Author: Carla Allen

They say love will always find a way. Adam Sollows is a good example of that.

He and his girlfriend, Samantha (Sam) LeBlanc-Nakpil, reside in Halifax but both have strong family ties to Yarmouth.

Adam had been planning to propose to Sam for awhile, but was stumped for ideas on how to do it.

After weeks of thinking about it, he came up with an idea that he planned on carrying out with a little help from his family… rain or shine.

On Jan. 12 he suggested to Sam that they visit Yarmouth on the coming weekend. As this is something they did often, she didn’t think anything was unusual and agreed.

The first challenge was with Adam’s job. He is employed by Irving shipyard as a marine fabricator and was scheduled to work until midnight.

The couple would only be able to drive to Yarmouth Saturday morning so Adam would have to pull off the proposal later that day.

As the week progressed there were weather warnings of a large storm system approaching for the weekend.

Adam had to tackle the next wrench in his plans: a big one.

“Sam was opposed to be driving to Yarmouth and wanted to stay put,” he said.

So Adam suggested instead of driving to Yarmouth Saturday morning in the storm that they could leave right after work Friday night.

“Sam was starting to get a little frustrated about why I wanted to go to Yarmouth so much and it took everything I had to convince her to go,” he said.

After working a 10-hour shift until midnight, they packed up and drove through dark, arriving home at 3 a.m.

 “All because ‘I wanted to just relax in Yarmouth this weekend’,” said Adam.

Saturday morning arrived and the weather was as nasty as could be. Adam said it was a good thing they drove home Friday night because they could not have made the drive Saturday morning.

“Running low on sleep and with my nerves starting to kick in, I got up early and headed for the lighthouse to set things up,” he said.

“It was freezing rain at the time and I remember just running around finding as many rocks as fast as I could to spell out my proposal message while the rain was slapping me in the face.”

After being drenched and chilled, he returned home and noticed Sam was just getting up. Although he was becoming very anxious, he says he kept his composure. He made Sam some breakfast, looked outside, and noticed they had a window of opportunity where the rain had let up a bit. Immediately after breakfast, he suggested they take the family dog, Comfort, for a quick walk over to the Cape.

“She agreed without really noticing the weather so we grabbed the dog and headed over,” he said.

Halfway to Cape Forchu the rain started. It became progressively worse and by the time they reached John’s Cove, it was a downpour. Adam’s next suggestion was to skip the beach for a better day and take Comfort for a quick walk on the lighthouse trail instead.

“When we got there, Sam kind of looked at me and said, ‘Are we really going out in this?’ I talked her into doing a quick loop around with the dog,” he said.

Adam and Sam started walking into the torrential downpour and a windy gale. Although Adam had brought an umbrella, it was destroyed in a matter of minutes. He says he had to literally drag Sam through the rain to get to her to the end of the path where balloons were attached to the bench to make it stand out a bit. As they reached the hill and the last bench was visible, she noticed the balloons.

“She asked me what they could be all about. I shrugged, pretending to be unaware, and kept dragging her along with Comfort in the worst storm so far of 2016,” he said.

The message was spelled out right below the bench, so in order to see it they had to walk directly up to it.

“That’s when she noticed – Marry me Sam – and it finally hit her what this was all about.

“There we were in a freezing rain and windstorm with a smashed umbrella and a wet dog and me down on one knee.

“The first thing I said was, ‘Sam, I’m not the weather man and I can’t change Mother Nature, but this was our day and I was doing it rain or shine.’ We laughed (and cried) and hardly noticed the weather on the walk back to the car – me with a big smile and Sam with an engagement ring on her finger,” said Adam.

He says that he and Sam hope to enjoy the view again when the weather is more agreeable.

“This will always be a special place for us,” he said.

The couple plan on holding their wedding in the summer of 2017 in Yarmouth.

This article was first published in the Tri-County Vanguard in 2017.

