Groundhogs love strawberries; groundhogs are not alone.

Most homeowners believe that if they have a problem with a wild animal making a nuisance of itself, they can simply live trap the nuisance, drive it out of town, the farther the better, and release it. Problem solved. In truth, it is not this easy.

For one thing, in London a live trapped animal cannot be moved more than a kilometre away from where it was taken. That is only about .6 of a mile and that's not all that far. Stay within the law and the animal essentially stays within its home range. The problem animal may easily find its way home and be back being a nuisance within a day or two. If it doesn't return it may be because it is now busy being a nuisance to a nearby neighbour. This hardly seems fair.

Put the idea of using a pellet gun or BB rifle right our of your head. Using a firearm within the city limits of many municipalities is strictly a no-no and a BB gun or pellet gun is classified by many municipalities as a firearm.

Leg holds are out and with good reason, as is poison as well. With pets and children all about in the city, the danger to other nuisances, like children, is just too great.

So buy a live trap, bait it with one of the suspect animal's favourite foods and, if you are lucky, capture the bothersome critter. Property owners are allowed to protect their property withing legal limits.

I have baited my large live trap with strawberries and some flowers. So far the only animal to show an interest has been a chipmunk. It nibbled on the strawberries from outside the trap. As of this time, no sign of a groundhog. Maybe tomorrow I will up the ante by baiting the trap with chopped up cantaloupe. If it doesn't find the strawberries enticing enough maybe a large helping a cantaloupe will do the trick.

Think of this not as a flower but groundhog food

It's a little late in the year to be shopping for garden flowers. My wife spent her gardening budget a month or more ago. Now, that investment is under attack.

Last night my wife notice the flowers in one of her patio planters were vibrating. Weird. She watched. A groundhog poked its head up. It was taking a brief break from having its dinner. And what was dinner? Of course, my wife's flowers were the main course. And it ate them all. Every last one!

And so today it was off to the garden centre to look for more groundhog food—uh, flowers, potted flowers.

The groundhog will return. Of this, I have absolutely no doubt. Will it again dine on potted flowers? If it does, I have broadened the menu. There is a new flower being offered. To sample this flower, the groundhog only has to venture into to live trap I have set in the backyard.

First sign of new subdivison: mountains of topsoil

 

The first sign that a new subdivision is about to be built are the mountains of topsoil tucked into a far corner of the development. The former farmland contains far too much organic material. It is good quality soil for growing crops but poor quality soil for "growing" homes.

Topsoil will not support a structure. It must be removed and in southwestern Ontario there may be a lot to remove. Sometimes the topsoil extends up to four feet down. Hence the veritable mountains of topsoil removed from construction sites.

And what happens to the topsoil that was bulldozed? A lot of it is put back when building ends. It can cost a lot to truck the earth away. It is easier and cheaper to simply use it to give the new homes the soil necessary to for grass and landscaping.

Soil not returned to neighbourhood land can be bagged and sold if the builder finds there is too much soil. After the homes go in and the roads are paved, it is not surprising that often there is some soil remaining when all the subdivision work has been completed.

Vaccinated folk may need boosters

The most recent info on vaccination vs. recovery from a bout with COVID-19 may indicate that those who get vaccinated after overcoming an infection with COVID-19 may not require booster shots. Those who get the recommended two shots some weeks apart, but who were never infected, may require boosters at some point in the future. The take away here is that those who have recovered from COVID-19 may still benefit from getting one vaccination.

But today we are not all that concerned with boosters. The drive is still to get everyone vaccinated. It is beginning to seem like every drugstore in London has become a vaccination clinic carrying the COVID-19 vaccine. Appointments are recommended but many folk have been successful with the walk-in approach.

Patio umbrellas do duty on balconies

I cannot recall patio umbrellas being used on the balconies of high rise apartments when I was a boy. Today one is seeing these shade-givers appearing more and more on building balconies around the city.

Partnering with capitalism

I have relatives who like to divide the world into right and left, into conservatives and liberals. They get all agitated at the idea of progressives. Me? I like to go with what works.

When the vaccines for COVID-19 were announced, the drugstore chains in Canada stepped up and said that they could do a first-rate job of delivering the vaccine to the public. Many of the drugstores in Canada already offer the annual flu shot.

My wife and I got our first shot of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine at an Ontario government run clinic held in a large building at the fairgrounds back in mid April. We had no complaints but we needed an appointment and there was a substantial wait time for many people. The wait time for the second dose seemed downright unreasonable. We were not slated for our second dose until early August. A wait of almost four months!

Enter capitalism and our Canadian, privately run drugstores. Granted the amount of vaccine has increased greatly and that is a big part of why wait times are down but it does not explain away all the delays. No matter which government run operation we called, whether in London or a nearby town, my wife and I could not get a shot before July.

Then we heard from a friend who simply walked into a drugstore, inquired about getting vaccinated and was vaccinated before she left the drugstore. Wow!

My wife called a neighbourhood drugstore. The first place, a Shoppers Drug Mart, was giving out the Moderna vaccine. My wife and I were given the Pfizer for our first shot. No problem, we were told. The other Shoppers Drug Mart in our area had the Pfizer. We were given the telephone number, we called and less than 48 hours later both my wife and I had our second shot. It is not even the middle of June. Not bad.

The immediate cost of the vaccinations, nothing. Our provincial health care system is covering all costs. Whether one gets the shot at a government run clinic or a privately run drugstore, the cost is covered. The successful partnering between governments and businesses to quickly deliver vaccine in Canada is an example of doing what is best, doing what is most efficient and not worrying about the political optics. 

The last figures that I saw showed Canada almost tied with Israel for the highest number of vaccinations per 100 residents. Canada was just ahead of the United Kingdom but was well ahead of the United States.

Thousands walk to protest Islamophobia

A speeding vehicle used as a lethal weapon left four members of a London Muslim family dead and the nine-year-old son in the hospital with serious injuries.

A memorial at the family's mosque attracted more than ten thousand Londoners rallying to show support for the local Muslim community. A walk Friday night attracted thousands stretching more than a kilometre down the route of the walk. Many of the walkers wore covid-19 masks as they walked. 

One goal of the night was to raise money to fight Islamophobia in London and to give financial aid to the boy left injured. At this time, the donations are already nearing the million dollar mark.