Maynard van der Galien
Farmers Forum
There have been many changes to farm life since I was a boy in the 1950s and a teenager in the 1960s. One change that never seems to be mentioned is wildlife.
You didn’t see wildlife back then. They stayed in the bush hidden from view. The only wildlife I saw as a boy were groundhogs and porcupines.
This winter, when I was working in the bush, cutting and skidding out trees for firewood, a big beautiful wolf would come by on occasion. Some days he’d be sitting beside the groomed snowmobile trail that goes nearby. He was always alone.
When there was fresh snow, I’d see he had been making the rounds in the bush or passing through. There’s nothing in the bush for him to catch but a number of chipmunks scampering about.
The two groups of wild turkeys stay mostly in the gully the next field over. There are deer visible in the area, but not in the winter. There are no cedar trees for them to browse.
My wolf bud is not afraid of the tractor I’m in and has been as close as 50 feet away. He has a smooth coat of hair and looks healthy. He’ll move away when I toot the tractor horn or if I step outside of the cab.
I had a lone wolf sit a few hundred feet away one autumn day a few years ago when I was installing some drainage tile. It sat on a knoll watching the landscape.
The first time I saw a coyote up close, I was in the tractor. He was crossing the field I was in and I was shaken by the looks of this creature —the snoot and the bushy tail. It looked like a dangerous animal. The wolf is different.
Going back to the 1950s and 1960s, we had a small bush farm near Eganville. During the day our dairy cows would be grazing on rough, hilly bush land and at night we’d keep them in a little pasture field by the barn. All those years it was my job to bring the cows home for the evening milking. Most days by 5 p.m. they were heading home, but there was 200 acres of bush they could be in. I never saw deer. My father and I worked in the bush during the winters and we saw deer tracks in the cedar swamps, but we’d never see a deer.
You’d never see deer in the summer grazing on legumes in the hay fields. You would think they’d be out early in the morning or in the evenings munching on tasty white or red clovers.
I also spent a lot of time in my youth exploring the bush for miles around. There was a high, rocky hill you could climb up and see for miles over the trees. I’d walk through the bush to go fishing in the river. I built forts in the bush. I built a raft out of logs I’d cut and prodded around in a swamp at the back of the farm. I would check a beaver dam that was holding back a big pond. I knew the area bush like the back of my hand. But I never saw wildlife, other than porcupines and groundhogs.
It was always interesting when it was hunting season, as we’d see what deer looked like because hunters often displayed their game over the hood of their vehicle or on the roof and drive through town.
The local newspapers were more than happy to give front page coverage of photos of the trophy deer positioned with the hunters as if they were big game hunters in Africa. You know, like Ernest Hemingway.
Everyone is seeing wildlife now. Coyotes and raccoons have moved into the cities. Why are Ottawa and area residents seeing an invasion of wildlife such as coyotes, raccoons, bears, wild turkeys, deer and even moose in the city and on their hiking trails?
Because the cities have become a safe haven for wildlife. There’s food available. And no one is allowed to shoot them. Not like when I was a boy. Every country boy had a .22 caliber rifle and they hunted the varmints. Now they don’t have to be hiding in the bush fearful of the lads with the .22’s.
Maynard van der Galien is a Renfrew area farmer and a long-time columnist with Farmers Forum.
