I promised in my “Fish Rots” blog that I would complete the story of the wolf, moose, moose tick, and Canada Jay connection. Here it is.

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Years ago, after dinner at a winter Outdoor Education Conference in Dorset, Ontario, attendees were invited to a special seminar in the centre’s theatre. The title was “What Makes a Moose Tick?” being presented by one of the Frost Centre’s eminent biologists. It had been a long day setting ski trails, snowshoeing, and tracking wildlife. People were tired, and the theatre was warm, especially the upper balcony. I was just about to nod off, when the presenter arrived on stage.

Everyone sat bolt upright. This long lean man wearing outrageous cargo shorts, sandals with socks, a wild T-shirt, and fake moose antlers on his head took the stage. It was the most engaging session I had been to in a very long time. No one in the audience fell asleep!

During one of his wildlife data collection studies, this wildlife biologist had observed a mangy, emaciated male moose rubbing himself furiously against the bark of a tree. Normally a Moose like this would have been taken down by the wolf pack, but the wolves had been culled from the area. This moose actually rubbed himself to death on the tree. When the biologists examined it, they found the moose absolutely covered in ticks. In the absence of wolf, the tick had become predator.

Enter the male Canada Jay who uses the moose tick like a starry eyed bachelor uses a Spence diamonds ad. The female Jay can’t resist, and voila, love is in the air, followed by lots of baby Canada Jays

The pattern here is simple. Remove the primary predator, and the prey population booms. Then a secondary predator population rises quickly, along with everything that uses the new predator as a source for food and avian lust.  The moose were suffering, but the Canada Jays were loving it, literally. Nothing like a fat juicy moose tick to make your feathers fluff up

Fortunately in this case, humans learned their lesson. The bounty on wolves was removed, and the top predators slowly returned to the area. Healthy moose, healthy wolves, fewer ticks, and a lot of highly competitive love starved Canada Jays.

Life in balance. The way I see it.

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images from CBC, Manitoba Wildlife, Wikipedia

With the rise of Canadian patriotism in response to the threats from the south, it became an act of resistance to BUY CANADIAN and shun those USA products. What better response to that challenge than to support local businesses! Fortunately, our local grocers have been swift in stocking up on Canadian sourced and produced products. However, I did find that a lot of our usual cleaning products were manufactured by American conglomerates. Enter Turtle Green.

Turtle Green delivers a wide variety of cleaning products, in your own refillable containers, right to your door. Caledon’s own entrepreneur Betty de Groot is the proud owner of this refillery and carefully sources her products to ensure that they meet her “cradle to cradle” environmental standards. I visited Betty at her office and picked up as many products as I could to test.

I was mainly interested in Canadian made dish soaps and laundry products. Turtle Green dish soap passed with flying colours, as did the reusable dryer balls for laundry – three balls come with their own storage bag. If you wish, they can be scented with your favourite essential oil. The liquid hand soaps were also excellent, with the lavender scented version specially suited for the bathroom areas. Most spectacular was the hand sanitizer which left your hands feeling clean and smooth. A must for cold and flu season, but we use it every day now after dog walking.

Betty also stocks a horticultural vinegar (20% acetic acid) that works well by itself on all weeds. To kick it up a notch, take a large empty Mason jar, add 1/3 cup salt, add enough boiled water to completely dissolve the salt (usually one cup), add 1 tsp dish soap, and top off with the horticultural vinegar – best weed spray ever! Caution: make sure the salt is completely dissolved before putting the mix in your spray bottle.

Another reusable item that you can get from Turtle Green are make-up pads. Those who use make-up in our house have reported that they are great – right size, soak up remover well, and they wash clean. The users recommended that Turtle Green sell them with a little mesh storage bag.

I also tested the shampoo bar, a round disc of solid shampoo that I scented with tea tree and citronella oil for bug season – works like a charm and your hair is squeaky clean. The other item that will leave  things squeaky clean is the Kitchen and Bath Degreaser/Sanitizer. Our counter tops have never been so pure!

The final product I brought home was a tube of Mountain Sky Foot Butter scented with tea tree and mint for my wife. She gave it ten toes up! I already had to get a second tube. And that reminds me … Betty, if you’re reading this, I need another jar of horticultural vinegar, hand soap unscented, and two tubes of Foot Butter.

Great products, Canadian, supporting a local business AND eco-responsible. You can’t go wrong shopping at Turtle Green. The way I see it.