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

8 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2006 ?????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????? Come join the team spirit of Staying Alive Call Guelph office to book your appointment (519) 836-8111 With Us www.arnoldhearing.ca ARNOLD HEARING CENTRES 77 Westmount Rd. #104, Guelph Ontario N1H 5J1 (519)836-8111 25 MAIN ST. N. ACTON Hearing Health Services: Hearing tests Programming Battery Sales Fitting Repairs Counselling M.Sc. (A),Aud(C), Reg. CASLPO We now have audiology services available in Acton Debbie Booth, Audiologist, See you Friday, August 18 Pamela Ashton BC-HIS Hearing Instrument Specialist Thompson Wellness Centre For years we have heard about the problems wa- ter birds create on Fairy Lake. Water pollution is caused by their droppings. Result: beaches are closed for swimming. Solutions are suggested, none are tried, and some are just not feasible. Birds are attracted to the beaches, particularly the Boat House beach, because people feed them. The Old Beach is not as often closed; not many birds frequent it, and, fewer people feed them. Incidentally, I learned to swim at that beach many years ago through a YMCA program. Birds come to beaches for food and people feed them out of sympathy for their apparent hunger. Fact is, there is lots of natural food available for the birds but they have to work to get it. Being fed by people is a lot less work so think about it. Wouldnt you take the hand- out if you were a bird? Actually, the stuff fed to birds by people is not usu- ally very good for them. Not knowing this the birds eat it anyway. So if you cant separate people from the birds, maybe a solu- tion would be to separate birds from people. How? Read on. Some years ago I swam regularly at Terra Cotta Conservation Area. One of the finest beach type swim- ming pools I have ever seen was there. I bought a seasons pass to the Area and the pool so I could go swimming three or more times a week in summer. The Area was always popu- lar, especially with families, and always busy. Eventually planning bureaucrats, who didnt like the pool, had it taken out. Now hardly any- one goes to the Area. What a pity; but that is another story. Swimming underwater one day and coming up from below at a particular angle, I broke the surface and saw a line of something flashing above me. Curious, I looked around and noticed poles attached to the sur- rounding fence to a height of about 8 above it. Going from these to a central pole at the lifeguards chair was a fine line. It appeared to be monofilament fishing line and was barely visible. Most people would not see it and I had never noticed it before. I asked a lifeguard about its purpose. She said, It keeps the birds out. I asked, Does it work? She laughed in reply, You dont see any birds in here do you? True. There were lots of Canada geese and ducks about the grounds but none in the grassy areas sur- rounding the pool. I asked how it works. Her reply was, Appar- ently the birds cant see it and they need a stretch of air to take off and land and they run into it. It doesnt hurt them but it scares them; word gets around that this is not a safe place and so they stay away. How simple. A couple of years later I was having a quick lunch at Ontario Place. Lots of fast food, sloppy people, packed trash containers and lots of seagulls flying. It should have been seagull heaven. But there were no gulls at the feast on the ground. I noticed each of the build- ings in the area had a pole on top of it and I concluded, though I couldnt see any, that monofilament fishing line criss-crossed the area from pole to pole. Obvi- ously the gulls didnt like this either. At one time I always spent a week of summer camping at Sandbanks Provincial park with its beautiful sand beaches. After many years of never having a prob- lem there the beaches were from time to time being closed because of fecal con- tamination. Just like Fairy Lake. This made for many unhappy campers who com- plained to the provincial Ministry responsible. They assigned a biological scien- tist to study the problem for a summer. It was thought that towns along the north shore of Lake Ontario to the west were polluting the water. This then was swept along by the west wind and cur- rents into Atholl Bay at Sandbanks. The scientist charted the currents and extensively tested the water for contamination. I hap- pened to be at the Picton Fall Fair that year and he had a booth there to explain his work and its conclu- sions. No detectable pollution was being washed in by lake currents. At the shore fecal contamination was found from time to time but 100ft. out in the lake water there was none. There were lots of seagulls along the beach often being fed by the beachgoers. His conclu- sion. When the gulls poop was dropped out in the lake it sank to the bottom and stayed there intact. When it was deposited on the shore line the constant wave ac- tion broke it up and hence the contamination. This did not happen all the time but only when wind and wave conditions were right. I suggested they might keep the gulls away by putting up some poles with monofilament fishline on them and told him of my previous observations. He said it sounded like an inter- esting idea. But, of course, nothing happened. Maybe this is the answer at Fairy Lake. There are lots of trees on both sides of the lake at the Boathouse and the Old Beach. Maybe with a few added poles and some monofilament fishline the birds could be persuaded to go to the west end of the lake where there is lots of natural food and not many people. Except for the storm sewer outlet across from the Boathouse this might solve the pollution problem. I wouldnt hold my breath until it happens though. I am much aware of the cold, dead, hand of bureaucracy. George Elliott Dear Acton, I would like to thank the Acton B.I.A., Josey Bonnette, and the Town of Halton Hills for all of the kind words and gifts I received on Sunday as Actons new Ambassador. Thank you to last years Ambassador, Dana Bowman, I hope Ill do as good as you, Im looking forward to seeing you at MSB. A big thank you to the Acton community for buying my breast cancer key chains, I raised 89 dollars. I will be donating the money to the Cancer Society. Also thanks to my friend Kim Baker for walking around with me the whole day, I hope everyone had as much fun as we did. See you at The Acton Fall Fair! Sincerely, Emily Loewen, Acton Leathertown Festival Ambassador. Solution to pollution on Fairy Lake beaches? Is there a solution to fouling of Fairy Lake beaches by flocks of Canada geese and ducks such as these. George Elliott thinks so. Ambassador says thanks Whats Your Beef? Put it in a letter to the Editor! Deadline is Tuesday at noon.