The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE ADVANCE, BURFORD, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1981 Animals Of Burford Township by Mel Robertson Part 1 Although it is not possible to identify the first person who left written observations about the animal of Burford Township it is obvious that the area was well-known for game long before anyone bothered to make a written note of it. This is apparent from the diary of Major Littlehales, Governor Simcoe's secretary, who, on the evening of Feb. llth. 1793, at a point west of Burford village, recorded this information, "Passed over some fine open plains said to be frequented by immense herds of deer but since little snow had fallen we did not see them." He also mentioned "During the day we saw remains of several beaver dams". Then as Simcoe's party was coming back from Detroit they camped in a cedar swamp near Burford (Probably Harley swamp). There Littlehales wrote "We were much amused by seeing Brant chase mink that he did not kill. Several porcupines were killed." The "Brant" mentioned was Chief Joseph Brant, the famous chief of the Six Nations who met Simcoe west of Burford with an escort of warriors and accompanied him back to the Mohawk village sout-east of the present site of RrantfnrH The information about the "immense herds of deer" on the Burford Plain must have been given to Littlehales during his stay at the Mohawk village from Feb. 7th. to the 10th. 1793 as apparently, the plains were a well-known hunting ground for not only the Six Nations tribes but also the Mississaugas. I can find no further references to the deer herds and it would appear that they became so diminished in numbers through hunting or migration that by 1886 the sighting of a deer was a phenomenon that merited special newspaper notice. The only evidence of a "herd" was noted in the Brantford "Expositor" on January 27th., 1927 when Arthur Parnell reported that a party of eleven had been seen in his swamp two miles north of Burford. This was said to be "the largest herd of deer seen in this part of Brant County in fifty years". Since that time the deer population of the township has continued to grow and newspapers of the 1930's to 50's contain many reports by Game Wardens Peter Porter, Wm. Pinnock and Harry Clark concerning the hunting and sighting of deer in the area. Indeed, by April 1939 Peter Porter reported tliof Hoor nniiM ho coan in Burford Township almost every day. To-day it is not uncommon to see deer grazing in fields, sometimes even among herds of cows. The porcupine and beaver, noted by Littlehales seem to have become extinct in the Township but I understand that wild mink, while rare can still be found. I can attest to one such sighting for one night a few years ago when I was driving near Burford a fine, large mink, crossed the road in front of my car. It is possible, of course, that this animal was an escapee from one of our mink ranches. If the Burford Plains were the home of "immense herds of deer" in the early days it is obvious that they would also have been populated with packs of wolves as it is a well-known fact that wolves stay near herds of deer in order to capture the old and disabled. Some historians claim that wolves were a menace to our settlers and there are stories of wolf attacks on children and domestic animals. In my mother's family there is a tale of how two of her uncles were "treed" by a pack of wolves near Harley and forced to stay in the tree all night. One has to cast some doubt on such tales, however as recent studies of wolves cliAtir fViot thov HA tint people in the manner so dear to the narrators of folk-tales and fairy stories. There do not seem to be any reports of bears in the early history of our Township but now and then the odd bear has made its appearance among us. This was such a rarity that on June 22nd., 1865 Wm. Yates went to the trouble of reporting that "Mrs. Stitt and family" had seen a bear near Hatchley. From then on the only bears reported seem to have been those of the wandering medicine man or mountebank. The fact that immense crowds would gather to see a performing bear indicates that such creatures were not common in the area. This rarity is further substantiated by a note in the Brantford "Expositor" of June 28th. 1942 as follows: "Fifty residents of the Burford dis- trict armed with rifles and shotguns went hunting for a big black bear that has been attacking cattle. The bear was sighted and George Tapley fired two shots at it without bringing it down". There seem to be no further reports on this bear which apparently left for less dangerous parts.