After several more sightings were reported, and one altercation with a man and his dog out towards the dump, conservation officers came into town and shot a cougar. They reported that the cougar was old and emaciated.
We don't know if that was the only one causing worries in our village, so we still have to take care to follow cougar safety rules, but it's a relief that our concerns were heard. A conservation officer told my husband last week that the cougar sightings have to be phoned in immediately so that there's enough time to get the tracking dogs up here and not lose the scent.
The number to report wildlife incidents is: 1 877- 952-7277
Here are the ways to minimize cougar risks posted by the village:
1. Cougars are most active before dusk and after dawn. Try to keep your children and
animals at home before dusk and indoors until after dawn. However, they will roam
and hunt at any time of the day or night and in all seasons.
2. If you see a cougar, stay calm and keep the cougar in view. Pick up children
immediately – children frighten easily, the noise and movements they make could
provoke an attack. Back away slowly, ensuring that the animal has a clear avenue
of escape. Have yourself look as large as possible. Keep the cougar in front of you
at all times.
3. Never run or turn your back on a cougar. Sudden movement may provoke an
attack.
4. If a cougar shows interest or follows you, respond aggressively. Maintain eye
contact with the cougar, show your teeth and make loud noise. Arm yourself with
rocks or sticks as weapons. Crouch down as little as possible when bending down to
pick up things off the ground.
5. Roaming pets are easy prey for cougars, keep them leashed or behind a fence.
6. Bring your pet in at night.
7. Don’t feed the pet outside. The pet food might attract young cougars or small
animals such as squirrels or raccoons which cougars prey upon.
8. During late spring and summer, one to two-year old cougars become independent
of their mothers. While attempting to find a home range, these young cougars may
roam widely in search of unoccupied territory. This is when cougars are most
likely to conflict with humans.
Wednesday 29 April 2015
Saturday 25 April 2015
We Are Silent
Recently, the students of Captain Meares Elementary Secondary School participated in a day of silence, inspired by the Me to We movement from Free the Children. Free the Children was developed when a 12 year old Canadian boy named Craig was moved by a story of another 12 year old boy, Iqbal in South Asia who was a slave in a carpet weaving sweat shop, speaking out for children's rights, until he was killed for speaking out.
After learning about Iqbal's story, 12 year old Craig Keilburger gathered 11 friends and started fighting child labour in 1995. Me to We is now a huge international charity focussing on 5 core pillars to end poverty; education, clean water and sanitation, health, alternative income and livelihood, and agriculture and food security. Me to We has worked in 45 different countries, and changes countless lives every year.
Our students have been involved with various Me to We initiatives and have traveled to Vancouver for 2 separate We Day concerts. They always come back energized and inspired to make a difference in the world, starting with our tiny corner.
The students each wrote down the reason he or she chose to be silent, and it was very moving to be reminded of the people in our world who don't have a voice and need our advocacy.
Some of the signs included:
I am silent for girls who don't have a say in their education.
I am silent for those who are controlled by a dictatorship and are unable to vote for change.
I am silent for children who are abused and afraid to get help.
I am silent for those with no voice.
i am silent for people who are too scared to say what they think.
After learning about Iqbal's story, 12 year old Craig Keilburger gathered 11 friends and started fighting child labour in 1995. Me to We is now a huge international charity focussing on 5 core pillars to end poverty; education, clean water and sanitation, health, alternative income and livelihood, and agriculture and food security. Me to We has worked in 45 different countries, and changes countless lives every year.
Our students have been involved with various Me to We initiatives and have traveled to Vancouver for 2 separate We Day concerts. They always come back energized and inspired to make a difference in the world, starting with our tiny corner.
The students each wrote down the reason he or she chose to be silent, and it was very moving to be reminded of the people in our world who don't have a voice and need our advocacy.
Some of the signs included:
I am silent for girls who don't have a say in their education.
I am silent for those who are controlled by a dictatorship and are unable to vote for change.
I am silent for children who are abused and afraid to get help.
I am silent for those with no voice.
i am silent for people who are too scared to say what they think.
Monday 20 April 2015
Tahsis Featured in the Province
An article by Paul Luke in the Province about BC's tiniest towns, featuring Tahsis and four other tiny towns.
A Thanksgiving storm sealed Jude and Scott Schooner’s fate when it blew their sailboat into Tahsis 15 years ago.
The Schooners needed shelter from the winter storms and jobs to replenish their depleted funds.
They found much more than work — they found home. After a dozen years living in Terrace, Nova Scotia-born Jude fell in love with the remote village on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Ten years ago, the Schooners launched a business catering to scuba divers, kayakers and hikers.
