Kawarthas Nature

Patrick Colgan is associate director of programs at the Canadian Museum
of Nature in Ottawa.

On the 50th anniversary of their organization, the Peterborough Field
Naturalists take justifiable pride in a region unsurpassed in natural
beauty: fossils and flowers, birds and butterflies, Serpent Mounds and
Lady Eaton Drumlin. This book is a compilation of essays on the general
natural history and plentiful parks, trails, and Native sites available
to lovers of nature. The Kawarthas contain 95 ANSIs (“areas of natural
and scientific interest,” acronym courtesy of the Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources) and the reader can quickly understand the dictum of
one author that the quintessential craft for the district is a canoe,
not a power,boat. The hiking tips include useful information on dangers
such as contacting poison ivy, losing your food to raccoons, and
avoiding Suicide Falls. (And did you know that a coyote-dog hybrid is
called a “coydog”?) Illustrative material includes detailed maps,
drawings of animal tracks, and many superb photographs (which are
restricted to natural scenes—no lift-locks!). As is explained, the
locations of the several species of rare orchids cannot be given.

While this is an informative and highly attractive book, its format
falls between stools: it is neither coffee-table nor small enough to be
convenient in the field. Nonetheless, for all those who know, or should
know about this district, this volume is a splendid introduction.