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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-01-27, Page 15SALES I SERVICE LTD E SPECIAL THIS WEEK 1990 Pontiac 6000 LE 4 dr. 6 cyl., air, p.s., p.b., AM/FM cassette, delay wipers, p. trunk $7,975. 1886 Ford F150 XL 6 cyl., standard, AM/FM, p.s., p.b., one owner $4,975. BRUSSELS AUTO 887-9269 Eligible Items Grant Rate Grant Ceiling -manure storages 50% $12,000 -milkhouse waste disposal systems 50% $5,000 -fencing livestock from rivers 75% $10,000 -private septic systems 50% $2,000 ATTENTION Farmers and Homeowners CURB Program Grants Available The CURB Program (Clean Up Rural Beaches) is offering financial assistance to farmers and homeowners for specified projects to improve water quality in rivers and streams. Grants are available for the repair or rebuilding of private septic systems, construction of manure storages, milkhouse waste water disposal systems, and to fence livestock from watercourses. This program is targeted at agricultural and rural residential areas located upstream of swimming beaches. Financial assistance is limited to those applicants who are polluting watercourses. Proposed projects with the greatest potential for improving water quality will be considered first for funding. For more information or application forms contact the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. The CURB Program is funded by the Ministry of the Environment, and the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. Maitland Valley Conservation Authority Box 127, Wroxeter, Ont NOG 2X0 (519) 335-3557 Ontario By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot In recent years, the population growth of beavers has become a big nuisance for farmers and townships alike. The slump in the fur industry has drastically reduced the value of beaver hides and as such, the beaver has been largely ignored by trappers. That means more beavers, more darns and more flooding water. "We sure have a beaver problem," says West Wawanosh Township Clerk Joan Armstrong. Last year, the township council entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to pay $25 to hunters per beaver trapped. Since then, 41 beavers have been trapped. Grey Township faces the same problem. They've had a similar agreement with MNR for over five years and last year, approximately 20 payments of $25 were issued to trappers for beavers. "Beavers are a true nuisance," says Dave Grahlman, drainage superintendent for Grey Township. "It seems a municipal drain is their favourite place to build dams and when they do, it backs up water until it submerges farmers' tiles so the land won't drain. Then there is immediate flood problems," he says. Besides flooding farmer's fields, rising water can kill trees in the area in addition to the trees the beaver kills for food and housing materials. Mr. Grahiman said it costs the municipality approximately $200-$300 to eliminate a beaver dam. Part of the costs goes to a trapper and the other to a backhoe operator to dig out the dam. An overpopulation in beavers is also considered a nuisance for the MNR. Mike Malhiot, a biologist with the MNR in Wingham, says the Ministry doesn't like to see beaver dams in coldwater streams because they damage species in the streams. "Dams in brook trout streams eliminate spawning areas and pond the water so the creek warms up, which is not desirable," he says. The $,?...5 fee for nuisance beaver offers trappers like Ross Taylor .of Belgra:/'nore incentive to trap. He's been hunting since he was, an4 La beaver he trapped in East Wai,v77?wnslat , ,// /7- 'Whim about trapping. '',04;ri ',theyre a nuisance he says And' , MT:,, one had been flooding lioniet /„7".7 He compares trapping to correcting a problem. "It's like if you haVe-an electrical problem you call an electrician or if you have a plumbing problem you call a pltunber. If you have Ayre,..ble7 pu call a trapper. He admits there is little IneentiVe ' ' 40y 1/YA9,444141911 awfur,IPark,c7/ " // legally hunt coyotes if they are given permission by the landowner. As well, farmers are allowed to kill coyotes on their own property pro- vided the are being a nuisance and Mother pleads guilty to theft A Seaforth area mother of four pled guilty to theft under $1,000 in Wingham's provincial court, Jan. 20. Virginia James, 27 of RR2, Seaforth and formerly of RR1, Clinton was placed on 12 months probation by presiding Judge R.G.E. Hunter after hearing the crown's evidence. The theft occurred on Nov 11 in Wingham. Crown attorney Robert Morris told Judge Hunter that a local merchant had notified police after observing Ms James in his store. When police apprehended her they found a pair of gloves, val- ued at $39.95 in her purse, which she admitted taking earlier from Rosalind's Fashion Avenue. the farmer has a license for a firearm. Mr. Malhiot believes there is enough harvesting by local trap- pers to keep the coyote population under control, des ite the slums in the fur industry. For those just interested in catch- ing a glimpse of the elusive animal, Mr. Malhiot says its highly unlike- ly residents will get the chance. However, landowners might be able to sec tracks and sometimes at night, hear a howling-yipping kind of sound which is the coyotes' form of communication. Belgrave trapper Ross Taylor stands beside the mounted pelt of a 40-pound beaver he caught. Mr. Taylor's been hunting since he was a youth and helps local farmers rid themselves of beavers—an animal which is becoming a real nuisance to fgrmers and municipalities due to a population increase. Beavers are a nuisance, say townships PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1993. Coyotes may be increasing in number, says MNR By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot If you've noticed paw tracks in the snow lately, there's a good chance they were wolf tracks. Brush wolves, known as coyotes, may be increasing in numbers, according to Morris Township Reeve Douglas Fraser and a biolo- gist with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) in Wingham. "In the last few years, wolves have been increasing quite drasti- cally," says Reeve Fraser. Last year, three Morris Township farmers lost livestock as the result of wolf attacks. Morris Clerk Nancy Michie says, 10 sheep were killed on farms in 1992—six from one farm, three on another and the last sheep on a neighboring farm. "They were confirmed coyote kills by our township evaluator", she says. However, since the live- stock deaths, two coyotes have been shot and killed. Though Morris has experienced the detriment of a high coyote pop- ulation, Mike Malhiot, a biologist with the MNR in Wingham, says he's had no other coyote complaints from county residents. "The population is not to the point where there is danger to live- stock," he says. "We've received only two complaints concerning death to sheep, and one was from Morris." He says the high population of coyotes can be considered benefi- cial because they keep the rodent population under control as rodents make up a large portion of the ani- mal's diet. • As well, when there are high numbers of coyotes there are low numbers of foxes because coyotes will not tolerate foxes and will kill them. This is beneficial since foxes, due to their sociability, are major carriers of rabies. Coyotes, on the other hand, aren't very sociable and are not considered a good carrier of the disease. The apparent increase in coyote population isn't isolated. Many other types of wild game are expe- riencing the same population growth, reveals Mr. Malhiot. "Most wild animals experience cycles in population. It is a natural feature of wildlife," he says. "Now, we're in a high population cycle." Along with coyotes, populations of deer, rabbits, field mice and ground hogs have increased, mean- ing there is plenty of game for the predator. "It's easier for coyotes to take wild game than to go near farms and human activity," says Mr. Mal- hiot. "Only if the predator popula- tion has overshot the prey population will coyotes turn to domestic animals." This, apparently, is what has hap- pened in Bruce County where hunters are offered a bounty for killing coyotes. No such bounty exists in Morris or neighbouring townships. Bounties are legal if approved by the MNR. Mr. Malhiot explained an agreement can be reached if a coyote problem is confirmed by a farmer and then a township evalua- tor. However, licensed trappers can Brussels Ag. Society meet Continued from page 1 "You see the pictures of India where the cattle roam free and the people are starving. It doesn't make sense to me. Next they'll (the activists) be telling us we can't tie up our tomato plants," she said, tongue-in-cheek. Farmers have to make farming fun again, she said. "It has to be more than a job, it has to be love. It has to be a way of life."