Jude, 62, now serves as mayor of the village of 315.
That population soars by about 1,000 in the summer as visitors and absentee homeowners flock to Tahsis for its sport fishing, kayaking, hiking and caving.
Tahsis has a compelling combination of affordability and access to pristine wilderness, Schooner says.
“We’re the tomorrow of British Columbia,” she says.
“We get retirees who can sell their homes in other municipalities and with the revenue they gain put themselves into a lower-cost home in Tahsis and put the surplus funds away to see them through their years,” she says.
Detached homes currently sell for $40,000-$50,000, she says.
Tahsis has been working to make a transition to a tourism-based economy since its last sawmill closed in the early years of this century. The 62-kilometre gravel road linking it to Highway 19 is at once an attraction to tourists — wildlife sightings are plentiful along the road — and a deterrent to potential residents who need to live closer to medical resources.
The village, which had been home to about 2,500 people at its peak, is blessed with facilities such as a well-equipped rec centre.
But the village’s infrastructure is aging at a time the provincial government has been downloading responsibility for services, Schooner says.
“In the days of the mills, our councils spent money like drunken sailors ... and put nothing into surplus because they thought the mills would last forever,” she says. “We now know that wasn’t realistic.``
For the full feature on the other 4 towns, click here:
TAHSIS: Former mill town beckons retirees
The Schooners needed shelter from the winter storms and jobs to replenish their depleted funds.
They found much more than work — they found home. After a dozen years living in Terrace, Nova Scotia-born Jude fell in love with the remote village on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Ten years ago, the Schooners launched a business catering to scuba divers, kayakers and hikers.
Jude, 62, now serves as mayor of the village of 315.
That population soars by about 1,000 in the summer as visitors and absentee homeowners flock to Tahsis for its sport fishing, kayaking, hiking and caving.
Tahsis has a compelling combination of affordability and access to pristine wilderness, Schooner says.
“We’re the tomorrow of British Columbia,” she says.
“We get retirees who can sell their homes in other municipalities and with the revenue they gain put themselves into a lower-cost home in Tahsis and put the surplus funds away to see them through their years,” she says.
Detached homes currently sell for $40,000-$50,000, she says.
Tahsis has been working to make a transition to a tourism-based economy since its last sawmill closed in the early years of this century. The 62-kilometre gravel road linking it to Highway 19 is at once an attraction to tourists — wildlife sightings are plentiful along the road — and a deterrent to potential residents who need to live closer to medical resources.
The village, which had been home to about 2,500 people at its peak, is blessed with facilities such as a well-equipped rec centre.
But the village’s infrastructure is aging at a time the provincial government has been downloading responsibility for services, Schooner says.
“In the days of the mills, our councils spent money like drunken sailors ... and put nothing into surplus because they thought the mills would last forever,” she says. “We now know that wasn’t realistic.``
For the full feature on the other 4 towns, click here:
Tuesday 14 April 2015
Suzy the Dog
So this is one year old Suzy, recovered from her run in with a cougar 2 weeks ago. She's got an odd haircut and a scar on her head, but other than that, she's doing fine! She's got a new collar too, since the cougar ripped off her other one during the attack. It's amazing she's ok! Still no word from Conservation about whether or not they've captured the cougar.
Saturday 11 April 2015
Another Cougar Sighting
There's been another cougar sighting tonight, this time on Alpine View, across from Tahsis Springs Condos, walking towards Jewitt Drive, possibly with a cat in its mouth.
Here is some information on what to do if you encounter a cougar, taken from the Village of Tahsis website:
1. Cougars are most active before dusk and after dawn. Try to keep your children and animals at home before dusk and indoors until after dawn. However, they will roam and hunt at any time of the day or night and in all seasons.
2. If you see a cougar, stay calm and keep the cougar in view. Pick up children immediately – children frighten easily, the noise and movements they make could provoke an attack. Back away slowly, ensuring that the animal has a clear avenue of escape. Have yourself look as large as possible. Keep the cougar in front of you at all times.
3. Never run or turn your back on a cougar. Sudden movement may provoke an attack.
4. If a cougar shows interest or follows you, respond aggressively. Maintain eye contact with the cougar, show your teeth and make loud noise. Arm yourself with rocks or sticks as weapons. Crouch down as little as possible when bending down to pick up things off the ground.
5. Roaming pets are easy prey for cougars, keep them leashed or behind a fence.
6. Bring your pet in at night.
7. Don’t feed the pet outside. The pet food might attract young cougars or small animals such as squirrels or raccoons which cougars prey upon.
8. During late spring and summer, one to two-year old cougars become independent of their mothers. While attempting to find a home range, these young cougars may roam widely in search of unoccupied territory. This is when cougars are most likely to conflict with humans.
