Down South feat.Selby!

Our next stop was Saint Catharines, Selby -son of Aspen Valley's GM, Julia- llives in a small appartement with Guiness, his dog! We took over his living room for a week while discovering the area: Vineland, Port Dalhousie, Saint Catharines, Jordan Village, Toronto and the Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls
This is without a doubt one of the biggest tourist attractions of the country. The city build around the falls is like one big amusement park, it's just crazy! The Honeymoon Capital of The World...we don't get it???
Anyway the waterfalls are magnificient! There are two major sections: the Canadian side or Horseshoe Falls and the American side or American Falls. During peak flow season, almost 6000m³ drops down every second...incroyable!

Forest Hike - Ball's Falls (Jordan Village)
It was our first day down South without rain so Selby took us on one of his favourite local hikes! The forest was at its best, everything was fresh and spring's perfume was delicious. After all the rain the river that crossed the forest had become one wild flood! Selby had never seen this before...and I have to admit I've never seen a greener forest before. Flowers, insects, birds and raccoons...beautiful.

Saint Catharines Area

We had a lot of fun and we took the dogs wherever we could: Canadian geese (Branta canadensis) at Port Dalhousie, a shipwreck in Lake Ontario, the artist in Selby Harris and a local game of Lacrosse, one of Canada's national sports. Lacrosse is basically Air Hockey and pretty agressive! It's all about the ball in the net...

The Owl Foundation - Vineland

When I was working with the owls in Aspen Valley I heard about the OF in Vineland. I contacted them to ask if I could visit the foundation and the answer was positive. They promised us two hours of their time and we ended up staying five, which was great! Thank you, Annick for your time and the great tour you gave us.

The Owl Foundation is founded in the early Seventies by Kay and Larry McKeever. The original idea was to breed injured owls and to release the juveniles. Kay and Larry McKeever proved to the world that it's possible to breed injured owls in captivity as long as you give them the habitat they need. Owls need to have choices: high and low perches in different sizes, sun shade and rain, open and hiding spots, seperate and social areas.

As an architect Kay has designed all the enclosures in a way nobody did it before. She and the staff succesfully bred 14 of the 16 native owl species in captivity. Kay is 86 now and still active in the Foundation. Thanks Kay for having us over! One of the species that's never been bred in captivity is the Short Eared Owl (Asio flammeus). This almost endangered species needs a special breeding complex, one of the Foundation's future projects.

Three injured owls came in when we were there and we could join Annick in the examination room. Two of them were Northern Saw-Whet Owls (Aegolius acadicus). These little owls are smaller than a pigeon, incredible! Annick examined the general condition, the age and the sex of the birds. It's interesting to see the age of an owl by examinating the new versus the old feathers. This migratory species only sheds his feathers partly each year, a fresh feather contains bloodtracks and colors pink underneath a black light.

Check http://www.theowlfoundation.ca/ and check my Owl article in the local newspaper http://www.cottagecountrynow.ca/opinion/columns/article/1008268--aspen-valley-has-inspiration-from-belgium!

We watched, we enjoyed, we learned and we drove back North after a very nice week in the Niagara Region! Thanks Selby for the entertainment and the hospitality. It was great and we'll keep in touch! We're back in Parry Sound now, at Brenda's place! We said good bye to the sanctuary and we're preparing everything for the big roadtrip in front of us! Keep on reading folks...the Winter has gone, long live the Blackflies and Mosquitoes!

OneLove

T H and Woewoewoewoe...

AVWS - Week Six.

My last week was different, first of all it wasn't the same without my lady. A different atmosphere was covering Aspen Valley...Spring brings busier times and that means that the tension rises at the sanctuary! Some things went perfect, other projects failed, you win some...you loose some! Anyway...Springtime after all! The first Swallows, Hummingbirds...and Flowers are popping everywhere...

Often I wandered through the sanctuary looking for what we had lost and I mostly ended my trips with a visit to the Artic Wolves. The sisters are shy but once they get to know you, all they want to do is play...they are just happy and smile!

One of my dearest friends was laughing lately about the fact that he couldn't see any wild bears on the picture of the sanctuary property. Here you go Jean...a juvenile bear challenged me by standing up on his backlegs as I approached him! The other one is the most impressive black bear I've seen so far...I just wished he'd stood up towards me like the juvenile!

The last day of my stay at Aspen Valley, I managed to finish the masterpiece...the big platform for Subira is a fact! The T-post, the ropes and the logs for her to play with are there...I hope the staff will use the new construction to give this African Lioness her daily exercise, I'm sure they will!!! I want to thank Ed, Jock and Joe for helping me on this project! I couldn't have done it without you guys, thanks! I also want to thank the staff for giving me the opportunity and the trust to work in this enclosure. And thanks Subira...for your patience!

