastern Ontario, due to logging, overharvesting for fur and predator control.

Since 1999 they have begun to recover their numbers and their range of locations. The Fishers in our area have mainly migrated from the Adirondaks, coming across the St. Lawrence River.  Fisher numbers have increased in Southeastern Ontario since the 1950’s, because the forested area has increased, mainly due to the reduction in farming.  Many of the farms were subdivided, sold off, and allowed to go back to natural forestation. 

This has attracted back the Fishers as they prefer densely forested areas with a wide variety of both deciduous and coniferous trees with big trees which often contain their dens.  Southeastern Ontario is also attractive to Fishers because it has a good supply of diverse food sources.  Fishers are solitary animals and live alone except that the females who stay with their kits for about 6 months,  spring until fall. Once they are two years old, females mate and have their young in the spring months, usually producing from 2-4 kits per year.  This is a good time for this process as food is plentiful.     

Fishers are very territorial and males will fight with males and females will fight with other females in their territory.  Males and females don’t fight even if their areas overlap, and female territories are often smaller and inside male territories. They are considered generalist predators.  The mainstay of their diet is rabbit and porcupine.  However, they are scavengers and will eat deer carcasses, and road kill as well as turkeys, birds, raccoons, snakes, fruit and berries.  The chances that they will attack your cat or small dog are not high, but letting your pets roam the woods at night is generally not advisable in our woods. That said, these beautiful creatures are not nearly as dangerous as their almost mythical name implies.

Leopard Frogs

The below is an edit of an original article by Cataraqui Regional Conservation Area.

Not that long ago, leopard frogs were the most abundant and widespread frog species in North America. It was hard to visit a marsh, stream or pond with­out coming across a number of these interesting looking spotted frogs. Since the 1970s, however, massive declines in Canada and the United States have significantly reduced their num­bers. The declines are attributed to a combination of eco­logical factors, such as pollution, deforestation, habitat loss, lawns and mowing and pesticide use. 

They are more sus­ceptible to changing environmental factors than most species be­cause of their highly permeable skin that absorbs any toxins in their surroundings. Because these frogs are extremely sensi­tive to chemical pol­lutants, they are often used as an ecological indicator species. This means that biologists studying particular ar­eas are able to judge changes in pollution, disease, habitat, etc. by studying the frog population in the area.

Northern leopard frogs are named for the array of dark spots that adorn their backs and legs. They are green in color with a white under­side and light-colored ridges on either side of their backs. Their range is most of northern North America, except for the Pacific Coast. They generally live near ponds and marshes, but will often spend time in well-covered grass­lands as well, earn­ing them their other common name, the meadow frog. In winter months, they avoid freezing by hibernating underwa­ter in water bodies that are deep enough to prevent freezing solid.

Northern leopard frogs will eat just about anything they come across. They sit still and wait for prey to appear, then pounce with their powerful legs. They eat beetles, ants, flies, worms, smaller frogs, including their own species, and even baby birds and garter snakes. Northern leopard frogs are preyed upon by many different animals such as foxes, snakes, raccoons, other frogs and even humans. They do not produce distasteful or poisonous skin secretions like many species of frogs and instead rely on speed to evade predation.

At Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area as well as other Conservation Areas in the region, these frogs can be found close to ponds, streams, marshes, reservoirs and lakes. They can also be spotted in fields or heavily for­ested areas, especially if there are streams nearby. To track them down, it is best to lis­ten for a short snore-like call during spring and early summer. This is the sound of the male frog looking for a mate as breed­ing season is the springtime.

While the numbers of Northern leopard frogs have signifi­cantly declined over the past few decades, this species is not yet considered at risk in Ontario. If you want to help them recover, please be sure that you do not mow your lawn short, or perhaps at all in the late summer, especially near waterfronts. Help support a healthy population of crickets in your garden in August.

