• ISSUE NO. 1414 • • THEISLANDSGRAPEVINE.COM • • JANUARY 2, 2020 • • “Have told so many friends, ‘Don’t worry, New Year will be better!’. I love misguiding people.” • Nitya Prakash • Sylvie SchrSchroederoeder D.I. General Store PPersonalersonal RRealeal EsEstatetate Corporation 250-8250-898-919998-9199 GENERAL STORE HOURS • Mon-Thur •8 am to 6:30 pm What’s new! NEW PRICE! • Fri • 8 am to 7 pm EST. 1991 HORNBY ISLAND & DENMAN ISLAND A unique 2bed/2bath • Sat • 9 am to 7 pm COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER • theislandsgrapevine.com • home recently all • Sun • 12 pm to 4 pm renovated with a dreamy POST OFFICE HOURS kitchen, hardwood floors, new windows & more... • Mon-Thur •9 am to 12 pm/ DENMAN HARDWARE on a stunning sunny 1 pm to 4:30 pm “Your friendly local hardware store” 4.5ac ready for a major (Closed from Noon-1pm for the only break the staff gets) gardening & across from • Sat • 12 pm to 3 pm HAPPY NEW YEAR! 36136111 East RRdd • beach access! Detached $$699,000699,000 workshop, chicken coop, Store: 250-335-2293 PO: 250-335-1636 • PLUMBING • ELECTRICAL • HARDWARE • Graham water system TTopop nnotchotch ooutstandingutstanding sstaff.taff. GGrumpyrumpy bbossoss wwhoho ttoldold hihiss sstafftaff tthathat • TOOLS • LUMBER • HOUSEWARES • GARDEN • wwwwww.sylvieschroeder.com.sylvieschroeder.com [email protected]@sylvieschroeder.com hhee hhadad hihiss cchairhair sstolentolen aandnd hhee wwillill nnotot ttakeake tthathat sisittingtting dodown.wn. 335-2400 HOURS M-F 9-4 • SATURDAY 10-4 LIKE NEVER BEFORE The Islands OPEN in January! Bente Pilgaard Managing Broker, Realtor • Open 10-4pm daily Friesen Family Construction • Sundays 12-4pm 250-792-0128 335-0881 ........find us on Facebook........ Ltd. Building for the future Happy New Year HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM Local Licensed Builder THE ISLANDS GRAPEVINE . Wishing everybody a safe, 2-5-10 Warranty 250-465-2375 HERE’S TO ANOTHER ORBIT healthy and joyous 2020 www.friesenfamilyconstruction.com AROUND THE SUN!! www.islandsrealestate.com • 2 • JANUARY 2ND, 2020 • THE ISLANDS GRAPEVINE • COMM CONTENTS COUGARS ON DENMAN ISLAND INFO ISSUE NO. 1414 • JANUARY 2ND, 2020 By Peter Karsten • Wildlife Advisory Committee (WAC/DIRA) • COMMUNITY INFO • ougars occur in most parts of 600 km2. Adult male cougars can • 2 • COUGARS ON DENMAN ISLAND BC including Vancouver Island. travel 50 km in a day, female trav- by Peter Karsten C • 4 • TAI CHI CLASSES ARE MOVING TO There have been confirmed cougar el less far. Adult cougars may swim TUESDAY NIGHTS sightings on Denman Island in the from V.I. to our island in search of by Brian Miles past and we can expect to see cou- new hunting grounds with good • 4 • DENMAN’S UNIQE NATIVITY gars anytime. deer populations. We do not know PAGEANT CALLED GIFT TO THE at what age kittens may do so but be- COMMUNITY by Trish Weatherall The WAC received reports of a lieve it is unlikely that a female takes ARTS&LIT • sighting of an adult chasing a deer at her kittens across. For kittens to be • 3 • UPCOMING CHANGES TO THE the south end of East Road (Dec. 9) raised by their mother requires her CALL TO LOCAL WRITERS and two kittens near Orkney Farm to kill 1 to 2 deer per week needing by Jo-Anne McLean (Dec. 12.) The kittens sighting needs about 25 lbs of meat per day. This • 3 • REEL YOUTH FILM FEST & CUMBERLAND COMMUNITY confirmation. The WAC does not high rate of deer kill would become SCHOOLS SOCIETY SEEK LOCAL put out full alerts unless two prov- evident in front country (residential YOUTH FILMS en sightings are made and or a wild areas) on Denman. Our backcountry by Kate Ashton or domestic animal is may be lim- • 6 • FROM THE CROW’S NEST: Surfer Girl confirmed as a clear ited to raise by William Thomas cougar kill. WAC kittens to members will investi- adulthood. • 9 • A LETTER gate cougar signs such It is unlike- as tracks, scat (feces), ly to have • 9 • POEM: IN A WORD kill sites and scrapes a resident by ThomasProvençal (marking spots). female with kittens on Before we go any fur- our island. ther I like to lead you Kittens are to the excellent publi- left on their cation “Wild Safe BC” – (Cougars), own by their mother at close to two REGULAR FEATURES by the BC Conservation Foundation years of age and become “transients”. • 3 • Tide Table • 11 • Gary’s Toon [email protected]. It is a practical • 10 • Crossword and comprehensive account on how A female with kittens present a par- • 10 • Mr. Stofer to live in cougar country. ticular safety risk. If