The bacteria that causes Lyme Disease comes from small, insect-like creatures called ticks. In North America, the main two species of ticks that are responsible for spreading the disease are: the Deer Tick, Ixodes Dammini, found mainly in the eastern region of the continent and the California Black-legged Tick, Ixodes Pacificus in the Western Pacific Region. Ticks usually live in woods or tall grasslands in various regions of the country. Tick bites happen usually from May to September, but it can change depending on the area and the year.
Hantavirus is a severe illness which is carried by deer mice. The disease is considered to be extremely rare - only about 400 cases have been reported in all of the United States and Canada.
Hantavirus is spread by breathing in mice droppings, urine or nesting materials. The only mice involved are deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). People living in areas where the virus is present may be at risk of catching it from close contact with wild mice, so cabin owners should beware as they clean and prepare their cabins for the summer season.
Black bears are found throughout the Okanagan and the rest of BC, but while black bears keep to the most inaccessible parts of our forests most of the time, during the Spring and early Summer travellers are most likely to see them in open areas.
Bears are solitary except for the mating season from mid-May to early-July. In late January or February, one to five cubs are born; they will stay with their mother until a year and half old.
Some surprising events continue to occur in the British Columbia interior that places us on center stage as we see our planet transforming as a result of environmental changes.
On Wednesday October 10, 2007, the first of a swarm of small earthquakes was recorded by seismic monitoring equipment in place in the upper Baezaeko River region, about 100 km west of Quesnel. Eight microearthquakes of magnitude 2-3 occurred on October 10 and 11, and more than 100 tremors of less than magnitude 2 had occurred between October 10 and October 18.
This steady rumble is believed to be volcanic activity.
An ancient, living and intelligent plant poised to drive the planet
By Don Elzer
Presently, plants struggle as humans continue to be the primary consumers on the planet, and now blue-green algae is being positioned to once again become an instrument of the planetary continuum, only this time its role might prove to question the motives of the human experience on this planet.
When it comes to converting sunlight into biomass, algae is the most productive type of plant. Biodiesel from algae has the potential to produce enough fuel to drive a Prius-type car 370,000 miles per acre per year (MAY), compared to 2,000 to 31,000 MAY for conventional biodiesel crops, while ethanol from switchgrass could produce 32,500 MAY. Furthermore, some strains of algae are as much as 40% oil by weight, leading to the hope of a large supply of oil which is much easier to convert into biodiesel than it is to ferment corn into ethanol.
Here in the Okanagan we are witnessing significant changes in the world around us, a growing population placing pressure on our water, food supply and natural resources contribute to challenges we face when planning our future here in the wake of a changing environment.
Recently, Dutch ecologist Roxina Soler and her colleagues at the Netherlands Institute for Ecology discovered that subterranean and aboveground herbivorous insects can communicate with each other by using plants as telephones. Subterranean insects issue chemical warning signals via the leaves of the plant. This way, aboveground insects are alerted that the plant is already ‘occupied’.
Don Elzer tells a story of what the ancient landscape of the Okanagan and the Monashee may have been like as the last great ice age began to retreat. This is a speculative account however there is new scientific evidence surfacing that sheds new light on the fantastic changes that occurred here 15,000 years ago.
The Rendezvous Chronicles - Episode 1
A Mystery Unfolds:
An Ancient Inland Sea and a New World
The southcentral interior of British Columbia is rich in natural history, in particular the Okanagan Valley as it links north to the interior plateau and east to the Monashee Mountain range. In this region geological history unfolds beginning with a torrent of molten lava caused by eons of volcanic activity.