Spring brings new life, new birds...I saw eleven Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) soaring and playing, enjoying the warm breeze, looking for food above Aspen Valley. A Broad-Winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) was surveying for prey on a nearby electric wire. This raptor is no bigger than a crow and mixed forests are his favourite.

And everybody is enjoying spring, as I was wandering around I saw a fox (probably suffering from mange) having his lunch up in the forest. I saw a rehabilitating bear enjoying his now peaceful life high up in the trees and the American Robin – Le Merle d'Amérique (Turdus migratorius) enjoyed a quiet sunset.

Another chapter is written, we had a great time at Aspen Valley. We enjoyed every opportunity to work with the animals. We want to thank Julia and Marilyn for having us at Aspen Valley and for the accomodation, the good care, understanding and supervision! I want to thank Ed and Jock for the enjoyable moments we had together during work, eventhough we had to do some fucked up jobs, we kept on laughing. We want to thank Joe...for just being Joe, we loved it...thanks and take care man! Thanks to all the other Volunteers and last but not least: thank you Jan and Brenda, it was nice working with the both of you, thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. Good luck Aspen Valley, we wish you all the best and...so long Gandalf!!!

We're reunited and in the Niagara Region now! I promise less text, less animals and more survival news so keep on reading my dear friends...

Yours sincerely

T H&Th.

AVWS - Week Five.

My fifth week starts at Wednesday and without Hannah...It's different and strange to be back but I still have a lot to accomplish so the days will pass by very fast. While I was gone, four new baby squirrels came in and we have two coyote puppies now...GREAT! Less people and...more feedings. I have the chance to use one of Janelene's lenses on my camera so it's time to do some Macro Fotography...hum hum, I'm learning! Marta, an other volunteer, is responsible for the baby rabbits and she's doing a great job! Do you guys remember Carlos? This baby raccoon came in as first in april, he was cold and barely breathing. Janalene, Hannah and Brenda did a great job taking care of this 'coon', his eyes are open now and his aspiration problem seems to be gone. Babies, babies and babies : )!

We finally removed Billy Bear. It was a real struggle catching this bear cub. We had to grab her with a catchpole and I can tell you, this tiny bear is wild and viscious. I was amazed how much power she had. When we finally grabbed Billy, Janalene managed to tranquilize her. When she was down we could check her weight and her sex. It's a female and she gained about 18kg since she came in on February 26th. Janalene let me do the eartags, nothing new for me because I did a few dozen of sheep in the past, it's the same system accept it's a wild bearcub now. This was a great experience for me...Billy Bear is still adapting to her life between the other young bears. One step closer to freedom!

The eight cubs were as afraid of Billy as Billy was afraid of them, they all climbed up in the trees because thats what young bears do when they are scared.

There was a big fuss going on about a mother raccoon and her three babies ending up in Labrador in a crate sended up there by a construction company. The company made everything possible for the mother to return to Toronto and after a long journey, the family ended up safe and well at Aspen Valley (; |) ! Ofcourse this story had to go in the newspaper and Julia asked me to take some good raccoon shots of the rehab animals down in Raccoon City so I did...

I have a favourite squirrel these days. He's big, he's black and his enormous tail is red. He's in charge of this place and he's really everywhere. He's fast as hell and the King of all trees...: ). And we had another visitor this week, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) came to steal some sunflowerseeds. Beautiful...Thanks Jock!

I finally started the enrichment project for Subira! I'm going to build a new platform for her. We'll feed her on the platform in the future to make her climb and work for her food. Movement and exercise are the keywords in this project. We've managed to build a solid base for the platform. I hope I can finish this masterpiece before I leave. It's freaky to work in a lion's enclosure knowing that this big cat isn't far away, she's lockd up inside but still...We decide to install and extra security door in front of the hatch that seperates us from Subira! A good and bad idea...

Did you ever saw a guy in a canoo trying to catch two beavers? This is the stunt I pulled after we had an emergency call: two beavers are stuck between the Burnel Locks in Huntsville. The moment I stept in that boat I felt the most stupid guy on earth! Anyway, I know now that beavers are smarter and faster than me. Two guys with a driftnet rescued the beavers a couple of days later.

And we finally moved Gandalf on friday. The interior of his enclosure is brand new and he has to adapt to his new environment. He's still my favourite owl but I'm pretty sure he hates me know because I was the one catching him. One thing is for sure, I loved building and creating these enclosures! I guess the combination of landscapedesign and animal care isn't too bad after all!

Sorry for the delay folks but week five was a busy week and I barely survived : )...Beware because springtime warms up the sanctuary, I wrote an article on the Owls for the local newspaper, week six will be my last week at Aspen Valley...and I encounter wild bears every day now!

One Love

...I miss you baby!

