Greenwater Report for July 22, 2002

The Greenwater Report for July 22, 2002

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, July 22, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford

cooler
July 21st, 2002: Much cooler today, in fact cold enough to warrant lighting the fireplace. It started out sunny, but by ten it was drizzling slightly. After finally getting used to +30° temperatures, 20° seems cold! There were a couple of brief downpours in the afternoon, but without the thunder and lightning.

Express
rained
out
Saskatchewan Express played here Thursday evening, to a smaller crowd than usual. I understand there were slightly fewer than 1,200 people there. There were lots of black clouds around, and the cast had to compete with lightning flashes and thunder. About half way through the show, it started to sprinkle a bit, which didn’t bother anyone until some of the kids started slipping on the stage. They shut down the show to see if the shower would end, but everyone started heading for their cars. Good thing, too, because it then rained heavily and a strong north wind came up. I didn’t hear a single soul complain about the rain!

1/2 inch

thunder
storm
That rain didn’t last an hour, but it put a half-inch in the gauge, and I’ll swear the sunflowers grew a foot overnight! . Jim Steadman told me that it petered out at the Archerwill grid, five miles south of here, and there was no rain at all at his place. Porcupine Plain is reported to have an inch or more.

Friday afternoon and evening, the thunder was grumbling almost non-stop. In the evening it turned into a real thunderstorm, and during the night there were some crashes that lifted one a foot above the bed. In the morning, there was 1.7 inches in the gauge.

no rain
We went to Humboldt at noon yesterday, and the Archerwill Grid (#349) didn’t look as if it had been rained on at all.

moose
West of Archerwill, just past the St. Front road, a cow moose and calf crossed the road in front of us. They didn’t appear to be in any hurry and we were able to get quite close. The cow jumped the fence, but the calf must have gone under it. Both looked to be in very good shape.

ticks
Conservation office Ty Andreychuk tells me ticks have finally moved into our area. Not long ago, they were unheard of north of the Qu’Appelle Valley; for a few years I have had reports of them in the Elfros area, and now they are here in our Park. Ty says there are three kinds: winter ticks, which are the ones that afflict moose and rarely attach themselves to other species; Rocky Mountain ticks, the most likely ones to attach to humans, and dog ticks. I gather we have all three. I copied the following from the Internet:

“To avoid exposure to ticks, stay on the trails and avoid grassy, brushy areas. Wear light colored clothing so ticks can be seen. Wear long sleeve shirts and tuck shirts into pants and pant legs into socks. Wear a hat. Do not wear shorts on the trails. Check yourself for ticks or have someone else check for you. Finding and removing a tick early (within 36 hours) is key to the prevention of Lyme disease. If a tick is attached to your skin, grab it with tweezers as close to your skin as possible and pull it straight out. Do not use Vaseline. It will kill the tick and cause more harm. Also do not squeeze the body of the tick, it can cause all the infected material of the tick to enter into your skin. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water and use a disinfectant. You should have any tick bite checked by a doctor, but you should definitely have a doctor check out the bite if a rash of more than one inch wide appears at the site of the bite. This is a sign of Lyme disease. If you have flu-like symptoms up to a month after being bitten by a tick, call your doctor, you could have ehrlichiosis, another serious, potentially fatal, tick-borne disease that can be treated with antibiotics. Don't forget to check your pets for ticks also. You can get a Lyme disease vaccine for your dogs, but they have not yet developed one for cats. Be sure to use a flea and tick control medication or a flea and tick collar also.”

ice
cube
Another article said that transmission of disease by ticks is rare in Western Canada, and that ticks are not so active after June. It said that ticks take up to 36 hours to attach themselves to the skin so it is best to get rid of them before this happens. It did say that chilling the flesh around the tick with an ice cube may cause the tick to drop out sooner, possibly because the flow of blood is slowed. Using Vaseline or heat may cause the tick to regurgitate its stomach contents, containing the dangerous microbes, into the wound. If you have access to the Internet, search for “ticks” and you will get lots of information.

saskatoons
I have become quite athletic, riding my bike up into Hilltop and back, and stopping to feast on saskatoons on the way. I spotted a dewberry, (below left) too, but never developed a taste for them, likely because there is usually only one per plant, and one plant per acre. (choke cherry below right)

kids
and heat
Those very hot days didn’t stop the kids from enjoying the playground at Hilltop, though I suspect their parents could think of lots of things more fun. The picnic area east of the Beach Café looked nice and cool and inviting.