you encoun- • 11 • Classified Ads ter them anywhere be super careful • 12 • Business/Services Directory • 12 • Many of the cougar sighting re- and retreat. Over-aged cougars no The Coming Week’s Events ports made to the CO turn out to longer able to kill wild game pose a be misidentifications. Night sight- threat to humans and livestock, but Cover image: DI General Store - Jan 1st, 2020. ing are particularly difficult to con- these animals would be challenged Photo by Dreadful Imagery firm. Light coloured, larger dogs are to make the swim to Denman. The at time mistaken for cougars. See likely animals to arrive here are sketch below for the difference be- transient cougars. Young cats may tween the animals. be inexperienced in killing deer and may resort to predate on domestic Cougars have huge territories, fe- animals and pets. males: 60 to 125 km2 ; males 250 to Cougars are nocturnal hunters and are rarely seen in the day time. They are very reclusive and avoid human contact. To my knowledge there have not been reports of cougars at- tacking or threatening humans on Denman Island. Nonetheless, cou- gars and bears are powerful pred- ators to be respected. Do read the “Wild Safe BC” article. • THE ISLANDS GRAPEVINE • JANUARY 2ND, 2020 • 3 • UPCOMING CHANGES TO THE CALL TO LOCAL TTIDEIDE TTABLEABLE WRITERS By Jo-Anne McLean ARTS&LIT • Secondary Tidal SStationtation ForFordd Cove • • SourSource:ce: tidestides.gc.ca.gc.ca • ach year, the Denman Island Readers’ and Writers’ Festival committee makes room for Denman Island writers to present their work at the annual festival. Denman Is- 2020-01-02 E (Thursday) land has an abundance of talented writers, and we’ve outgrown the current first-come Time Height method of selecting which writers win the coveted ten-minute reading slots. PST (m) (ft) 03:39 2.2 7.2 In an effort to ensure we’re presenting the very best our island has to offer, we’re making a 11:05 4.7 15.4 significant change. Starting this year, we’re upgrading to an audition method fo selection. 18:40 2.7 8.9 23:12 3.2 10.5 In May, the annual “Call to Local Writers” will become an “Invitation to Audition.” Writers 2020-01-03 who didn’t read in the previous year will audition and be juried by their peers on criteria (Friday) that includes writing, presentation, and timing. Time Height PST (m) (ft) If you’d like to practice presenting your material to an appreciative audience, you’re invited 04:18 2.6 8.5 11:36 4.6 15.1 to attend the local Writers Group, which meets every third Sunday from September to June 19:25 2.4 7.9 at 3:00 to 5:00 in the Activity Centre Lounge. A $3 drop-in fee applies. 2020-01-04 (Saturday) If you have questions, please email them to Jo-Anne McLean at jpmclean@jpmcleanauthor. Time Height com. PST (m) (ft) 01:22 3.3 10.8 ARTS&LIT 05:11 3 9.8 REEL YOUTH FILM FEST & CUMBERLAND 12:08 4.5 14.8 COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SOCIETY SEEK LOCAL 20:04 2.1 6.9 2020-01-05 YOUTH FILMS By Kate Ashton (Sunday) he Reel Youth Film Festival (RYFF) in conjunction with the Cumberland Community Time Height PST (m) (ft) TSchools Society (CCSS) is once again seeking film submissions from local youth. 03:03 3.5 11.5 06:26 3.3 10.8 12:43 4.5 14.8 “Each year that we have hosted this event, we have doubled our local filmmaker content. 20:40 1.8 5.9 This event continues to grow and we love being able to provide a venue for filmmakers 2020-01-06 to feature their work” said Kate Ashton, Program Coordinator for CCSS. “Please help us (Monday) Time Height spread the word to as many youth filmmakers as possible. Films can be anything including PST (m) (ft) music videos, skate videos, funny content and dramatic content. You can even use your 04:02 3.9 12.8 07:50 3.6 11.8 phone if the resolution is high enough. This is the perfect activity to do over the winter 13:21 4.4 14.4 break!” 21:17 1.4 4.6 2020-01-07 (Tuesday) Each film should be between 3-5 minutes long, and be created by youth 19 and under. Time Height Adult help is permitted, but must be disclosed on the submission form. Submission forms PST (m) (ft) 04:47 4.2 13.8 and more information can be found by emailing Kate Ashton at ccss.youthcoordinator@ 09:04 3.7 12.1 gmail.com. The submis- 14:01 4.4 14.4 sion deadline is Friday, 21:54 1.1 3.6 2020-01-08 February 8th, 2020. (Wednesday) Time Height PST (m) (ft) The Reel Youth Film Fes- 05:27 4.5 14.8 tival is being hosted by 10:04 3.7 12.1 Cumberland youth as a 14:44 4.5 14.8 22:33 0.8 2.6 fundraiser for the CCSS 2020-01-09 Youth Centre.