I find when I’m at our cottage each day I spend long minutes just watching the waves.

This morning I sat mesmerized by each as it made its journey to shore, growing in size, face gleaming in the rising sun, until the cascade of pearly white foam.

Why this fascination? The South African College of Applied Psychology explains:

“Research has shown that staring at the ocean actually changes our brain waves’ frequency and puts us into a mild meditative state.

According to a study conducted by researchers at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts Medical Schools, together with those from the Bender Institute of Neuroimaging in Germany, the brains of those who mediate regularly actually change in significant ways.

“The results suggest that [meditation] is associated with changes in grey matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, and perspective taking,” say the study’s authors.

What’s more, according to psychologists, listening to the waves activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for slowing us down and allowing us to relax and feel more engaged.”

Vacations provide much-needed breaks from the stress of daily responsibilities. If you’re able to add a few visits to the beach on your time off, you’re all the better for it.

 

We are blessed with a tremendous number of neighbours in all shapes and sizes here at the Cape Cottage. Many of them have wings.

Several species of seagulls soar past the windows and ride the air currents throughout the day. Bees and goldfinch feast on Canada Thistle seeds in late summer. Chickadees, sparrows, swallows, ducks, Great Blue herons, turkey vultures, crows, robins, hawks… the list goes on and on. Deer roam the lawn and berm at dawn and dusk. Coyotes may wake you in early-morning darkness with their  yelping and yammering.

These creatures that enrich our lives are important to us. Last year we applied for and received certification from the Canadian Wildlife Federation for our wildlife friendly habitat.

By joining other Canadians who make their gardens wildlife-friendly, we are helping to increase suitable habitat for local and migratory wildlife, some of which may be species at risk. As more land is developed for human activities, each wildlife-friendly garden is a haven that can act as a stepping stone between larger areas of habitat, essential for many species’ survival.

By recognizing and protecting food sources, in addition to planting more in the landscape, wildlife will continue to flourish on this land. This spring, small spruce and fir seedlings were transplanted from the roadside to our slope above the salt marsh. As they grow they will create more shelter and food for songbirds.

Last year, multiflora rosebushes were dug from the wild and planted along the path to the beach. Although considered by many as an invasive nuisance, this plant has a lot going for nature-lovers. An article on Audubon sings its praises, including the fact that it has a sensational fragrance in bloom.

“Grouse, wild turkeys, cedar waxwings and robins are especially fond of the hips. Leaves and hips are consumed by chipmunks, white-tailed deer, opossums, coyotes, black bears, beavers, snowshoe hares, skunks and mice. Cottontails gnaw on twigs and bark. “The hips are especially important as winter wildlife food when other high-nutrition foods are unavailable.”

Another factor is its apparent tolerance of being planted next to the ocean – judging by how slips survived their first winter, followed by impressive new growth.

Last month we came across a strange-looking creature while walking the beach with the dogs. About 30″ in length, this unusual fish was flat with pancake sized flaps on each side. It had a tail that stuck up at 90*. I guessed that wasn’t a natural angle but more likely frozen in place from the considerable wind chill.

I had a pretty good idea it was a skate but wanted to know what species (there are dozens).  A helpful friend – Andrew Hebda, retired curator for the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History – is my go-to guy for creature IDs. From the photos, he pinned it as a young adult female Winter Skate (Raja ocellata).

Skates resemble a stingray but have a thicker tail without stinging barbs. However winter skates do have thorns in various places on their body.

They can grow to about 41 inches in length and up to 15 pounds in weight and spend most of their time on the ocean floor. Preferred prey includes polychaetes, amphipods, isopods, bivalves, fish, crustaceans and squid. Fishermen call the larger skates “barn doors.”

According to a 2017 fisheries stock assessment, winter skates are not subject to overfishing. One fisherman declared he had 600 lbs. of them aboard as bait when I posted the photo to the LFA 33 & 34 Facebook group.