Doreen & Jerry Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg



The Greenwater Report for July 22, 2002

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, July 22, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford
cooler	July 21st, 2002: Much cooler today, in fact cold enough to warrant lighting the fireplace. It started out sunny, but by ten it was drizzling slightly. After finally getting used to +30° temperatures, 20° seems cold! There were a couple of brief downpours in the afternoon, but without the thunder and lightning.



Express rained out	Saskatchewan Express played here Thursday evening, to a smaller crowd than usual. I understand there were slightly fewer than 1,200 people there. There were lots of black clouds around, and the cast had to compete with lightning flashes and thunder. About half way through the show, it started to sprinkle a bit, which didn’t bother anyone until some of the kids started slipping on the stage. They shut down the show to see if the shower would end, but everyone started heading for their cars. Good thing, too, because it then rained heavily and a strong north wind came up. I didn’t hear a single soul complain about the rain!



1/2 inch thunder storm	That rain didn’t last an hour, but it put a half-inch in the gauge, and I’ll swear the sunflowers grew a foot overnight! . Jim Steadman told me that it petered out at the Archerwill grid, five miles south of here, and there was no rain at all at his place. Porcupine Plain is reported to have an inch or more. Friday afternoon and evening, the thunder was grumbling almost non-stop. In the evening it turned into a real thunderstorm, and during the night there were some crashes that lifted one a foot above the bed. In the morning, there was 1.7 inches in the gauge.

no rain	We went to Humboldt at noon yesterday, and the Archerwill Grid (#349) didn’t look as if it had been rained on at all.

moose	West of Archerwill, just past the St. Front road, a cow moose and calf crossed the road in front of us. They didn’t appear to be in any hurry and we were able to get quite close. The cow jumped the fence, but the calf must have gone under it. Both looked to be in very good shape.

ticks	Conservation office Ty Andreychuk tells me ticks have finally moved into our area. Not long ago, they were unheard of north of the Qu’Appelle Valley; for a few years I have had reports of them in the Elfros area, and now they are here in our Park. Ty says there are three kinds: winter ticks, which are the ones that afflict moose and rarely attach themselves to other species; Rocky Mountain ticks, the most likely ones to attach to humans, and dog ticks. I gather we have all three. I copied the following from the Internet:
	“To avoid exposure to ticks, stay on the trails and avoid grassy, brushy areas. Wear light colored clothing so ticks can be seen. Wear long sleeve shirts and tuck shirts into pants and pant legs into socks. Wear a hat. Do not wear shorts on the trails. Check yourself for ticks or have someone else check for you. Finding and removing a tick early (within 36 hours) is key to the prevention of Lyme disease. If a tick is attached to your skin, grab it with tweezers as close to your skin as possible and pull it straight out. Do not use Vaseline. It will kill the tick and cause more harm. Also do not squeeze the body of the tick, it can cause all the infected material of the tick to enter into your skin. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water and use a disinfectant. You should have any tick bite checked by a doctor, but you should definitely have a doctor check out the bite if a rash of more than one inch wide appears at the site of the bite. This is a sign of Lyme disease. If you have flu-like symptoms up to a month after being bitten by a tick, call your doctor, you could have ehrlichiosis, another serious, potentially fatal, tick-borne disease that can be treated with antibiotics. Don't forget to check your pets for ticks also. You can get a Lyme disease vaccine for your dogs, but they have not yet developed one for cats. Be sure to use a flea and tick control medication or a flea and tick collar also.”

ice cube	Another article said that transmission of disease by ticks is rare in Western Canada, and that ticks are not so active after June. It said that ticks take up to 36 hours to attach themselves to the skin so it is best to get rid of them before this happens. It did say that chilling the flesh around the tick with an ice cube may cause the tick to drop out sooner, possibly because the flow of blood is slowed. Using Vaseline or heat may cause the tick to regurgitate its stomach contents, containing the dangerous microbes, into the wound. If you have access to the Internet, search for “ticks” and you will get lots of information.



saskatoons	I have become quite athletic, riding my bike up into Hilltop and back, and stopping to feast on saskatoons on the way. I spotted a dewberry, (below left) too, but never developed a taste for them, likely because there is usually only one per plant, and one plant per acre. (choke cherry below right)





kids and heat	Those very hot days didn’t stop the kids from enjoying the playground at Hilltop, though I suspect their parents could think of lots of things more fun. The picnic area east of the Beach Café looked nice and cool and inviting.



	Doreen & Jerry Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg