Silent Spring…Silent Summer
I am , of course, paraphrasing Rachel Carson’s ground breaking book about environmental damage to the ecosystem by pesticides. Rachel concentrated mostly on birds, but in this case it is being used to emphasize my own observations over the span of my living in Drayton for the past 15 years and whether or not pesticides have played any part I certainly can’t say, as I am not an environmental scientist, nor do I have any pretensions in the field, but I am an avid observer of nature.
I have lived in the same place since my Wife and I moved to Drayton and have a wonderful view of extensive lawns, cultivated fields and healthy trees and spend a great deal of time (weather permitting) sitting and reading outside and observing the variety of Wildlife that used our large lawn area as a commuter highway. Rabbits, groundhogs, skunks, foxes, racoons and occasionally, deer and of course the ubiquitous squirrels of the black, grey and red variety. These sightings were virtually on a daily basis. I was also quite surprised one morning a few years ago by an animal not all that common in this part of Ontario; a badger!
During my time here, I should state there have been no buildings or homes built anywhere close to my residence (Conestoga Crest) or any obvious changes in the geography or landscape. So, I have to wonder why over the years the number of critters that used the area as a commuter highway has literally disappeared. So far this year I’ve seen only two rabbits, no groundhogs, no skunks (smelled the odd one), no racoons and haven’t seen a deer in years and have seen only one fox in the past 5 years. The number of squirrels has substantially reduced with no red ones at all and only the odd gray squirrel.
As an aside, I should mention that this year there did not seem to be the number of ‘Road Kills’ on roads in the area. I certainly didn’t count the ones I did see, but the numbers just didn’t seem to be near what they used to be. I don’t know if the county or township keeps track as they remove them, but if they do, I’d be curious as to the numbers.
I realize that this is a changing world, and always has been and that includes wildlife populations and their movements and maybe my observations are just a microcosm compared to the wider world, but it is a concern why in a rural area like Mapleton that so many varieties of animal life have just disappeared in a specific area without any Urban Sprawl interfering with their movements.
E. Barry Bruyea
Drayton, ON
E. Barry Bruyea