Here is some information on what to do if you encounter a cougar, taken from the Village of Tahsis website:
1. Cougars are most active before dusk and after dawn. Try to keep your children and animals at home before dusk and indoors until after dawn. However, they will roam and hunt at any time of the day or night and in all seasons.
2. If you see a cougar, stay calm and keep the cougar in view. Pick up children immediately – children frighten easily, the noise and movements they make could provoke an attack. Back away slowly, ensuring that the animal has a clear avenue of escape. Have yourself look as large as possible. Keep the cougar in front of you at all times.
3. Never run or turn your back on a cougar. Sudden movement may provoke an attack.
4. If a cougar shows interest or follows you, respond aggressively. Maintain eye contact with the cougar, show your teeth and make loud noise. Arm yourself with rocks or sticks as weapons. Crouch down as little as possible when bending down to pick up things off the ground.
5. Roaming pets are easy prey for cougars, keep them leashed or behind a fence.
6. Bring your pet in at night.
7. Don’t feed the pet outside. The pet food might attract young cougars or small animals such as squirrels or raccoons which cougars prey upon.
8. During late spring and summer, one to two-year old cougars become independent of their mothers. While attempting to find a home range, these young cougars may roam widely in search of unoccupied territory. This is when cougars are most likely to conflict with humans.
PAC Spring Bazaar - May 2 2015
The CMESS Parent Advisory Council will be hosting the annual Spring Bazaar
May 2nd 2015
11:00 am - 2:00 pm
In the School Gym
If you would like to rent a table, please contact Allison at (250) 934-6437
PAC Spring Bazaars are always fun, lots of worthwhile fundraisers,
delicious food and lovely homecrafted items for sale.
Tahsis Seniors Spruce Up the Room
Congratulations to the Tahsis Senior's Society who recently received a New Horizons for Seniors grant from the federal government. The funds are being used for several upgrades in the Over 50 club room at CMESS. They now have a new 60 inch flat screen TV, a Wii with Wii Fit, and a blue ray DVD player. There's a new fridge, stove and dishwasher as well.
I peeked in the freezer and noticed some of Bill's famous cinnamon buns that he serves on Sunday mornings!
Hours:
Wednesday and Friday open from 1-3 pm
Tuesday New Ladies' Crafts and Play-date 10 am - 1 pm
Sunday morning coffee and a bun starting at 9 am
Sunday night crochet class 7-9 pm
Potluck dinner first Thursday of every month 6:30 pm
Meeting first Thursday of January, May (AGM) and September after dinner (7:30 pm)
Room is available for other times, contact Catherine by email at tahsiswitch@outlook.com
I peeked in the freezer and noticed some of Bill's famous cinnamon buns that he serves on Sunday mornings!
Hours:
Wednesday and Friday open from 1-3 pm
Tuesday New Ladies' Crafts and Play-date 10 am - 1 pm
Sunday morning coffee and a bun starting at 9 am
Sunday night crochet class 7-9 pm
Potluck dinner first Thursday of every month 6:30 pm
Meeting first Thursday of January, May (AGM) and September after dinner (7:30 pm)
Room is available for other times, contact Catherine by email at tahsiswitch@outlook.com
Friday 10 April 2015
The Beginnings of a New Garden
The Village of Tahsis has donated some old concrete garbage bins to the Tahsis Farm to School Program at CMESS where they will become excellent planters for the new herb garden! Thanks to Erv and Corky for maneuvering these heavy items into place yesterday. These guys make it look so easy!
Thanks for supporting local eating, local food production, reducing and reusing waste materials, and beautifying the town, all these goals are mentioned in our new Economic Development Action Plan.
Thanks for supporting local eating, local food production, reducing and reusing waste materials, and beautifying the town, all these goals are mentioned in our new Economic Development Action Plan.
 |
| Erv brings the planters over two at a time |
 |
| Corky directs the placement |
 |
| Imagine these filled with things like parsley, scallions, rosemary, tarragon, thyme and rosemary... all to be included in our Farm to School Lunch Program and our Breakfast Club of Canada Program! |
Sunday 5 April 2015
Easter Sunday at Esperanza
Every Easter (and Thanksgiving) Esperanza Ministries puts out the invitation for people from Tahsis and Zeballos to join them for church and a potluck lunch. Today more than 50 guests showed up in the gorgeous spring weather to enjoy the company and great food.
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| Cindy's hot cross buns |
After some singing, a visiting speaker (John) gave an amazing one man show performance of the story of Easter.