T&Th.





We Love Toronto - Toronto Loves Thurber!

Begin deze week waren we enkele dagen in Toronto! Deze gigantische stad is Canada's grootste en huist maar liefst vijf miljoen inwoners. We kwamen zongagmiddag aan en Hannah's vliegtuig ging dinsdagmiddag dus veel tijd hadden we niet. Bovendien was het kil en regenachtig dus niet echt bijster goed citytripweer. In ieder geval reizen we nu met z'n drietjes en dat is wel effe wennen zeker in een stad van dit kaliber.
Duizend handen hebben hem gestreeld en minstens evenveel lippen hebben hem beschreven...Bassethound, Wienerdog, Beagle?...het is klaar en duidelijk: Everybody Loves Thurber!

We hebben de stad doorkruist en we hebben genoten van de gezellige drukte en de chaos die het centrum met zich meedraagt. Zoals elke grootstad, extravagant multicultureel en gebogen onder een dik pak smog. Well, we loved it and we'll be back!

And Thurber, well he was a little bit impressed by all the people and his new status as a celebrity! Tired as he was, he enjoyed the night in his kingsize bed in our very dog-friendly hotel. And so did we...

So Hannah is gone. She's safe and well in Belgium as I write this! It's strange, it's different but she'll be back soon and thereafter, we'll leave this province to continue our travels!!! Beware...In a meanwhile I barely survived week Five at Aspen Valley so more stories coming up soon...

OneLove

T H and Th.



AVWS - Week Four.

What do you need to know about week four before I start my story? Week four is Hannah's last week at Aspen Valley. Week four is the last week of April and week four was a week of beautiful weather...in Belgium! Week four was a cold and wet week full of mud and emotions in Rosseau.
Thurber survived his visit to the vet's office and the GM was intense but I guess it had a Happy End, more or less...Mama Bear is awake and alive and kicking! She's been used to teach dogs how to hunt bears, so the dog owners took her frontpaw claws and her canines away, to make a long sad story short! She's unable to hunt and to survive a happy life in freedom and she's a widow because Poppa Bear died a few years ago, he had the same history! Anyway I've met her recently and my respect for this beautiful animal and her history is neverending. It makes me feel small in a way and very...very sad sometimes.

We are still feeding babies and we had a very special one coming in last week. A dog destroyed a rabbit's nest and killed all the babies, accept for one. It's very hard to raise wild baby rabbits because they are so vulnerable and they need a lot of care. This one is doing great so far thanks to the good care of Brenda and our new volunteer, Marta!

You know that the bearcubs are awake and that we have a recovering baby bear in the barn...Well this week was supposed to be a very big week for Billy Bear. We were about to move him to the bearcub enclosure to make him familiar with the other bears and to prepare him for the journey of his life. Several emergencies and wet and cold weather delayed his removal to next week but in a meanwhile he's waiting shy and patiently in the barn.

I think it's time for you to meet the Alpha Male. I have to be honest, I forgat his history but I know nobody knows whether or not he's a purebred Wolf .If you are lucky and he likes the way you move, the way you smell and -with a huge respect for my friend Joe- the way you howl, he'll come down...I see him once in a while...if I'm lucky, Meet M'kom!

And if I talk about emotions, I talk about Amarook! This beautiful Grey Timberwolf lived at the sanctuary for fourteen years. She died on friday night...we'll miss her high song during the night and we wonder why? So long Wolf...farewell! Amarook probably joins the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) that came in this week. It had been attacked by a cat and ended up with an injured wing. I gave the little bird the first care, before we brought it to the bird sanctuary. I've put the wing back in its position with a bandage and wrapped it around the body to keep it tight. There was no fracture, probably a dislocation. We've heard that they euthanized the Woodcock on Wednesday because there is no proper treatment for a dislocation of a bird's shoulder.

I've met Bart, he's an MNR inspector and he came on Friday! He gave the approval for the otter and the beaver enclosure and he praised me for my work on the owl enclosures. So Bibi, Marilyn's beaver will continue her recovery and exercise on Monday in the outside enclosure. And next week we'll move Lenny and Addie to the beautiful spot near the lake where they will taste freedom soon.

Well my fifth week will start on Wednesday and there's still a lot of work to do. There's an upcoming priority and Sadie is the main character! Some of the animals will be released and some of them will move one step closer to freedom but in a meanwhile it's very quiet in the little Bunky because we took a trip to the big Chaos, named Toronto! More news next week my friends. Enjoy this blog, enjoy this life, goodmorning - goodnight, smog kisses and rainy hugs!

And for my own safety and to avoid any questions, there is always a fence between me and the animals when I make my shots...but I did make a little exception on the Woodcock : )!

Yours sincerily

The Beauty, the Beast and the Hound - CityTrippin'!