Sometimes their wings are stamped or punched out in a circular shape and sold as “poor boy scallops.”  A fishermen shared this sage advice: “If the meat grain goes up and down they’re real scallops, if it’s left to right, it’s skate wings.”

An unusual find while beachcombing could be the rare sighting of a “Mermaid’s Purse.”  These tough leathery pouches protect a developing shark or skate embryo.

Click this link to see a video of a baby skate inside a mermaid’s purse

Posted by Sanibel Sea School 

This article was first published in the Feb. 5 Yarmouth Vanguard

A few days before Christmas 2019, Buffy, a goofy, lovable pitbull, and Anna, her dachshund/beagle pal, were let out behind their owner’s home in Cape Forchu, Yarmouth County, to answer nature’s call.

Nature almost didn’t let Buffy return.

She roamed just a little further than Anna and discovered a scruffy dog-like animal that both intrigued and frightened her. She began barking at it.

It’s unknown if there were one or several coyotes that attacked Buffy, but thankfully she was able to escape when she heard her owner calling.

She bolted the short distance back to the house, where she lives with her owners Jenna d’Entremont and Scott Nickerson. What Jenna saw next disturbed her so much, she called Scott.

Coyote bites

The couple didn’t realize anything was wrong with Buffy, an 11-year-old rescue, for several hours until they discovered bite marks on her back legs. She had five puncture wounds. The following night, a visiting friend told him they looked like coyote bites.

Jenna and Scott, as well as their neighbours, often hear coyotes yipping and howling nearby, early in the morning.

Scott cleaned Buffy’s wounds with iodine and they healed quickly, with the exception of one that took a bit longer to scab over.

Jenna and Scott watched the coyote from a vantage point upstairs.

“It stood there for about 10 minutes, waiting for Buffy,” says Scott. “Then it started pacing back and forth and ran back into the woods.”

The couple were grateful to have the dogs safely in the house.

“She’s a tough little girl but this thing was a lot bigger than her,” says Scott of Buffy.

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When Mitchell Rodgerson was called by a friend and asked to trap coyotes in Cape Forchu, Yarmouth County, he was glad to help.

His friend’s dog was attacked by a coyote in December, which didn’t come as a surprise to Rodgerson, who has been a licensed trapper for three years.

“What they’ll do is come to the edge of the property and get the dog to chase one of them and the pack is waiting, and they jump him,” he said.

Rodgerson, an Arcadia, Yarmouth County resident, recently sent his first pelt shipment of nine raccoons, four beaver and a coyote to Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. in North Bay, Ont.

Rodgerson says coyotes in this region are a cross breed between coyotes and wolves – called coywolves. He adds they’re very hard to catch this year.

“I was talking to the fur buyers that were here (recently). They said trappers are having a hard time catching them because wolves are really smart; it’s almost impossible,” he says. “You can’t have nothing showing (on trap set) and if they smell anything they’re gone.”

Feb. 28 was the last day for snaring coyotes, but those who use traps have until March 31. Some trappers use footholds. These hold an animal and the trapper has to dispatch them when found. Rodgerson prefers to snare.

“It’s done, and the animal isn’t suffering in the woods. It’s quick and easy.”

Coyote pelts sell for around $70 to $80 (price fluctuates). Pelts must dry for 24 hours before being shipped off to market (in Finland or Ontario). Coyote fur is used primarily as a trim on clothes and footwear.

Sonny Smith, who has been trapping for 15 years, is Rodgerson’s mentor. “I taught him everything he knows,” he says with a laugh.

He remembers when there used to be a $20 bounty on coyotes and the pelt sold for around $35.

In late January Rodgerson set his first snares in Cape Forchu. On his second check he had his first coyote.

“I’m hoping to haul quite a few more,” he says. “Generally, if you catch one they don’t come back but there’s a lot of scat (droppings).”

