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Amazon Prime Early Access Sale deals for the nature lover

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For bird lovers and wildlife enthusiasts, check out this selection of bird feeders, binoculars, and trailcams from the Amazon Prime Early Access Sale. And since nature gets up early, so do nature lovers, so don’t forget a coffee cup and gear for keeping warm.

 

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Cottage Life

Amazon Prime Early Access Sale 2022 deals for the outdoor enthusiast

If you choose to purchase any of these products through the links provided, we may earn a small commission. Read more about our Editorial Policy here.

Fall is here, but there’s still plenty of time to get out there and enjoy all the outdoors has to offer. We’ve rounded up the best deals for the outdoor enthusiast from the Amazon Prime Early Access Sale.

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Cottage Life

Alberta grapples with a virus killing both wild and domesticated rabbits

Alberta is on the lookout for dead rabbits. The province has witnessed several cases of a deadly strain of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus known as RHDV2.

The virus has killed numerous rabbits over the last year, including five pet rabbits in Taber in May 2021, three young bunnies from a group of feral domestic rabbits—meaning they were either pets released into the wild or the offspring of pets—in northwest Edmonton in September 2021, and three colonies of feral domestic rabbits in Calgary between late August and early September 2022.

Previously, RHDV was only found in Alberta’s feral domestic rabbits, but among the most recent deaths was a wild mountain cottontail rabbit. The difference between wild and feral rabbits is that wild rabbits are native to the environment while feral rabbits come from stock once domesticated or imported from other countries. Wild rabbits were thought to be immune to RHDV, but the RHDV2 strain is infecting wild populations. This was the first wild rabbit found dead from the virus in the province, said Alberta’s Ministry of Environment and Parks in a report. The ministry wants to prevent the virus from becoming embedded in Alberta’s wild rabbit populations.

How to identify Canada’s 5 rabbit and hare species

Researchers first diagnosed RHDV in China in 1984. Since then, the virus has spread through Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, and some parts of Asia and Africa, the ministry said in an email.

In 2010, researchers diagnosed RHDV2, a new strain, among the European rabbit species in France. RHDV2 has since appeared in North America. Feral domestic populations of European rabbits were killed by the virus in Quebec in 2016, British Columbia in 2018, and Washington State in 2019.

RHDV2 has a mortality rate of 70 to 100 per cent. Once a rabbit is exposed, it can become sick within one to five days, and the virus will quickly tear through the rest of its colony. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the virus is spread between rabbits through direct contact with infected saliva, runny nose and eyes, urine, manure, blood, and infected fur or carcasses.

Common symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, groaning, blood spots in the eyes, frothy and bloody nose, and neurological symptoms, such as difficulty walking, seizures, or paralysis.

Beyond the wild mountain cottontail found dead in September, experts haven’t found the virus in any other wild rabbits in Alberta. But this doesn’t mean it won’t spread. Since the spring of 2020, the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico have experienced multiple outbreaks among their wild rabbit populations.

Arizona was the first state in the U.S. where the virus transferred from feral domestic rabbits to wild rabbits. In April 2020, a wild black-tailed jackrabbit and several wild cottontails were found dead from the virus.

“The virus escaped from captive and pet rabbits into adjacent feral populations of domestic rabbits as well as native wild rabbits and hares,” the ministry said. “The social nature and natural high density in populations of rabbits and hares facilitates viral transmission. All forms of rabbit haemorrhagic disease are highly contagious, with high mortality rates in susceptible species and populations.”

Environment and Parks’ Wildlife Disease Unit is monitoring wild hares, jackrabbits, and cottontail rabbits in the vicinity of outbreaks for signs of the virus. It’s also asked any members of the public to report sightings of groups of dead rabbits.

The ministry does stress that outside of rabbits and hares, RHDV2 is not contagious among humans, pets, livestock, or other animal species. But humans are helping to transmit the disease. By purchasing pet rabbits from questionable sources, not taking proper hygienic care of the rabbits and their enclosure, and abandoning pet rabbits in the wild, the virus can spread.

