... From My Front Door

[MattiThundrrr]

Fifteen Minutes' Drive From My Front Door

We passed three dog sled teams on our way. A parkway strung through a cluster of islands in the St Lawrence river. Campgrounds, beaches, empty islands, canoeing, cycling all seem distant as the rain and snow splat down. We duck under the gate blocking the roadway.

I'll be camping on this site in six months, stopped by to check it out and was smashed with a wall of reminiscence. Right there, across the bay, remember when Dad gave me my first taste of Labatt's? He laughed so hard when 5 year old me spit it all over the picnic table.

Today's beverage is warmer, maybe more appropriate. Mmmm hot cocoa

Seems safe to assume that no one is violating that ordinance today.

 

[Oak Tree]

Looks like Texas last week. It’s all gone now.

It also looks like a beautiful place to camp with family. Here’s to good times!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Ayuh, but the difference is that we're used to it, some even like it. I feel for you guys. Been without power for a few weeks in the winter, I know what it's like.
It has actually been a very mild winter here, not super cold (only a couple of weeks of -20°c) and only a couple of medium to large snow dumps. I've seen years where we got more in a week than this entire winter

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Trailhead is a 5km drive from my front door.

Lotsa fatbike tracks today, the lovely Ms Dice keeps suggesting we get a couple of them. The snow felt grippy like Hero Dirt. Is Hero Snow a thing?
Plenty of deer tracks and scat as well, they seen to be using the packed trails as highways through the woods, off the trails, they sink in at least a foot. The boys thought the poop was hilarious.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Expletives launched from my front door.
Earlier this week, over 15°c (60° old timey units). This morning, snow. Grrrrrrr

 

[Captain Awesome]

Expletives launched from my front door.
Earlier this week, over 15°c (60° old timey units). This morning, snow. Grrrrrrr

Ugh. I so feel your pain. It was 80 and sunny yesterday, and today the gods have sent us a measley 65 and partly cloudy

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Where you located, Cap? Geographic coordinates will suffice

 

[Captain Awesome]

Where you located, Cap? Geographic coordinates will suffice
View attachment 153762

North of @kingfish254 and @Dr. Tankenstein

Don't go too far east. You'll get wet

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Methinks there be beasties in the campground!

 

[RustyGold]

A wolf that fishes, or a wolf that knows where the fisherman put his catch? Either way...nice .

 

[MattiThundrrr]

More likely a coyote, they're making a comeback in the area, and opportunistic feeders. And those carp are super abundant in the shallows, you could fish for them with a baseball bat. I was a little nervous on the island with the kiddos, when coyote get used to people, they can be quite dangerous.

 

[RustyGold]

More likely a coyote...

Without any size reference in the pic, I figured I had a 50/50 shot. We go through phases around here on coyote population...for the first several years there was a large pack, including a few (no longer) domesticated dogs. We would often find the remains of deer (unfortunately, by smell) just beyond our backyard.

It's been a few years since I've seen or heard any around the house...however, in the past two months I've crossed paths with three on my way home from work...all in relatively developed areas on major roads/highways. So...populations are probably on the rise. Are biggest nuisance animal for the last decade or more is cougars... populations are growing rapidly, and we have reported sightings all around us.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Officially, there are no cougars around here, but I hear about the occasional sighting. I haven't seen evidence of one, I'd be happy to keep it that way. Not remote enough for wolves at this site, but I've heard a pack howling elsewhere. Pretty spooky stuff

 

[RustyGold]

Officially, there are no cougars around here, but I hear about the occasional sighting. I haven't seen evidence of one, I'd be happy to keep it that way. Not remote enough for wolves at this site, but I've heard a pack howling elsewhere. Pretty spooky stuff

With Cougars, you rarely find evidence of them... just the hairs standing up on the back of your neck and the unshakable feeling of being watched. I get home from work ~3am or later, and for 2-3months I had the above happen every night...then, no more. Less than a week later, neighbors 2-3 miles down the road starting have sheep and calf attacks. I'm pretty sure I was being stalked by a cougar that whole time. Thankfully, he found tastier morsels elsewhere.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Officially, there are no cougars around here, but I hear about the occasional sighting

There's a joke in there, but I'll leave it be

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Approximately 2km from my front door:

Holy Moses (Saunders) this dam thing is big

 

[Duchess]

I'm in the suburbs north of Boston and we get coyotes that do the rounds through the yard and surrounding property every few months. I have a couple of recordings of them celebrating kills or communicating hunts or something (one sounded like they were attacking Canada geese in the pond . . . that or the geese were attacking the coyotes because those are some ill-tempered birds) and trail cam footage from the driveway of a lot of healthy ones, one carrying half of a cat. Lot of deer around, but I haven't found any bodies.

The ponds surrounding the property were created by beavers. I can't find the pics I took of the larger beaver dam (actually the uppermost dam over a small intermediary pond I think the beavers built up to avoid having the couple-hundred-foot dam be too tall to hold—these things are really clever! If I could get them interested in bikes, I'm sure they'd do well in a build off.), but this is their thunderdome. This thing is well over 6' above the water and, though I haven't seen its residents, I would not be surprised to set up a trail cam and end up with evidence that castoroides did not, in fact, go extinct.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

This is the reason for my housing choice. This is minutes from my front door

https://www.ontariobybike.ca/bike-m...O3JF441t5oz-CN5oo23cB9e3AZpblW-bBnApVjES7pfb0
But don't visit, we're locked down. I'll just ride it all myself

 

[Verrt]

just the hairs standing up on the back of your neck and the unshakable feeling of being watched. I get home from work ~3am or later, and for 2-3months I had the above happen every night

The genetic remnants of your ancestors are remembering the smell of the sabertooth.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

This morning, 6 am, I embarked from my front door:
Hmmmmm, that's an unusual kitty trotting down the street. Oh wow, nope, it's a red fox! Never seen one in my life anywhere before last month. Now that they're clear cutting the woods north of my place all the wildlife is moving into the neighborhood. Had a raccoon up the tree in the backyard last night, and a pileated 'pecker made a mess of my birch last week.