From what they expel, he’s noticed the coyotes are not eating much and that they’re on the beach eating lobster shells.

“That’s not their regular diet. They’re generally eating rabbits, mice, voles. I think I’ve only seen two signs of rabbit since I was here last,” he says. “If they’re not eating much, they’re going to be hungry. That’s why they came after the dog.”

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5 Things to know: Coyote facts from Natural Resources:

1. The first coyote was trapped in Nova Scotia in 1977.

2. Coyotes generally eat deer, mice, squirrels, snowshoe hare and fruit such as apples, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, and they are excellent scavengers.

3. Eastern coyotes appear to be genetically distinct; they are not western coyotes nor eastern wolves.

4. The eastern coyote’s larger body size has been attributed to past interbreeding with wolves.

5. Collections of harvested coyotes in Nova Scotia indicate that average litter sizes are in the range of 5.5 to 6.3 pups. Records show a low of two pups and a high of 10.

QUICK FACTS

From Nova Scotia Lands and Forestry

What should I do when I encounter a coyote?

• do not feed, touch, or photograph the animal from close distances;

• remove self from the area by slowly backing away while remaining calm- do not turn and run;

• use personal alarm devices to frighten or threaten the animal;

• encourage the animal to leave (provide space, an escape route);

• if animal exhibits aggressive behaviour — then be larger and noisier by throwing sticks and rocks

• fight back aggressively if the animal attacks.

How big is the Eastern coyote?

During the 1992/93 harvesting season, over 300 coyotes were weighed by DNR wildlife staff. The average weight of adult male coyotes was 33.9 lbs (15.4 kg). The average weight of adult females was 27.7 lbs(12.6 kg). The largest male collected weighed 47.8 lbs (21.7 kg). DNR occasionally receives reports of individual coyotes weighing in excess of 50 lbs (22.7 kg) but animals of that size are not common.

Are coyotes found in Nova Scotia larger than western coyotes?

Yes. Coyotes found in NS are known as Eastern Coyotes and, while closely related to coyotes found in western North America, they are genetically distinct. The significantly larger body size of Eastern Coyotes has been attributed to past interbreeding with wolves, as coyotes spread northward and eastward across North America. Some individuals encountered here may be as much as twice the average size of coyotes found in southwestern North America.

For more info about coyotes, click here.

 

Seagull watching. It’s an easy pastime at the cottage. They greet each incoming wave as if it’s a carnival ride designed just for them. A little fleet of feathered bobbers, up and over the crest and sliding into the trough. Then something sets them aloft. They rise and wheel and settle back on the water to ride the waves again.

What’s really mesmerizing is to watch the windriders, the gulls that hang motionless in the air. Their windspeed matches that of oncoming breezes and they navigate the changes with skill.

Here’s some fascinating trivia I found about seagulls online.

Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces to peck out pieces of flesh. (BBC News)

Seagulls can survive drinking salt water because of a special pair of glands just above the eyes that flush the salt from their system out through their nostrils (Audubon)

Large white-headed gulls are typically long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded for the herring gull. (The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database)

In Native American symbolism, the seagull represents a carefree attitude, versatility, and freedom. (One Kind Planet)

Gulls are monogamous and colonial breeders that display mate fidelity that usually lasts for the life of the pair. (Wikipedia)

There are approximately 50 species of gulls found throughout the world. (Just Fun Facts)

Seagulls have existed on the planet for between 30 and 33 million years. (Reference.com)

A luxury hotel in Cannes, France, has a team of 5 trained attack hawks that it uses to keep pesky seagulls from harassing its wealthy patrons in outside seating areas. (MSN)

Clad in a snug layer of neoprene, surfer Jody Lays paddles hard, duck-diving through smashing breakers to calmer water.

“After you go through about eight of them you have ice cream headache and your face is freezing,” he said.

“You’re just hoping that when you get through this one, it’s the last one and there isn’t another one because your head’s so cold.”