7 amazing facts about rabbits

To prevent further infections, the ministry suggests washing your hands, clothes, cages, and equipment between contacts with rabbits from different sources, only taking in rabbits from reputable sources, quarantining new rabbits away from existing ones for 30 days, using separate equipment for new or sick rabbits, and preventing all contact with wild rabbits, hares, and jackrabbits.

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Cottage Life

Canada-wide avian flu outbreaks cause wildlife centres to turn away some bird species

Avian influenza outbreaks are occurring across the country at an unprecedented scale, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Martin Appelt, the senior director of the agency says this the largest flare-up of avian flu Canada has ever experienced. “We are not used to seeing avian influenza outbreaks exploding Canada-wide like this,” says Appelt, noting that nearly every province in the country has identified cases of the disease.

The Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre in Winnipeg, Man. is one of many animal organizations that have acted to limit the spread of avian influenza. The haven has stopped accepting two species of bird, Canada geese and the blue-winged teal, which they say they’ve seen a high number of cases in. 

“Based on what was coming into the center and also the calls that we were getting in terms of symptomatic animals, we made the decision to protect the animals that we have in care,” says Zoe Nakata, a spokesperson for the centre. Nakata suggests people call animal control agencies or local wildlife rehabilitation centres if they witness anything unusual—like mass die-offs—out in the wild. 

While Canada has dealt with outbreaks of avian flu in the past, those outbreaks were contained to specific geographical regions, says Appelt. By contrast, this current explosion is being experienced across the country and globe. 

Large outbreaks of avian influenza are typically tied to the changing of seasons as migratory birds move across the globe. While Canada saw large increases in cases in the spring and fall, the current outbreak has been ongoing since Oct. 2021. “Normally—at least in living memory—we have not had outbreaks going through the winter, but last year we did,” Appelt says.

How to keep birds (and yourself) safe from avian flu

The CFIA is working with different levels of government, and members of the poultry industry to control the spread of the disease, says Appelt. 

One of the ways the CFIA has been attacking the disease is by identifying outbreaks and eliminating the infected bird population before the disease spreads further. The CFIA has killed 3 million domestic birds since the start of the outbreak in Oct. 2021, says Appelt. “This is not a disease that can be dealt with on an individual level.” 

The virus has proven highly transmissible due to the amount of infectious material in the form of bird excrement being produced, says Appelt. “I think of it as a massive aerial bombing that creates infectious resources that simply keep the disease going,” he says. Even if local outbreaks are handled, large amounts of infectious material remains to infect a new batch of animals and perpetuate the disease.

Now, Appelt says, the question is whether this current outbreak will dissipate. “Will this wrap up or is there now so much virus in the wildlife and in contaminated soil that we will see flare-ups continue? Nobody really knows at this point.”

Shayan Sharif, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies immunology and avian influenza, says it’s possible the outbreak could affect poultry supply chains, but it seems unlikely given the current pattern of transmission. 

“I don’t really think that consumers are going to notice a massive price rise over the span of the next few months unless we have massive amounts of transmission of this virus, especially from farm to farm,” Sharif says. “I think the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has really done a good job of trying to suppress the spread of this virus from one farm to another.”

To help limit the spread of avian flu, Sharif recommends owners of domestic birds limit their interactions with migratory birds and waterfowl. He also recommends against feeding live birds. 

This particular virus doesn’t seem to be spreading to humans, says Sharif. However, there is a concern that human transmission could eventually develop. “What we’re really concerned about is the potential for this virus to gain the ability to transmit itself from one human to another human, and then eventually cause some sort of a pandemic,” he says. “So we really need to make sure that we contain this virus and, in a sense, nip it in the bud.”

Avian flu showing up in mammals

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Cottage Life

Are these the cottage building materials of the future?

