Hello and welcome (back) to Year in Review. Although no one would ever accuse Year in Review of being “edited” in the conventional sense, some comments from management did land this year about privacy, photos, and distribution thereof. So, this should be a quicker read than in years past with fewer photos. Fret not readers, we’ve condensed it down to the best of what we got up to over the past year.
Mudpuppies
Very few people tend to associate the dead of winter with ideal conditions to spot amphibians. And yet, around Oxford Mills just outside Ottawa, you can do just that. Fred and Aleta have, for years, run friday «Mudpuppy Night» tours just under the weir on Kemptville creek. I’ve known about Mudpuppy nights for about 20 years.
For those who do not know, mudpuppies are large, enigmatic, aquatic salamander found in Ontario. They are sometimes called Hellbenders or snot otters. They resemble axolotls very closely with their frilly gills that remain on the outside of their heads. Though, as we learned, mudpuppies aren’t that closely related to axolotls– there are numerous evolutionary paths that take salamander to aquatic salamander, apparently. Mudpuppies become most active in the cold of winter and at night– so that’s the time to go see them (Friday night obviously, because– what else could you be doing that night?!) This is the longest-running winter herpetological outing in Canada!!
I’d known that the evening was open for people to bring their waders and a net to go into the river and catch their own mudpuppies for observation, so of course I did. The pregnant pause and its insightful revelations only came after I’d gotten myself thigh deep in a creek in January:
- Although I am keen, it is not obvious that I am at all skilled at catching mudpuppies; and
- I am one slip on a slimy creek bottom away from hypothermia.
So I made my way out of the creek and enjoyed the mudpuppies that were caught by the more qualified mudpuppy catchers. Mudpuppies are always amazing– this time Zoe and a bunch of her friends got to know it also. This is how mudpuppies got added to our atlas of encountered animals.
Fishing (Mis)Adventures
Later in the summer, as the pressure of still not having achieved glorious fishing success began to weight heavier on the year, Zoe and I set out with the kayak for Réserve Faunique Papineau-Labelle (RFPL) in Duhamel Québec. We were off to do some adventure fishing. Ah, adventure fishing. RFPL has more than 600 lakes– it is only a small minority of them that have maintained access for small boats. You can fish the unmaintained lakes under the adventure fishing program. I built a web map of all the lakes in RFPL and figured out which ones were close to roads.
Zoe, Gyrados (our kayak), and I checked in at the gate and informed the ranger which adventure lake we were planning on heading to. The park ranger, after throwing an eye to our (conventional) AWD SUV, suggested we’d not be making it to the lake we’d chosen. She recommended a closer more accessible adventure lake– even closer to the road! With our GPS maps, and Zoe exceptionally riding in the front seat, we tracked ourselves driving around the lake without actually ever seeing the lake. Thinking the inlets and or outlets to the lake might get us to the water, we sought those out. Now, each walk into the woods looking for the lake is a preview of how far you’ll have to haul the kayak (twice). With that in mind, you don’t want to hike to far through the woods. It didn’t really matter, we weren’t able to find the lake.
Lakes in Papineau-Labelle have vanished in the past– beavers take their well deserved retirement, the dam falls, and where there once was a body of water now only a stream can be found. I’ll not pretend that is what happened in this case, dear reader. Definitely a lake-seeker problem, not a lake-existing problem. Besides, I’ll need your sympathy and understanding further along in this tale, best not to use it up this early.
The ranger was sympathetic to our inability to find the lake, and offered us a day of fishing on one of the reserve’s managed and stocked lakes. We were off and fishing!! And boy was this lake stocked– the fish finder was a non-stop fish party! Only, we were fishing towards the end of August– the year’s least amenable time to catch trout. They were all deep and lethargic. And entirely uninterested in our baits, lures, jigs, spoons, spinners, and worms. Now, reader you might be asking yourself: “Wait. You couldn’t catch trout in a stocked lake?! Isn’t that being unable to procure services at a brothel?!” To which I have 2 remarks:
- Dear reader please?! This is a Christmas letter, there’s no need for your bawdy allegories; and
- Yes– exactly!
Despite all this Zoe reports that she does have fun when we go out fishing, so we’ll keep doing it. Next year we’re inviting the fish.
Shuffling into the Holidays
Grinch suit max– Ottawa better than MTL for this event
The Santa Shuffle is my usual cue to get the letter out, so let’s see how were doing:
- ✅ Awareness raised for Canada’s longest running herpetological outing; and
- ✅ Entertaining– though unsuccessful– fishing adventure
Ok, all systems check! Lets get the letter out. 2025 is winding down, and we’re looking back and appreciating the year we had. We’re, of course, scrambling to get things sorted and ready for the holidays. But were also thinking of you, yours, and wishing you all a restful holiday season. Drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Grievous Festivus, and Happy New year– Tim, Ewa, & Zoe