Dear Canimites, Spring-like weather recently wakened some tiny denizens of the land. Impressions in the snow along the trails were black with snow fleas. They flitted about joyfully, abuzz with the high-octane antifreeze coursing through their veins, uncaring of the forecast for colder weather to come. Community Club Life on the lakes for humans also buzzes, with community activities in full swing. Margo's Cabin is in use at least three days a week. Thanks to the Wagners for making it available at no cost whatsoever. The club plans to purchase 10 new chairs and two folding tables for the cabin to better accommodate people for the upcoming presentations. Arrangements are being made to set up classes in bridge this spring, with a view to starting a regular bridge club next fall. To check this out, contact Margo at 250-397-0016 or Leona at 250-397-2586. The monthly community dinners are being moved to the third Saturday of each month. Jean Reynolds will continue to call club members each month in order to make the necessary reservations. Call Jean for more information at 250-397-2773. Grow-ops letter After hearing the RCMP presentation on the damaging effects of grow-ops in our area, Community Club members decided to take action to make it more difficult for "grows" to succeed in our area. The club executive has sent a letter to our Cariboo Regional District Director Art Dumaresq, asking him to take our concerns about grow-ops to the CRD board. Specifically, the club is suggesting the board consider a bylaw that would make it easier for the building inspectors, RCMP, fire department and BC Hydro to work together to inspect suspected "grow sites." Mighty rainbows If you've ever wondered how the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) got into some of those high lakes, such as Greenlee, Howard and the Schoolhouse Park, some of which have impossibly steep outlet creeks, well it's an interesting story. Here is the abridged version. It seems that at the peak of the last glaciation 16,000 years ago, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet that covered British Columbia reached 3,000 metres elevation. The highest of our hills was covered by at least one kilometre of ice, not the most favourable fish habitat. Indeed, the rainbows were pushed south as the ice advanced and holed up in what is known as the Pacific Refuge just below the southern edge of the ice in the present-day states of Washington, Idaho and Montana. As the climate warmed up again, the ice retreated, but in a rather ragged staggered fashion. Rainbows are salt tolerant, so some made an early break out of the refuge and up the Fraser and its tributaries. But that didn't get them very far at first because a colossal ice plug blocked the Fraser about Lillooet forming a huge lake to the north of it. This even covered the Thompson River basin and sent the pent up waters flowing east and south down the Columbia River. It is probable our rainbows entered the area up the Columbia, populating the headwaters. When the glacial lake drained, isolated populations of fish were left behind in the high lakes. Now that I know where they came from, I just need to find out how to reliably catch them. For further reading, check my source Freshwater Fishes of Northwestern Canada and Alaska, J.D. McPhail and C.C. Lindsey, Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 1970. People News • Val Froehling says her daughter, Evelyn, and Finja Kruse are getting in every possible minute snowboarding at Mount Timothy. Finja is from Germany and is staying with the Froehlings this year while attending Grade 10 at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School and polishing her English. • Terry Wagner scored his first perfect night with five wins at crib. Sheila Hart also had a perfect night, but at the other end of the spectrum. That's all for now. Until next time, here's wishing you many blessings.