Cottages are often nods to the past—built by great-grandparents and renovated by generations since. But with increasing recognition that building materials do much more than shift an aesthetic—they boost energy-efficiency and overall comfort—it’s time to look ahead. Whether you’re starting from scratch, or addressing issues in an existing cottage, consider future-forward tech:

Reach for the top

Options range from simple (and affordable) reflective roof paints to more expensive solar shingles—or even a living roof of organic matter. What we put on top can have a big impact on how we keep our cottages cool. Learn more about it.

A rising tide floats all cottages

Could your cottage survive a flood? It might, if you adopt an old technology that’s finding new purpose. The Buoyancy Foundation Project, out of the University of Waterloo, has been studying amphibious construction. It works, says one researcher, the same way a rubber duckie works in your bathtub, but with a “vertical guidance system” so your cottage doesn’t simply float away. Learn more about it.

The butterfly (paint) effect

Keen to produce a beautiful paint without toxic dyes and pigments, researchers in Berkeley, California, found inspiration in the blue morpho butterfly’s incredible colour. The blue of the butterfly, they say, is produced by tiny overlapping microscopic scales arranged across the surface of the wing that reflect light. By achieving this structural colour in paint, researchers say, they can create a far safer (and more spectacular) coating. Learn more about it.

Bacteria-built brick

Concrete’s carbon footprint is the size of Sasquatch so alternatives are highly sought after. But a brick made of cyanobacteria, the same stuff that turns our beloved lakes green with algae? Yes, please, say the University of Colorado researchers, who insist there are no dangerous health effects from their bacteria, sand, and gelatin creations. What’s more, these bio bricks sequester carbon, effectively erasing concrete’s behemoth footprint. Learn more about it.

Whale-food windows

Nature is often way ahead of us in its problem solving. Consider krill, the tiny sea creatures that release a pigment in bright sunlight to protect themselves from ultraviolet rays. Windows in a University of Toronto lab got the krill treatment when researchers discovered they could similarly create a way to shut out the sun’s rays. Learn more about it.

A whole earth approach

If you’re starting from scratch, consider the earth-friendly techniques of the aptly named Earthship, rammed earth construction, or straw-bale. All beautiful, all sustainable, and all will be the talk of your cottage community. Learn more about it.

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Cottage Life

New bylaws in BC town bring strict rules against feeding wildlife—even unintentionally

Three updated bylaws in the town of Vernon, B.C. aim to further deter residents from feeding wildlife, even unintentionally. Made official this Wednesday, the rules mandate that residents protect animal attractants on their property, such as fruit and nut trees, bird feeders, and compost piles. 

In a release, the City of Vernon stated that regulations “are expected to reduce unintended negative consequences to wildlife, reduce damage to private property by animals, and reduce the potential for human-wildlife conflict.” The province’s Wildlife Act already considers feeding wildlife an offence, but the Vernon bylaws go a step further to include unintentional or neglectful behaviour, like leaving attractants exposed. Violations can come with a fine, but the statement noted that education is “the preferred method to gain compliance.”

This is what to do when you see a bear

Located about an hour’s drive from Kelowna, Vernon is surrounded by extensive wildland areas, and is home to wildlife common to the Okanagan region, such as deer, cougars, and black bears. Given the location of some residential areas, “it’s common to see wildlife travelling through neighbourhoods,” Christy Poirier, a communications manager for the city said via email. 

Poirier said over the years, residents have been raising concerns about people intentionally feeding animals such as deer, drawing them closer into the city. Feeding wildlife can cause a number of problems, such as having animals become dependent on human food, and making them habituated—which can increase the risk of a dangerous encounter.

Black bears are of particular concern in Vernon; last year, the city was among the five ‘deadliest’ BC communities for the animal, based on provincial data showing how many bears were put down by conservation officers. 

