Comments for Gabriolan.ca

Comment on Lost dog: Dormilon by Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:28:22 +0000

Someone spotted my doggie today, Sunday February 5th, around 3pm in Whalebone and Pequod Crescent. Neighboors around that area, could you please keep an eye and if you see him, tide him and call us. He is very friendly. Thank you!

Comment on Crepuscularity by Anon E Mouse

Anon E Mouse — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:47:14 +0000

cher,
Until I read your post I assumed this was just a case of Gabriolan being silly and playing around with words…
I knew the word “crepuscular” but not “crepuscularity” which I assumed Gabriolan had invented. Following cher’s lead I looked it up and was astonished to find that it was defined online in the wiki-dictionary. (Wiktionary?)
Geez, who would ever use this word in conversation?

Comment on Crepuscularity by nick

nick — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:51:02 +0000

Beats “twilightness”. An hour earlier and it would have been “verdant verticality”.

Comment on Crepuscularity by cher

cher — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:54:50 +0000

crepuscularity wow I had to look that word up as I have never heard it before.
I did get a definition from google but the Microsoft spell check says it is spelled wrong. Is it a proper word spelled this way or is Microsoft spell check not up to pare.

Comment on Hello, Corix! by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:17:13 +0000

Thanks, installer! We’ve all been wondering.

Comment on Hello, Corix! by installer

installer — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:10:06 +0000

the visor is to protect against the risk of an arc flash. the uv light from a flash when within 10ft can damage your sight. can happen when the guts inside the meter were incorrectly installed or cracked over time and when the meter is remove the electricity grounds out on the frame causing the flash. once the ring is removed shield should be in place, after meter is in shield can be put up.

Comment on Fairy Fen by Sheila M

Sheila M — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:32:58 +0000

Fairy Fen is an especially amazing place – a bog that floats above the water … when you walk on it, you can feel the ground bounce below you. I’ve never felt anything like that before.

Comment on Reflections at the Gabriola Commons by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:39:02 +0000

Thanks, skadhu! It was a gorgeous afternoon, and I hoped to capture some of that. Did you see the sky at sunset? Lots of billowy pink clouds.

Comment on What big teeth you have! by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:37:23 +0000

skadhu – Here are some measurements.

Total length: 23cm.
Width at widest point: 12cm.
From middle of one canine tooth to the other: 4.5cm.
From back of mouth to front teeth: 11cm.

BTW, the Dental Anatomy of Dogs page has some good photos.

Comment on Reflections at the Gabriola Commons by skadhu

skadhu — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:45:26 +0000

Oh my, that’s a GORGEOUS picture!

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by Sal

Sal — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:06:43 +0000

Pericat, you and I are going to have to agree to disagree– peacefully. I have chickens– lots of ‘em- and have a dog. Would still love to see a cougar.

You have just reinforced my point: You saw a cougar and came away… unscathed. Treasure the memory. Very few people get to see such a majestic animal in the wild. And the sad fact is that, yeah, when several sightings occur someone will be dispatched to do away with it because of an irrational fear that we can’t live in harmony and it will kill us. Sure, it happens–rarely– but like I said earlier there are more rational fears to ponder if you have a need to (car accidents, etc.)

Yes, it is exciting and fun to talk about though.Hopefully the cougar will stick around for a while and thin out some of the deer.

Comment on What big teeth you have! by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:42:39 +0000

skadhu — The skull does indeed have a pointy ridge along the top. I’ll measure it tomorrow.

Comment on What big teeth you have! by skadhu

skadhu — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:12:49 +0000

How big was the skull? We just looked at the inside of Our Dog’s mouth, and was similar in shape to the ventral view.

Does the skull have a pointy spot on top, as opposed to being smooth and rounded? Our Dog’s skull has a distinct pointy ridge on top.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by pericat

pericat — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:04:58 +0000

I can think of several reasons for not wanting to see a cougar; if one keeps chickens, for example, or gets about with a cane, or walks dogs – small dogs in particular, but even large dogs could escalate tension if the cougar is surprised. And if a cougar, or more than one cougar, is seen multiple times, eventually someone is going to go after it with a gun. I’d just as soon that not happen.

I have seen a cougar, years ago. It was in the wee hours of the morning, and it was way unhappy about being seen. There wasn’t fifteen feet between us. It left the way it got there – over the fence behind it, which surely beat the alternative, in my opinion. If I ever see another, I hope there’s a good deal more air between us and it sees me first.

Comment on What big teeth you have! by nick

nick — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:13:25 +0000

I agree. Don’t know.

