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stouffville suntribune thursday july 21 2005 3 by joan ransberry staff writer is mother nature confused a turkey vulture visits a penthouse terrace of a 15- floor condominium com plex on hwy 7 a canada goose hatches her babies in a richmond hill parking lot and bears wander subdivisions in newmarket and markham sounds like a scene from madagascar but many york region resi dents will be surprised to leairn if s business as usual for nature therehas always been wildlife in urban areas said john almond fish and wildlife techni cal specialist with the ministry of natural resources theres urban sprawl across the gta mr almond said since people are moving into areas that were inhabited by wildlife they should have some understanding its not a case of wildlife turn ing up in towns and cities rather its urbariites moving into the wildlifes habitat- mr almond stressed when karen smith first spot ted a large turkey vulture on her 1500squarefoot terrace over looking walden pond at hwy 7 and bullock drive she wondered if the bird was adopting condo minium lifestyle or was simply dropping in for a onetime visit i stayed very still and just looked at it mrs smith said i couldnt believe my eyes after watching for a few min- utesthe bird took flight a few days later the vulture returned this time he came with his wife shes smaller and not as colourful mrs smith said in the past three weeks the vultures have visited mrs smiths terrace many times the turkey vulture is one of north americas largest birds reaching a length of 32 inches with a wing span of six feet vul tures are best known for feeding on dead animal carcasses learning this mrs smith pro ceeded with care i just hope it doesnt bring lunch to the terrace mrssmith said i dont encourage or discour ages it from visiting i dont feed it but i dont scare it away either i love to watch it fly it soars in midapril connie brown of richmond hill pulled into the loblaws store at hwy 7 and bayview avenue when some thing near a little bush caught her eye the something was a canada goose mrs brown was especially alarmed to realize the goose had animals arent moving into our back yards were moving into theirs picked one of the busiest parking lots in york region to sit on- three eggs knowing the mother goose and her eggs needed protection mrs brown put a plan into action a call to loblaws head office got results the company quickly installed a protective barricade around the nest meanwhile mrs brown turned up every day with food and water mrs brown also contacted a migrating bird specialist with the ministry of natural resources since goslings can walk as soon as they are born mrs brown was advised to keep a close watch theyd hatch within a month- mrs brown said i could just imagine the babies trying to cross bayview avenue realizing the severity of die situation mrs brown called richmond hill mayor bill bell and explained the dilemma the mayor agreed to help relocate the geese mrs browns next move was to contact canadian wildlife services to secure a permit to move the mother bird and the soontobeborn goslings with permit in hand mrs brown called private company bird control international of mississauga to carry out the job of relocating the geese to a natu ral habitat in western ontario when mrs brown showed up at themall may 15 she found three newborns nestled under their mothers belly the wildlife service company was called and a relocation crew arrived they used a net and cap tured the babies first mrs brown said then they caught die mother the babies were cry ing and the mother was crying it was quite an experience canada geese can be found anywhere in the gtamr almond said theyre most often seen on ponds rivers and shore lines canada geese are very adapt able and will nest wherever it seems safe this could be on the edge of a runway at an airport near a water trap on a golf course and yes in a parking lot at a shopping plaza geese may be common enough but bears when a bear sauntered into newmarket over the may 24 weekend residents couldnt believe their eyes after seeking refuge in a tree in a residential backyard follow ing a chase through fairy lake park in the heart of town a crew from the ministry of natural resources hit the bear with sev eral tranquilizer darts before low ering him to safety l t he bear remained in cus tody for about three hours before being released several hours north of newmarket all was quiet until a week later when a 180pound black bear spent the good part of a saturday jumping fences in a quiet resi dential area in east markham the twoyearold bear led police and wildlife officials on a ninehour chase through the hwy 7 and ninth line area while wildlife staff managed to tranquilize thebear it took another 90 minutes to subdue the animal in the backyard of a colonel butler drive home jolanta kowalski senior infor mation officer with the ministry saidboth bears were released into an unpopulated area humans share ontario with more than 75000 black bears while most live in the north a few find their way into southern ontario every year- ms kowalski said in 2001 central ontario expe rienced a widespread failure of the food supply on which black bears depend some bears became stressed making them more determined in their search for food every year we get a couple of calls about bear sightings ms kowalski said now that the oak ridges moraine is under provincial gov ernment protection from exten sive growth residents can expect to see even more wildlife as time goes on mr almond said at least were not going to lose anymore wildlife because the oak ridges moraine is being protected he said get local exposure for your business by advertising in york region business limes tl ur business readership includes o well as chamber of commerce and affordable advertising campaigns tail ad rates start at 70 per month arid iricl managersandotrier key d moi ne jyraiyiyjiancuficra pfpademem itnalland sessional lesses 1w1m 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