Any area where humans and wildlife coexist can be vulnerable to these issues—be sure to stay informed on how to protect attractants from bears and other animals on your property, and what to do if you do encounter larger animals like bears or cougars close by. 

Read more: Lessons from a bear attack

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Cottage Life

B.C. conservation officers solve the case of the severed bear paws

In May of 2021, a gruesome scene struck North Shuswap, B.C. Passersby stumbled upon dozens of skinned and severed bear paws scattered across Forest Road 695 in the Little Shuswap Lake Band territory, a local Indigenous Nation.

Initially, B.C.’s Conservation Officer Service suspected poaching, but after a year-long investigation, the service has finally uncovered who was responsible for the discarded animal parts: a taxidermist.

The bear paws fell out of the back of a taxidermist’s truck while driving along Forest Road 695 last spring. In a statement released at the time of the incident, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) estimated that there were between 80 to 100 bear paws scattered along the road.

Conservation officers confirmed that the taxidermist was in legal possession of the bear paws and that the wildlife parts have no connection with poaching or any black market trafficking.

5 misconceptions about bears

The taxidermist is cooperating with authorities, the Conservation Officer Service said in a statement. Typically, the incorrect disposal of wildlife parts would land the taxidermist a $115 littering fine under the Environmental Management Act. But in lieu of the fine, the taxidermist has offered a substantial donation to the Little Shuswap Lake Band’s Watershed Stewardship Guardian Program. The program is designed to train community members in bear awareness, public safety, and attractant management.

“The [Conservation Officer Service] and the [Little Shuswap Lake Band] are pleased this donation will have a more meaningful impact to the community and wildlife,” the Conservation Officer Service said.

The service did not release the size of the donation, but did say that it far exceeded the amount of the littering fine.

Any wildlife carcasses or parts, regardless of whether they’re the result of hunting, taxidermy, or other activities, must be disposed of in a lawful and ethical manner, the service stressed. Kamloops, the closest major city to where the incident took place, states that small wildlife can be double bagged and placed in a garbage bin, while larger wildlife needs to be brought to landfill sites.

“This is to avoid alarming passersby, as well as attracting dangerous wildlife to an area frequented by people, which can create a public safety risk,” the service said.

Individuals who witness wildlife carcasses or parts being disposed of improperly in B.C. can report the violation to the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline at 1-877-952-7277. If the incident occurs outside of B.C., look up the local Ministry of Natural Resources or conservation authority. Every province in Canada has a hotline for reporting poaching.

Ontario government asking for help solving wildlife cold cases

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Cottage Life

Cottage Q&A: Did we get more dock spiders this year?

I swear that there were more dock spiders at my cottage this summer (as compared to last summer). Is that true? Did we have more dock spiders this year?—Phoebe Will, via email

The short answer? Maybe. “In the absence of a bona fide regular population monitoring program—such as there are for birds or pest insects, for example—spider population fluctuations over time are difficult to determine,” says Robb Bennett, a spider biologist with the Royal BC Museum (and a fan of Cottage Life—he was wearing our dock spider sweatshirt when he addressed your question!). But it’s possible. “Various factors, weather especially, can cause major changes in population numbers. Here on the left coast, unseasonably cool, damp weather has apparently negatively affected population levels of many insects, spiders, and plants this year,” says Bennett.

Wild Profile: Meet the dock spider

If the weather in your neck of the woods has been warm and humid, and the temperature and relative humidity were “markedly different than last year” dock spider populations may also have changed, says Bennett. “There are also cascading effects, for example, if prey species are on the rise, then their predators may benefit.”

Brad Hubley, the entomology collection manager at the Royal Ontario Museum, agrees. A milder winter, followed by a warmer spring and summer, “could provide favourable conditions for the development of prey that dock spiders feed upon, such as flies and mayflies.” More spider prey, more spiders.