Although his face might sting from the frigid water, the rest of Lays’ body is relatively warm thanks to his exertions. He’ll surf up to three or four hours with brief warmups every hour.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are, you just want to run right back out, like a kid,” he said.

He learned to surf on boards he made himself, out of eps foam and epoxy resin. The materials have changed over the years, as has the length. Typically, learners start off on a big, long board and work their way down.

“I was on a big slab at Port Maitland one day and I found I couldn’t turn really good. So I started going on smaller boards,” he said. He now rides a five-foot, seven-inch board. The more experience you have, the shorter board you can surf on.

From where he lives in South Ohio, Lays can access several beaches, his favourites being Mavillette and False Harbour.

This is his fifth season surfing, something he’s wanted to do ever since he was a child. “The attitude in Nova Scotia at that time was you can’t surf in Nova Scotia, there are no waves here,” he said.

He says fishermen know about the waves. “They understand because they’re out there and they see what’s going on. People don’t even realize how many waves (surf sites) are between here and Lockeport.”

He adds that the Hawk on Cape Sable Island is a good place to go, with “double overhead tubes” there. Translated, that means a wave that is twice the height of a person, curling over to form a tube. Lays has even heard of a 20-foot wave in Shelburne several winters ago.

Weymouth resident Brian Carey says surfing potential in the region is one of the reasons he came to this area.

Carey owns Aeon Surfboards and has been surfing since 2011 – first on the Great Lakes, then Gloucester, Mass. and Costa Rica in 2013.

He likes Mavillette Beach for its southwest exposure. Storm systems that move up along the U.S. eastern seaboard swing around the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, pushing big swells.

“They can get nine to 10 feet, which can be pretty terrifying – especially if you paddle out into them,” he said.

It’s also a good “beginner” beach, where he’s introduced newbies to the sport in one-foot waves.

Like Lays, he’s drawn to the exhilaration of winter surfing, when the largest waves of the year happen.

“If you want to take advantage of the best waves, you have to bundle up and get out there in the cold,” he said.

He wears a 6-5-4 wetsuit, which translates to six mm thick for body, five mm for extremities and four mm for flex points. The variety of coverage helps to keep the core warm in North Atlantic waters that range from three degrees Celsius in March to 15 in August, while allowing unrestricted movement. He also wears at least five or seven-mm gloves, boots and a hood.

“When you come out, that’s when it really gets you. You have to be ready with towels and a warm place where you can change out of your wetsuit quickly,” he said.

Carey says if surfers in New England knew about the uncrowded beaches here they’d head north.

He plans on expanding his board-building business into a rental shop at Mavillette Beach this year.

Randall McQuade owns a cottage in Round Bay, Shelburne County, where he sometimes surfs. He started at the age of 45 and says he’s completely hooked on the sport.

He’s registered a business called Roll Tide and plans on setting up a surf/SUP (stand-up paddleboard) school and rental business in Round Bay, if not this summer then next.

He says the sport is very new to the area judging by the many times he’s been completely alone on a south shore surf break or with friends.

McQuade wants people also to be aware of safety in surfing and to learn proper surfing etiquette.

“This is an area of untapped potential for growth. My vision is to get new people into the sport and preferably younger people,” he said.

He added that surfers are generally very protective of their favourite spots, but he believes there are plenty to go around.

“The water is colder than most places but the waves are world class and you don’t have to worry about crowds, frustrated angry locals, or sharks.

“You and whoever is with you that day can enjoy a beautiful beach or point break all to yourselves and tourists can truly experience an area that is natural, remote and untapped.”

Learning to surf

The Surfing Association of Nova Scotia (SANS) –community forum Facebook Page has close to 750 members.

Several surfers provided helpful information on learning how to surf.

Iaian Archibald from Halifax says there are some great surf schools in the province.

This year, a long-overlooked community close to Cape Forchu received some well-deserved publicity.