There are a number of envi­ronmental groups that have frog watch programs aimed at improving the native habitats of frogs in Ontario. If you would like to get involved or receive more infor­mation, please visit Frog Watch at na­turewatch.ca or the Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conserva­tion Network at www.carcnet.ca

Zooplankton Analysis of Loughborough Lake

In August 2017, over a period of nine days, MNRF’s Science and Research branch conducted the first ever Broad-Scale Netting program on the lake. The results were shared with you in the fall 2017 newsletter. Analysis of zooplankton in the lake took longer and Joel Clarke, a technician with MNRF, recently sent the results.

Using Google as my instructor (how else would one know what zooplankton, dinoflagellates, copepods, rotifers, daphnia, veligers, ostracods and leptodora are?), plankton are organisms drifting in oceans, seas and bodies of fresh water. Zooplankton, one of two categories of plankton, are primarily transported by water currents but many have the ability to move in order to avoid predators or to increase the prey encounter rate. The zooplankton feed on a variety of small organisms and are usually found in surface water where food resources are plentiful.

Three water samples, all in the west basin, were taken to analyze the presence of zooplankton. The first was a vertical haul type completed in a water depth of greater than nine metres off Davidson’s Beach. The second was taken at the same depth by O’Neil’s Point as the nearest landmark. The final sample was by the Perth Road boat launch and was considered a horizontal haul type in shallower water of less than nine metres.

In analysis of the first two samples, the team noted mostly dinoflagellates (ecologically important protozoan zooplankton group), algae, copepods (small crustaceans), daphnia (small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas), and a few leptodora (nearly transparent predatory water fleas which swim and catch copepods). The second sample also had higher density veligers which are planktonic larva of many types of sea snails, freshwater snails and clams.

The final sample near the boat launch consisted mostly of algae, copepods, some plant remains, five juvenile zebra mussels and the lowest density zebra

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mussel veligers compared to the other two samples. There were also more than 100 ostracods in this sample whereas the reading was zero for the other two. Ostracods, small crustaceans which are food for small fish, are very common in all freshwater lakes. Clarke indicated that this sample happened to randomly capture them while the other two didn’t this is perfectly fine.

The number of zebra mussels in all samples was greater than 100 which Clarke noted is a common value for lakes which contain zebra mussels. No bythos, an abbreviation for bythotrephs, an aquatic invasive species commonly known as spiny water fleas, were found in any sample. This is a good thing.

These zooplankton haul samples taken last year are meant to establish the presence or absence of aquatic invasive species, not their abundance. Many lakes in southern Ontario contain similar results to Loughborough’s. We are fortunate that with this initial sampling, a baseline has now been established in order to compare future readings.

Trout Stocking Loughborough Lake

Since 2015, the Lake Association has actively partnered with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) to assist with stocking the west basin with Manitou Lake Trout fingerlings provided by the White Fish Lake Culture Station. This endeavor has grown in scope to allow 15,000 trout to be released in under two hours for each of the past two years. In addition, two boats, full of students from the Queen’s University Biology Department, have joined us. This year’s stocking event, which was held on May 17 th in beautiful sunny conditions, concluded with MNRF providing a barbeque lunch for all of the volunteers.

Each year the event improves in all areas: a firm stocking date is now given ahead of time, the timing of the arrival of the tanker truck containing the fish as well as the start time for the volunteer boats has been fine-tuned, the optimal number of boats has been determined (7 plus the Queen’s boats), filling of coolers to hold the fish and optimize their survival rate (away from shore while waiting – better for the fish to have clean, cool water and less waiting time at the shore), several more nets and runners to move the fish quickly from the tanker to the coolers have been added, and completing the waiver forms ahead of time to once again save time are just a few. The barbeque was a lovely addition, but the timing will be adjusted next year so food will be available by the beginning of the second run for those who need to leave early due to other commitments.

As always, many thanks go to all of the volunteers who freely gave their time, boats, and enthusiasm to this venture! If you are interested in taking part in next year’s project, please email Nada Beamish.