Of course, the experts can’t rule out that your perception may have played a role in this reported dock spider increase. It’s possible that you were simply paying more attention to the presence of dock spiders this year, says Hubley. “Once you saw one of them, you may have then been noticing more of them without even realizing it.”

10 amazing facts about dock spiders

Got a question for Cottage Q&A? Send it to answers@cottagelife.com.

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Cottage Life

In Fine Form: The human connection to feathers

When Victorian naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace referred to feathers as a “masterpiece of nature…the perfectest venture imaginable,” he wasn’t exaggerating. Wondrous in design, feathers are marvels of evolution—derived from reptilian scales—that enable birds to soar. But it is their beauty that has entranced humans worldwide for centuries. “Where else do you find such an obvious example of iridescence in nature? Birds did it up really well,” says Mark Peck, the manager of the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto.

The most valuable commodity (second only to diamonds) on the sinking Titanic turned out to be feathers—more than 40 cases—worth more than $2.3 million in today’s dollars. These extravagantly expensive plumes traveled en route to milliners’ shops as part of the feather fashion craze that had gripped Europe and North America in the 19th century—with disastrous consequences for birds. The harvesting of egret feathers during breeding season, when the gleaming white, wispy plumes are at their most spectacular, drove the species to the brink of extinction. But it wasn’t just egret feathers on hats: exotic species were all the rage, including quetzals, birds of paradise, hummingbirds, parrots, and toucans. Things reached such a fevered pitch that adorning a hat with mere feathers eventually proved insufficient and entire flattened, taxidermied birds would rest atop the ensemble. By the early 1900s, more than five million birds were killed per year in service of the millinery industry.

5 amazing ways that birds use their feathers

Initially, the blame fell on the greatest hat consumers: women. In 1912, in a scathing call to arms, William Hornaday, the director of the New York Zoo (now called the Bronx Zoo), wrote that “The blood of uncounted millions of slaughtered birds is upon the heads of women.” And yet, it was largely thanks to fiercely vocal women conservationists who vehemently opposed the feather trade that legislative change took place. In 1918, the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibited the buying, selling, trading, or bartering of bird parts and brought the hat feather frenzy to an end.

Of course, long before the birth of that feather fad as fashion—it may have been launched (at least in part) by Marie Antoinette, who topped off her coiffures with hats piled high with glamorous ostrich feathers—Indigenous people worldwide had already been putting an emphasis on self-adornment. The Aztecs brought featherwork to colossal heights. The imperial aviary in Tenochtitlán, in present-day Mexico, employed dozens of people to oversee the flocks of arresting, spectacular birds, including coloured honeycreepers, toucans, spoonbills, macaws, and parakeets—all sourced from the furthest reaches of their empire, often by the thousands. The Aztecs plucked feathers from these birds to decorate clothing, battle shields, tapestries, elaborate headdresses, and religious regalia. And they often extracted taxes from conquered lands in the form of feathers or birds. With the conquest of the Americas and colonization, exotic feathers eventually made their way to European courts and, in addition to becoming a hugely popular fashion trend, they also highlighted the power of imperial expansion.

A curious and sordid black market for exotic feathers exists today in the world of fly-fishing among fly-tiers who have revived the Victorian practice of elaborate plume-made flies resembling insects. Not only have there been numerous feather heists from natural history collections in the past several decades—the most famous of which became the subject of the acclaimed book The Feather Thief—the ROM recently instituted background checks for anyone spending unsupervised time among the prized feathers. “The most commercially valuable feathers in the collection are the pheasant and grouse family feathers due to the market for tying flies,” says Mark Peck.

Yet feathers do more than denote status and power; they also tell stories and teach us how to live. Indigenous naturalist Joe Pitawanakwat stresses the importance of learning from birds, and he sees feathers as an “acknowledgement of the teachings that the birds carry.” A member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation, he says that coming in contact with a bird feather “enables us to tap into the stories that the birds are sharing.” For example, bird species with red eyes teach people about mourning and how to manage grief; a common loon feather reminds Pitawanakwat of the bird’s plaintive call and tells him that “it’s okay to cry—that’s why their eyes are red.”

