British Columbia Magazine

Do beavers know which way a tree is going to fall?

Oliver Busby, an environmental consultant in Delta who deals with urban wildlife, says beavers typically fall trees “towards the water where they can further access them safely away from predators.” Trees on the shoreline also fall more predictably because they naturally lean towards open water; as beavers clean out the easy pickings and move inland the risks could increase.

 iStockphoto

“They have no idea what way a tree will fall, and some are killed by falling trees,” says Jack Lay, a veteran trapper based in Princeton and retired provincial problem-wildlife officer.

Partially caught cut trees abandoned by beavers also run the risk of falling down in the wind and posing a threat to anyone or anything in their path. One illustrative Internet youtube posting from the Large Herbivore Network shows a beaver repeatedly taking a few bites of a tree, and then hesitating, before scurrying away just before it falls. Clearly, logging is not something this animal takes for granted.

— Larry Pynn

In our Winter 2012 issue, beer writers John Lee of Vancouver and Adem Tepedelen of Victoria make the case for why their region’s brews are best. Tepedelen’s defense is below. Now, Lee takes the floor…

Vancouver was founded on booze. John “Gassy Jack” Deighton’s 1867 saloon triggered a settlement that became a fledgling city, while independent beer makers later clustered like barflies around Mount Pleasant’s Brewery Creek area.

But when B.C.’s microbrewing resurrection kicked off in the 1980s, it was Victoria that developed like a beer puddle on a shiny bar counter. Fast forward to today, though and the mainland is poised to regain its rightful top keg position.

Surrey’s Central City Brewing Company has been named Canada’s Brewery of the Year at the Canadian Brewing Awards twice since 2010; taverns like Alibi Room and St. Augustines Craft Brew House (with over 40 drafts each) lead B.C.’s microbrew bar scene. Newbies Parallel 49 Brewing Company, Bridge Brewing Company, Powell Street Craft Brewery, and Coal Harbour Brewing Company popped up like thirsty drinkers at happy hour, joining existing producers. But that’s not all. Mark James group is helping to develop a large new brewery; the Cascade Room’s Nigel Pike and partner Cameron Forsyth are building an additional restaurant brewery complex; and Alibi Room co-owner Nigel Springthorpe is planning his highly anticipated Brassneck Brewery. Aiming for early 2013 openings, all three are in the old Brewery Creek area, spiritual home of B.C. beer.

Tea loving Victoria’s microbrew eminence is fading. The future of West Coast craft beer is now in the Lower Mainland where a perfect sudsy storm is brewing–just watch us.

Connect with us on Facebook or Twitter to vote for your favourite B.C. beer-brewing region!

In our Winter 2012 issue, we pit Victoria beer reviewer Adem Tepedelen against Vancouver’s John Lee in a cross-water showdown.  In this guest blog from Tepedelen, and an upcoming blog from John Lee, the two writers defend their hometown suds.  See the issue for their favourite brews–then tell us your favourite. Now, over to Tepedelen….

Greater Victoria

by Adem Tepedelen

If it weren’t for the important work done by original Spinnakers co-founder John Mitchell in the early 1980s to change the laws in British Columbia regarding the establishment of brewpubs the Lower Mainland wouldn’t have any craft beers to challenge the Greater Victoria area’s dominance in this realm. Simply put, Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub is the birthplace of the modern Canadian brewpub. And in the last 30 years, the Greater Victoria area has continued to build on that solid tradition as B.C. beer drinkers—both on the island and the mainland—have come to know and love the interesting flavours of the locally made craft beer.

Spinnakers may be Canada’s longest running brewpub, but Swan’s—a brewpub and craft brewery—soon followed and has seen some of the area’s finest brewers hone their skills in its downtown heritage building location. Vancouver Island Brewery (originally Island Pacific Brewery) was also there at the beginning and has remained one of the city’s craft beer ambassadors to visitors and residents alike. Though not every brewpub or craft brewery has had the same longevity as these early pioneers, most have not only stayed in business, but have thrived and grown.

And every few years, it seems, new ones open—Hoyne Brewing and Moon Under Water Pub and Brewery, most recently—offering their own unique take on the numerous beer styles out there. Some prefer the strictness of the German tradition (Vancouver Island), some get a little out-there with Belgian styles (Driftwood), while others just follow whatever wild muse inspires them (Phillips). Maybe it’s the water, as they say, but Greater Victoria beer rules. 

To help you take better wildlife photos, Paul Colangelo, who had the very difficult task of photographing elk for our current issue’s cover story, “Operation elk” (Fall 2012), offers the second of his wildlife photography tips:

Observe your subject and be patient

“Spend a lot of time observing the animals. This will help you understand your subject and detect patterns in their behaviour, which will allow you to anticipate their movements. Be patient. It can take time for wildlife to accept your presence and carry on with their regular behaviour,” he says. “Finally, you simply have to put in your time. I often think of all the incredible scenes in the wild that are unfolding at any moment. If you spend a lot of time with wildlife, a great image is bound to reveal itself.

This photograph of a coyote was taken after observing the animal for a week. The coyote would emerge at this spot every morning just before sunrise to try to catch the beaver as it left its lodge, which was in the bank beneath the coyote. I waded into the lake, set up a couple of flashes for some fill light, and waited for it to arrive.”

Happy shooting… stay tuned for another wildlife photography tip from Paul, coming soon. Click here to enter our Photo Contest.

