September 2024 Newsletter
https://bit.ly/KWEFSept2024Newsletter
Included in this issue:
WQM & LPP
Bears
Santa Claus Charity Water Ski Show
WQM & LPP
Our Water Quality Monitoring (WQM) program has been completed for this year. Many thanks to all our Lake Stewards who help to make this valuable program possible! This program would not be possible without their assistance.
Many of these same people also participate in the Lake Partners Program (LPP) run by the Ministry of the Environment (which we know as DESC based in Dorset). The raw LPP data for our lakes up to the end of 2022 is on the KWEF website: www.kwef.ca.
Lake Partners Volunteers: please send copies of your Secchi readings to me by email: stan.kwef@gmail.com.
If anyone is planning on not continuing with the Lake Partners Program next year, please let us know.
If you know of someone who would like to take over your volunteer job that would be great, otherwise we will try to find a replacement. It is important to keep each of our lakes continuously enrolled in this program.
Thanks again for everyone’s help and support!
We plan to create graphs of the LPP Secchi and TP (Total Phosphorous) data for each lake and add that to the website as well. Graphing the data makes it easier to identify trends or similarities between the lakes. I also need to get busy this fall and get all the WQM reports up on our website.
Bears
In the past month, there have been a number of bear sightings in Kearney. In Ontario, black bears can range from black to cinnamon or brown in colour. All are considered black bears. They live throughout most of Ontario, and primarily inhabit forested areas where they are best able to find food, refuge and den sites.
Bears' entire life revolves around food. When they are not hibernating, bears spend most of their time looking for food. From the time they come out of hibernation until berry crops are available, bears live off their stored fat and the limited energy provided by fresh spring greens. Although they are formally classified as carnivores, meaning they mostly eat meat, their diet is truly omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and animals. They get most of their food energy by feeding on summer berry crops like blueberries, raspberries, and cherries. In the fall, they turn their attention to hazel nuts, mountain ash, acorns and beech nuts.
Though black bears will eat carrion, insects, fish, deer fawns and moose calves, the bulk of their diet is plant material. Their natural preference is to find lots of high energy food, like berry patches, that will help them fatten up fast. Their survival and ability to have and raise young depend on their ability to put on weight before going into winter hibernation. The availability of their natural food varies from season to season and from year to year and will affect their reproduction rate.
When there is a lot of natural foods available, the number of reported bear sightings are lower. When natural food sources are scarce, reported sightings are higher because black bears will look for alternative food sources, sometimes in urban or developed areas.
Bears need 20,000 calories a day to prepare for hibernation— that’s 78 pounds of blueberries, 672 acorns, nearly 25,000 tent caterpillars or one seven-pound birdfeeder filled with black oil sunflower seed.
Black bear sizes will vary greatly year over year and depend on the availability of natural foods.
When fully grown female black bears can weigh up to 300 pounds, but on average weigh 140 pounds. Male black bears can weigh up to 500 pounds, but on average weigh 200-250 pounds
Most human-bear conflicts occur when bears are attracted by smells and rewarded with an easy meal. When bears pick up a scent with their keen noses, they will investigate it – even at your house. If bears are rewarded with feasts of bird food, garbage or pet food, they will return as long as the food source is available. It takes all of us working together to eliminate these attractants and to stop bear problems.
Here are some tips to help avoid these unwanted visitors:
fill bird feeders only through the winter months
keep your pets on a leash
store garbage in a bear-resistant container with a tight-fitting lid, secure shed or garage
do not store garbage in plywood boxes, old freezers or vehicles
do not stockpile garbage — take it to an approved waste disposal site regularly
if you have garbage pickup, only put garbage out on garbage day, not the night before
keep meat scraps in the freezer until garbage day
remove grease and food residue from barbecue grills, including the grease trap, after each use
do not use outdoor fridges or freezers, including beverage fridges, as these may attract bears to your property
do not put meat, fish or sweet food, such as root vegetables and fruit in your outdoor composter
pick all ripe fruit off trees, and remove vegetables and fallen fruit from the ground
never purposely feed bears (or other wildlife) or try to approach them
If you are a seasonal resident or snowbird, before you leave your house or cottage for an extended period of time, make sure that you:
Remove your garbage
Use a strong disinfectant to eliminate all odours from garbage and recycling containers and lids
Never discard cooking grease outside: place it in a container with a lid, transfer it to a plastic bag and include it with other properly stored garbage
Clean and store your barbeque it in a secure shed
Do not leave any food or food scraps outdoors for pets or other wildlife
Do not leave scented products outside; even non-food items like suntan lotion, insect repellent, soap and candles attract bears
Close and lock all windows and doors
Have someone you trust check in and look for signs of a bear visitor or break in
Source: www.ontario.ca