10 amazing facts about loons

One of the most revered feathers among many Indigenous communities is the eagle feather, for its ability to “relay messages to a spirit world,” says Pitawanakwat. The eagle feather becomes a communicating device. “When we use eagle feathers in prayer, and when we’re smudging, those feathers are responsible for taking the message where it needs to go,” Pitawanakwat says. “Feathers are kind of like a tattoo. There’s a story to each one.”

And yet those very stories and the knowledge, both spiritual and practical, passed down from elders, is currently at risk: how to set traps according to a bird’s moulting season; how to design two types of regalia for powwows, one with iridescent feathers for daytime, and another with non-iridescent feathers for nighttime; how to use owl feathers for fletching to ensure that the arrows fly silently.

“I always say thank you when I find a feather in a forest,” says Pitawanakwat. “It’s a gift and a responsibility that’s presented to me to learn what this bird has to share.”

This article was originally published in the August 2022 issue of Cottage Life.

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Pfizer and Valneva could soon have a vaccine for Lyme disease

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Valneva are collaborating to create a vaccine designed to protect against tick-borne Lyme disease. The two companies are entering a late-stage clinical trial where they plan to test the vaccine on 6,000 participants.

“With increasing global rates of Lyme disease, providing a new option for people to help protect themselves from the disease is more important than ever,” said Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development, in a statement.

Lyme disease: Interview with a biologist

The companies plan to test the vaccine, known as VLA15, in 50 sites where Lyme disease is “highly endemic”, including Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and the U.S. Ages of participants will range from five years old and up.

Participants in the trial will receive three doses of either the vaccine or a placebo, plus one booster consisting of a vaccine or placebo.

“Data from the Phase 2 studies continue to demonstrate strong immunogenicity in adults as well as in children, with acceptable safety and tolerability profiles in both study populations,” Pfizer said.

The vaccine works by blocking a protein, known as OspA, in the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. By blocking OspA, the bacterium is unable to leave the tick and infect humans.

Pfizer and Valneva entered into their collaboration in April 2020. If the clinical trials prove successful, Pfizer said it believes it could seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to release the vaccine in the U.S. and Europe by 2025. Considering the FDA’s close partnership with Health Canada, it’s likely the vaccine would be approved in Canada the same year.

This wouldn’t be the first time the FDA has approved a Lyme disease vaccine. In 1998, GlaxoSmithKline released LYMErix, which reduced new infections in vaccinated adults by nearly 80 per cent. But the drug was pulled after three years due to low sales.

Since the 2000s, the number of people affected by Lyme disease has grown. In 2009, Health Canada reported 144 cases of Lyme disease. Case numbers have progressively gotten higher, peaking at 2,851 in 2021. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as 476,000 Americans are infected with Lyme disease each year.

Lyme disease is spread through the bite of an infected black-legged tick, typically found in areas with high grass or brush. The ticks attach themselves as people pass by, usually migrating to hard-to-see areas, such as the groin, armpits, and scalp. The tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours for the disease to transfer.

Three simple habits that will help keep you safe from Lyme disease

Signs of infection include fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes. If caught early, Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics. But if the disease isn’t treated, it could result in facial palsy, arthritis, inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and heart palpitations known as Lyme carditis.

A number of Canadian celebrities have spoken publicly about their battles with Lyme disease, including singers Justin Bieber and Avril Lavigne.

“Lyme disease continues to spread, representing a high unmet medical need that impacts the lives of many in the Northern Hemisphere,” said Juan Carlos Jaramillo, Valneva’s chief medical officer, in a statement. “We look forward to further investigating the VLA15 candidate in Phase 3, which will take us a step closer to potentially bringing this vaccine to both adults and children who would benefit from it.”