Category: southern Ontario

Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)[1]is a perennial, herbaceous…



Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)[1]

is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America. It is the only species in the genus Sanguinaria, included in the family Papaveraceae, and most closely related to Eomecon of eastern Asia.Sanguinaria canadensis is also known as bloodwort,[1]redroot,[1]red puccoon,[1] and sometimes pauson. It has also been known as tetterwort,[1] although that name is also used to refer to Chelidonium majus. Plants are variable in leaf and flower shape and have in the past been separated out as different subspecies due to these variable shapes. Currently most taxonomic treatments include these different forms in one highly variable species. In bloodroot, the juice is red and poisonous.[2]

Wikipedia

shellsI only ever recall seeing small snail shells but these are…





















shells

I only ever recall seeing small snail shells but these are large… if I had picked one up it would have filled my palm.  Since they were around the SWM pond on the floodplain, I am guessing these are aquatic snail shells, but its hard to tell… the Internet is insistent on telling me how to kill slugs and snails but doesn’t seem to care about which, or where they are.   They look most like the Giant African snails (presumably an invasive species.  Maybe somebody’s aquarium got dumped and they proliferated.

If these large shells are from freshwater snails, what I have learned is that the animals must have died, as snails don’t leave their shells when they’re alive.  

The barns on family farms found throughout Ontario used to house…



The barns on family farms found throughout Ontario used to house the farmer’s hay and straw in the upper part of the structure. There would be a trapdoor to make it easy to toss bales of straw for bedding, and hay for eating down into the lower level where the animals lived. The stored hay and straw provided a good measure of insulation.

But these days instead of labour intensive rectangular bales, modern farm equipment forms the hay into enormous disks that are stored together in the shape of a giant tube and wrapped in plastic to protect them from the elements.  

Which is why so many barns can be seen decaying in the rural landscape of southern Ontario.  You can get a glimpse of the modern building where the animals live just behind this one.

The barns on family farms found throughout Ontario used to house…



The barns on family farms found throughout Ontario used to house the farmer’s hay and straw in the upper part of the structure. There would be a trapdoor to make it easy to toss bales of straw for bedding, and hay for eating down into the lower level where the animals lived. The stored hay and straw provided a good measure of insulation.

But these days instead of labour intensive rectangular bales, modern farm equipment forms the hay into enormous disks that are stored together in the shape of a giant tube and wrapped in plastic to protect them from the elements.  

Which is why so many barns can be seen decaying in the rural landscape of southern Ontario.  You can get a glimpse of the modern building where the animals live just behind this one.