A Bear Had Not Been Seen at Mississippi Lake For Years 1887

1887- Almonte Gazette

A correspondent to the Ottawa Journal says : Three of the residents of Ashton,

Messrs. J. Fry, J. T. Basken and A. M.Craig, while fishing on the Mississippi

Lake above Carleton Place, had quite an exciting chase after a bear in the water

opposite Allan’s Point. It appears that on the 11th inst. about 6 a.m. as the

sportsmen were trolling about a mile-and a-half below the point they spied his

bearship crossing at the above place, and with Basken at the oars, Fry at the rudder and Craig with a Winchester rifle in hand, the boat bounded over the waves until they came within about 150 yards of him.

Then Craig brought his rifle to bear upon bruin and gave him a dose between the shoulder and the head. Bang again twice in the neck, and then the bear gave battle, but two more shots in the head gave him the coup de grace.

After trolling for some time, they towed the animal down the lake to Carleton

Place, and upon telling their adventure they would not be believed, one sport

remarking that a bear had not been seen up the lake for ten years—but “seeing

is believing”—and a visit to the boathouse soon dispelled all doubts as to the

authenticity of their statement.

One feature about the event was that the sports and bear had lodged in close proximity the

night before the adventure.

Bear sightings starting in Lanark County click

Mississippi Lake NWA is also home to a variety of mammals. A small mammal trapping study
documented five species residing in the NWA: Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda), Masked
Shrew (Sorex cinereus), Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), Deer Mouse (Peromyscus
maniculatus) and the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) (EC-CWS, 1980). The marsh provides
habitat for several species of fur bearers including North American Beaver, River Otter (Lutra
canadensis) and Muskrat (Hamill and Thomson, 2012). Black Bear (Ursus americanus), Red
Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), Raccoon (Procyon lotor), White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus
viginianus), Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) and
Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) can also be found within the NWA (EC-CWS, 2012b; Hamill and
Thomson, 2012; Robinson, personal communication, 2012).