It’s that time of year again–when the stores runneth over with Mother’s Day gift suggestions. Cindy in our circulation department reminded me today that there’s more to the occasion than perfume, flowers, and chocolate (NOT that there’s anything wrong with the latter!).

With your convenience in mind, she has cooked up an easy and thoughtful solution to the annual gift dilemma, a gift that will remind your mother of your generosity all year long. You guessed it! It’s a subscription to our magazine. Five print issues and a free calendar for just $19.95.  All the details are right here. Simply click, order–done!

To mark Apple Month, and the 75th anniversary of BC Tree Fruits, we wanted to share a few fast facts about apples, and some pictures from the early days of apple production in B.C.

Did you know?

• British Columbia produces about 30% of the apples grown in Canada–that’s more than one billion pieces of the juicy red-skinned fruit each year.
• About 98% of B.C. apples are produced in the Okanagan-Similkameen valleys, though there orchards in the Gulf Islands as well.
• British Columbians consume about 75 to 100 B.C. apples a year, per person.
• The varieties grown for commercial production include red and gold delicious, McIntosh, Spartan, Jonagold, Gala, Braeburn, and Fuji.

A promotional photo from the Penticton area, circa 1910. (Courtesy Kelowna Public Archives, No. 824)

By the late 1920s, trucks were being used to haul produce to the packinghouses. This photo of Fred Day and his team shows that horse and wagon rigs were still in use as well (Kelowna Public Archives, No. 6432)

The Pridam family in Kelowna takes a break in their apple picking day. (Kelowna Public Archives, No. 3750)

This packing crew from the late 1920s has their shipment of apples ready for transport to the rail station. The “OK” brand indicated “O” for the Okanagan and “K” for Kootenay. (Kelowna Public Archives, No. 3803)

The average person spends 90 percent (I repeat 90 percent!) of our time on Earth indoors. An extra five percent is eaten up sitting in our cars.If my math’s correct, that leaves us hiking, kayaking, skiing, swimming, strolling, diving, sand-castle building, wildlife watching, or doing any of the other great activities available beyond four walls only five percent of our time.

“Health futurist” Trevor Hancock of the University of Victoria (from which this surprising factoid comes) believes spending time in nature is critical to our health. “There is growing evidence of the physical, mental, social, and spiritual benefits of being in nature, and of nature’s ability to help healing,” he says.

Hancock will discuss nature’s significance to human health at a conference this weekend, September 20 to 23, at the Creekside Community Centre in Vancouver.In the meantime, let us all slowly back away from our computers and run for the door. Our well-being depends on it.

For inspiration on what to do out there, check our Stories section for articles about outdoor adventures, such as cycling on Haida Gwaii, hiking on Flores Island, visiting Skookumchuk Narrows, and more.

Did you know that the first two lighthouses on British Columbia’s coast turn 150 years old this year?

The Spring 2010 issue of British Columbia Magazine includes “150 years of light,” a short article about Victoria’s Fisgard Lighthouse and Race Rocks Lighthouse.

Dale Mumford of Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites of Canada has done extensive research on the history of these two beacons, and shares his profiles of the first and last keepers at Fisgard Lighthouse in this week’s web exclusive. Read the full article on our website.

Wolverines don’t share well.

In my family of six, I learned to claim my share of treats—cinnamon buns, cookies, or other tasty food—as soon as Mom pulled them from the grocery bag. If I didn’t, the goodies could be gone long before my stomach rumbled.

My siblings and I developed tactics for protecting our fair share. We hid food in dark recesses of the fridge and cupboards, where we thought no one would look. We stockpiled granola bars and nectarines in our school backpacks and lockers. And, when squaring off over the last morsels of a particular delicacy, would look one another square in the eye and lick our portion. No one would steal it then!

If you think that’s gross, be glad you didn’t grow up among wolverines. This carnivore is known to spray its leftovers with a smelly musk and come back to eat it later. It seems that saliva doesn’t suffice in the wolverine world.

Moral of this story? As associate editor Jenny Manzer quips, “Never follow a wolverine in a buffet line-up.”

British Columbia is full of volcanoes.

Mount Garibaldi. Mount Meager. Mount Edziza. All were active volcanoes once.

The Geological Survey of Canada groups the volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest—those younger than about five million years—into seven volcanic belts. Of these, five include large portions of B.C.—the Anahim, Garibaldi, and Stikine volcanic belts, the Chilcotin Plateau Basalts, and Wells Gray-Clearwater Volcanic Field. A sixth, the Wrangell Volcanic Belt, just touches B.C.’s northwest corner.

Somewhat ironically, it is a volcano outside of B.C. that most threatens British Columbians. For those living in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, Emergency Management BC  identifies Mount Baker, in the Cascades belt of northern Washington State, as posing the greatest potential volcanic hazard. Not that scientists suggest it will erupt soon: just someday.

For our Spring 2009 issue, Contributing Editor Larry Pynn and landscape photographer Chris Harris travelled on horseback into the eerily beautiful volcanic landscape of Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park. This Chilcotin park’s landforms were created in two volcanic phases: an early shield-building stage, characterized by lava flows some three million years ago;  and a more recent capping stage 800,000 to 2.2 million years ago, when molten magma founds its way to the Earth’s surface through fissures to become cinder cones.

To read the full article and see Harris’s spectacular photographs from the trip, pick up the current issue of British Columbia Magazine.