Wednesday February 20

The howling of the wolves -- which are actually coyotes. They are smaller, but can be just as mean. A natural part of the ecosystem? Or a damn nuisance? In the country the latter view often prevails. We do have wolf tracks in our driveway -- the second time we (Bill actually) has noticed them this winter. "Would he eat Ivan our cat?" "In a second" replied Bill. Scary thought, as I explained to Ivan, telling him to be careful. Fortunately he is very delicate and rarely ventures outside in winter, hating to get his paws cold or wet. Again according to Bill, once Spring comes and the coyotes can find their normal prey of small rodents with ease, they will cease hanging around human habitation. This is good.

Meanwhile, in the township of Greely -- south and east of Ottawa -- there were 400 sightings in a month of coyotes within a three-kilometre radius. Small pets were killed occasionally. "I agree, Ivan it's dreadful". According to the Ottawa Citizen, "the coyote population has now been hunted and trapped into submission, and the vast majority have moved out of the area". Nothing a rural redneck likes more than an excuse to hunt. And this is happening here. When Bill last visited the garbage dump, there were snowmobilers out there hunting wolves. So that explained why I heard snowmobiles at dawn the other day -- it seemed awfully early for recreation. Furthermore, on our way into Ottawa the other day, Bill pointed out more snowmobilers who were unloading their machines by the side of the road -- there were cages on the back of the trailer as well, containing hunting dogs.

My own view is that wolves and coyotes are an essential part of the ecosystem, helping to keep it in balance. When it comes to Ivan, my emotions take over... Get rid of them!