Comment on What big teeth you have! by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:41:18 +0000

nick- After reading your comment, I went off and viewed some photos of dog skulls, like the ones at skullsite.co.uk. I think the snout of the skull I found is too long to be that of a bulldog or a boxer, say. But that's just my guess, and it's not like I know anything on the topic.

Attached is a ventral view of the same skull.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by Sal

Sal — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:25:41 +0000

Pericat, I said “relax” because it was sounding to me like some people were getting a little stressed out: “Why have there never been postings by the RCMP to warn the population?” “Still haven’t seen one on the island and hope I never do.” Sorry if I sounded like a stick in the mud, but I was thinking that y’all were stuck deep in the mud.

Personally, I would LOVE to see a cougar, and am not worried in the least about it.

Comment on The cat is not lost by elen

elen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:26:11 +0000

Gilbert is a much-loved, beautiful (and slim) guy who has been “rescued” several times by well-meaning folk who thought he was lost.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by pericat

pericat — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:04:30 +0000

Why should we ‘relax’? We’re having fun. Also, if faced with an unhappy or cornered cougar, I’d say I’m much more likely to regret the encounter than to die in a car accident in the next five minutes, so that stat is out the window.

Anyway, whether or not it’s sky-falling equivalence, a cougar sighting is exciting and fun to talk about. Your saying to relax and so forth just made it less fun. I’m sure you didn’t intend that, but that’s the usual result of poo-pooing others’ interests.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by Sal

Sal — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:49:14 +0000

My goodness people relax! The sky isn’t falling, a cougar has been seen. I would love to see a cougar. I worked in the bush for years and never saw one, although some of my friends did. And nobody got eaten either!

The media jumps all over things like cougar or bear attacks, yet one is far more likely to die in a car accident, or to be attacked by a human predator. Cheers.

Comment on Coats Marsh by nick

nick — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:09:54 +0000

I think the credit for creating the marsh should go to the beavers who live there. It is underlain by a thick layer of clay that must be thousands of years old (for just $300 I could tell you exactly how many thousand — there are traces of rotten vegetation beneath the clay).

I believe the Hoggans blasted a drainage route through sandstone at the lower end and for a time the area was used for growing hay and potatoes. It currently has a weir at the top of the old drainage route sufficiently high to retain water in summer, but not so high that the marsh floods in winter.

Comment on What big teeth you have! by nick

nick — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:52:28 +0000

English bulldog?

Comment on What big teeth you have! by deb

deb — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:56:06 +0000

dog skull…wow…I wonder if this belongs to one of the missing dogs reported in the last year, its strange that it would be left out in the open unless it died on its own.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by Mimi

Mimi — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:54:48 +0000

This same rumour has been circulating since I was a child. It was said they swam over from Mudge. Still haven’t seen one on the island and hope I never do. I don’t think anyone has ever gotten a picture of one.

Comment on For cyclists who venture forth in the snow by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:41:38 +0000

That’s a remarkable motorcycle, skadhu! You gonna get one for next snow-time?

Comment on Coats Marsh by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:40:13 +0000

Thanks, Vivian & deb! It was a gorgeous morning.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by Gabriolan

Gabriolan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:05:52 +0000

cher – Look at the quoted text above. The guy who wrote this account said I reported the sighting. I spoke to this man (a friend of ours) on Monday, and he mentioned that he had reported the cougar to the RCMP. They told him to talk to the Conservation Officer Service, so he reported to them as well.

As for why the RCMP don’t warn Gabriolans when they hear of a cougar on the island, you’ll have to ask them. My guess would be that there are likely to be cougars on Gabriola quite regularly, so no big deal from their point of view. And since a cougar can move from one end of the island to the other quite quickly – or off the island altogether – it would be difficult to issue any sort of timely warning.

If the RCMP hear about a cougar on Tuesday afternoon, what are they going to do? Put a notice in one of the Gabriola papers for the following Monday? The cougar might have left the island altogether by then.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by deb

deb — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:50:42 +0000

hi cher…I dont think they can be verified…thats why I call them hypothetical sightings. I wish that someone would take a pic and post it on fb or in the papers:)

Comment on Coats Marsh by rick

rick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:03:51 +0000

I understand this marsh was created when Clyde Coates dammed (sp?) up the drainage area because he was going to grow cranberries. Would have been an interesting crop for the island.

Comment on Cougar seen on Daniel Way by cher

cher — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:59:09 +0000

If there have been true cougar sightings why haven’t they been formally reported
and why have there never been postings by the RCMP to warn the population?