The children decorated bags and then went on an outdoor egg hunt. Guests were invited to wander up the hill to take a peek at the new baby chicks in the chicken coop. We also checked out the amazing work the gardeners are doing with their greenhouse and surrounding garden.
The meal was delicious, with people bringing all kinds of colourful dishes to go with an enormous ham. In the typical Esperanza fashion, there were as many desserts or chummus (sweets) as there were savoury choices.
And, since Canada is a small town, 2 people who worked together in Saskatchewan, randomly bumped into each other today at Esperanza! This added to the feeling of friendship and connectedness that comes with sharing meals and holidays with friends and family.
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| Egg hunt by the playground |
Thank you to Cindy, Tim, Jerry, Jessica, Steiner and Heidi for your amazing hospitality and graciousness, once again.
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| Teens hanging out by the ocean |
Thursday 2 April 2015
Bokashi Workshop
A huge thank you goes out to Terry Fassbender, Organic Master Gardener (and one of the newest directors of the Tahsis Community Garden Society) for putting on an interesting and informative workshop on Bokashi Composting.
18 people came out to learn about EM, or effective microbes. With Terry's help, the CMESS school kitchen is already producing some excellent soil additives with this interesting method, which will benefit the school garden bed at the Tahsis Community Garden, and also the new herb garden at the school kitchen door.
For more information, you can read up on the subject at: mycrobz
Thanks to the Tahsis Senior's Society for allowing us to use the Over 55 club space for the workshop, it was great to be able to have a coffee and enjoy the presentation in such a comfortable room.
One challenge in our area is that good soil is hard to come by, so for us to learn about how to build our own nutrient rich soil using table scraps is invaluable.
18 people came out to learn about EM, or effective microbes. With Terry's help, the CMESS school kitchen is already producing some excellent soil additives with this interesting method, which will benefit the school garden bed at the Tahsis Community Garden, and also the new herb garden at the school kitchen door.
For more information, you can read up on the subject at: mycrobz
Thanks to the Tahsis Senior's Society for allowing us to use the Over 55 club space for the workshop, it was great to be able to have a coffee and enjoy the presentation in such a comfortable room.
Wednesday 1 April 2015
Warning: Cougar Attack
This afternoon, around 1:30 pm, in the field near the stone Tahsis sign, Ken and Sherry's dog Susy was attacked by an orange cougar that darted out from the bush. It tried to drag Susy away, but gave up and ran back into the trees when Ken ran towards it.
Susy's thick leather collar was torn right off and she has some shallow puncture wounds on her scalp and belly and some damage to her ear, but on the phone the vet said she'd probably be ok after having antibiotics.
When something like this happens, the best thing to do is call the RCMP. The Gold River RCMP number is (250) 283-2227, or of course call 911 if someone is injured. The RCMP would contact the Conservation Officer, or the public can report to the Conservation Officer by calling: Dial Toll Free 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP) to report wildlife-human interactions where public safety is at risk.
In this instance, it sounds like the Conservation Officer is coming in with trained dogs to track the animal. A cougar jumping out near 2 adults (and 2 dogs) in the middle of the day in town might be indicative of it being sick or injured, and definitely dangerous.
The word got out to the public incredibly fast via facebook, and a few phone calls. The Village office was notified and posters will go up to let people know to keep an eye on kids and pets.
A local vet that comes to Gold River (typically 2 Thursdays per month) is Dr. Dave MacDonald, and you can make an appointment through Lori Toohey at 250 283-2508 or if it's an emergency, call 250-339-2511.
Susy's thick leather collar was torn right off and she has some shallow puncture wounds on her scalp and belly and some damage to her ear, but on the phone the vet said she'd probably be ok after having antibiotics.
 |
| This was taken on a previous walk, Sherry and her 2 dogs. Susy is the (smaller) border collie, not the lab. |
When something like this happens, the best thing to do is call the RCMP. The Gold River RCMP number is (250) 283-2227, or of course call 911 if someone is injured. The RCMP would contact the Conservation Officer, or the public can report to the Conservation Officer by calling: Dial Toll Free 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP) to report wildlife-human interactions where public safety is at risk.
In this instance, it sounds like the Conservation Officer is coming in with trained dogs to track the animal. A cougar jumping out near 2 adults (and 2 dogs) in the middle of the day in town might be indicative of it being sick or injured, and definitely dangerous.
The word got out to the public incredibly fast via facebook, and a few phone calls. The Village office was notified and posters will go up to let people know to keep an eye on kids and pets.
A local vet that comes to Gold River (typically 2 Thursdays per month) is Dr. Dave MacDonald, and you can make an appointment through Lori Toohey at 250 283-2508 or if it's an emergency, call 250-339-2511.