Prior to 1873 the Yarmouth Bar, which connects the mainland to Cape Forchu, did not exist. Early maps depict the Yarmouth Bar as a stony beach and an 1871 map indicates that boats could pass through the area at high water.

Mike Cunningham, chairman of the Yarmouth County Historical Society’s Historic Sites committee, says newspapers from 1873 reported that work completing the breakwater at the Bar was progressing.

Doris Watkins, who grew up in nearby Lower Overton, showed an 1885 photo from her collection to Cunningham. The picture shows the wharfs and structures built at the Bar by the Parker-Eakins company, known locally as The Firm, in 1880.

It also shows a series of cribwork retaining walls along the eastern side of the bar. The western side had a wall built of vertical timbers and between the two sides hundreds of loads of beach rocks taken from the area to the north of the bar were hauled in to the site to fill it in. This work was done by hand, employing many residents of Stanwood’s beach, located between Fish Point and Yarmouth Bar. Oxen hauling carts were used to transport the beach stone fill to the site.

Cunningham says local fishermen who have done construction and excavation in different areas of the Bar have confirmed that despite how deep you dig all you find are beach rocks.

Watkins is pleased to see efforts are underway to bring the history of Fish Point, Stanwood’s Beach and Yarmouth Bar to light.

“I think it’s fabulous that they’re bringing to life a place that was a whole community full of people – children and older people, all ages, living their life. Now it’s just a strip of land and the younger generation drive by and say, ‘look at all the boats.’”

Stanwood’s Beach was once lined with homes built right on the rocks. A dozen houses on each side.  There were also two stores, a church and an inn (the only site with a freshwater well).

Watkins remembers the residents being very poor.

“There was no insulation and it was very cold in the winter. Most of the residents didn’t have any education as far as high school goes. Mom used to do all their government papers for pensions and things like that. They were a hardy bunch and they managed,” she said.

She adds with a chuckle, “One resident, Benny Penney, sold half his house. He sold it to Jim Dugas because he couldn’t afford a whole one.”

In 1954, Hurricane Edna took out many of the houses. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, says Cunningham. The community shrank to a shadow of its former self.

A three-phase project by the Historic Sites committee saw interpretive panels installed this year at Fish Point, along with elevation of the Lost to the Sea monument ‘s parking area with fill and gravel to prevent flooding problems experienced in the past. Now the committee is pursuing historical site designation for Fish Point and to have the road from there to the Cape Forchu Lighthouse declared an historical route for phase 3.

 

For more information
Contact the Yarmouth County Museum – 902-742-5539

 

Wild waves, daily climb on 25-foot ladder and 2-and-half-mile trek to school some of Robert Cottreau’s experiences

If you get a chance, stop for a visit at The Lost to the Sea memorial on Water Street. This site is a beautiful yet sobering testament to the heavy toll the sea has taken from our fisherfolk over the decades.

The memorial lists over 2400 names of individuals connected to Yarmouth County who lost their lives to the sea. It was officially unveiled in June 2013. The bright red wax begonias in some areas of the garden are planted every spring by elementary school students.

The website associated with the memorial features fascinating and heart-rending accounts of shipwrecks in the area. Here’s an excerpt from the story of the steamer Monticello, lost to the sea in 1900.

Within five minutes of our putting off from the Monticello she turned completely over and disappeared beneath the waves. Our only safety depended upon our keeping our boat, before the sea, and how faithfully poor Murphy attended to this difficult task. It appeared as if his hands would collapse from the strain with which he grasped the tiller. When a short distance from the shore we tried to run the boat into a small beach between the rocks. I saw a tremendous comber coining after us and I shouted to all to hold on for their lives. I grasped both arms around the forward thwart with both hands locked by the fingers and waited for the result. In an instant the boat was lifted like an eggshell to the angle of 45 degrees, my grasp on the boat was broken, and I found myself thrown violently to the earth and grass on the beach….