News & Updates from the park

Water Fountain Installed and Tested

Posted by Kilcona Park Dog Club / in Information, News /

November 29, 2021

Installation and testing of the water fountain was completed this afternoon.

 

Fountain was attached last Friday

Water Cistern was filled and connected today

Water Bottle Filling Station was tested

Water Fountain was tested

Dog (slow draining) water fountain was tested

All systems were then drained and shut down for the season and are ready to go when the spring water systems are turned on by the City.

There will also be landscaping taking place first thing in the spring of 2022 to finish off the fountain project.

Fountain Installation Begins!

Posted by Kilcona Park Dog Club / in Information /

Well there have been numerous delays but after the mandatory safety meeting conducted on Monday Oct 25, 2021  the excavation started this morning Oct 29, 2021 for the holding tank and the digging will continue today. Please keep dogs away from the construction sites for their and your safety.

KPDC Members Elect New Board of Directors

Posted by president@kilconaparkdogclub.ca / in Information /

Kilcona Park Dog Club Inc. elected  the following members to its 2019-2020 Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting on Nov 20, 2019.

Donna Henry  –  President

Dave Brown  –  Vice President

Christine Quinlan   –  Secretary

Daria Zenchuk   –  Treasurer

Jeff Henry   –  Director of Marketing and Communications

Chantal DeMare   –   Director of Membership

Larry Wozney  –   Director of  Events and Volunteers

 

Chew on This!!

Posted by president@kilconaparkdogclub.ca / in Information /

Kilcona Park Dog Club and the City of Winnipeg’s Naturalist are hoping that armoring the trunks of Kilcona’s trees with stucco wire will solve a gnawing problem – protecting the park’s trees from beavers and protecting the park’s beavers from themselves!

Beavers have long made Kilcona Park their home. But in recent years, Kilcona’s resident beavers may have become a little too eager and a little too obvious. The bucktoothed creatures have been gnawing healthy poplars and aspens around the south ponds into pencil-shaped stumps.

During the spring and summer, beavers feed on non-woody plants like cattail shoots that grow along the margins of Kilcona’s waterways. The menu switches to shrubs and trees in the autumn as the animals prepare for winter.

After the ponds freeze, beavers feed on the bark of branches and twigs they’ve cached underwater near their lodges.

Their preferred tree species are alder, aspen, birch, cottonwood, poplar and willow. If the supply of their preferred trees is low, they will harvest oaks and some maples. Conifers such as spruce, pines, and hemlocks are their least favorite food.

Until now, the City’s solution to problem beavers has been to trap or shoot them. But howls of protest from Kilcona animal lovers persuaded KPDC’s board to ask the City to consider other options.

This spring KPDC member Ed Skomro noticed a number of nibbled cottonwood stumps along the ponds and decided to do something about it. He took photos and contacted KPDC’s board.

Fresh teeth marks – Photo credit: Ed Skomro

The City Naturalist responded immediately. Ten of the most vulnerable trees with stucco wire.

In June, Kilcona Park Dog Club directors Donna Henry and Christina Montsion met with Naturalist, Kristin Tuchscherer and Kilcona Park Technician, Jessica Mutimer to explore solutions that would protect the trees without sealing their furry foes’ fate.

The solution – banding more trees with stucco wire. This summer, under a partnership between the City of Winnipeg and the Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg – Clean Machine, students installed wire cages on over 200 trees around the ponds, burning through sixteen 50-foot rolls of wire.

 

 

The City provided funding to hire the four-member team.

Hats off to tree banding stewards – Brett, Josh, Spencer and Skylar

The City  also reviewed its beaver management practices. As an alternative to trapping or shooting animals that fell trees and/or cause overland flooding by damming water bodies, they will rely more on natural solutions that allow trees and beavers to coexist. A promising alternative is to encourage the growth of aspens along waterways. Aspens occur naturally along Kilcona’s South Canal and Forest Trail. The species has adapted to beaver damage by suckering and re-growing quickly.

As Winnipeg faces the imminent loss of much of its urban forest to Dutch elm disease and the emerald ash borer, KPDC’s board has also asked the City to do more to enhance and protect Kilcona’s canopy by planting more trees, especially in the off-leash play area and at the entrance to the on-leash area where the new drinking fountain is being installed. The board requested beaver-resistant conifers to break the wind in winter, and deciduous trees for shade on hot summer days. The request is being considered.

A Tale of BFF’s and a Winning Dog Fest Raffle Ticket!!

Posted by president@kilconaparkdogclub.ca / in Information /

Donna Turner (left) and Shannon Druwe with Kismet and Tazer

There is nothing better than a best friend, unless it is a best friend with chocolate (or a winning raffle ticket)!

The winner of Winnipeg Dog Fest’s 50/50 raffle says she owes her jackpot – not to luck – but to a last-minute phone call from her best friend encouraging her to buy a ticket.

Long-time KPDC member, Donna Turner couldn’t take Tazer and Kismet to Dog Fest so her best friend, Shannon Druwe picked up the fur kids and drove them to the party. At the park, Shannon took a moment to call Donna with the news that there was a 50/50 raffle and ask if she wanted to buy tickets.

Donna didn’t hesitate.  A major supporter of KPDC’s ‘Make a Splash’ clean water campaign, she asked Shannon to buy $10 worth of tickets to support the project.

When we informed Donna she had the winning ticket and she’d just won $245, she was more than surprised..she was momentarily speechless. “I am shocked…I never win anything. Shannon’s a wonderful friend and I’ll be giving her half the money.”

Here’s to friendship and our wonderful besties!

Congratulations ladies!!