Remembering Brian Biddlecombe

The Searanch will always be grateful for his service to our community and the friendship to a great many of us as well.
Brian will be sorely missed.

Brian Biddlecombe

Image Credit: Biddlecombe Family

“It is with heavy hearts that we express our condolences to the Biddlecombe/Laudrum family upon the passing of Brian Biddlecombe this past week. As Fire Chief, Brian served the Bowen Island community for over 11 years. He was a leader and a friend in the Bowen Island Fire Rescue community. He spearheaded the building of Fire Hall No. 2 on Adams Road to improve access to the west side of the island and provide additional storage space and training area. He procured Engine 30, which remains the BIFR’s main truck apparatus. Brian was a long serving member of the Fire Hall Facilities Steering Committee, and was a champion of the new Fire Hall that is currently under construction on Miller Road. He would have been so happy to see his many years of work come to fruition when it opens its doors to the community for the first time, and he will be in our thoughts and hearts when it does.

Brian contributed so much to Bowen Island, both in his role as Fire Chief and as owner of Cormorant Marine, which provides an important service with its water taxi and ambulance transport. We are saddened to have lost such a pillar of the community, but we know that his legacy will live on. Rest in peace, Brian, and thank you for everything.”

Credit: The Bowen Island Municipality

Do Not Feed the Ducks!!!

Duckling malnutrition - in areas where ducks are regularly fed bread the ducklings will not receive adequate nutrition for proper growth and development.

·       Overcrowding — where food is easy to come by, ducks will lay more eggs and the pond will become overcrowded. This makes it more difficult for the birds to seek out healthier food sources and increases territorial aggression, especially during mating season

·       Pollution — what happens to all that bread that is not eaten? It causes algae growths, pollution, and can eventually eradicate fish and other life in the vicinity.

·       Diseases — a diet rich in carbohydrates leads to greater fecal production and bird feces easily harbors bacteria responsible for numerous diseases including avian botulism.

·       Attraction of pests — Rotting leftover food attracts other unwelcome pests such as rats, mice, and insects. These pests can also harbor additional diseases that can be dangerous to humans.

Why Feeding the Deer Human Provided Food Can Kill Them

Deer are ruminants.  Ruminants have specialized four-part digestive systems that allow them to thrive on their natural diets of high fibre such as leaves, old grass, and woody browse.  The first part of their digestive system is the rumin.

When ruminants feed, they barely chew their food.  They mix it with large quantities of saliva and then swallow it into the rumin.  There the food is churned and mixed with microorganisms that start a fermentation process.  The fermented food generates methane and carbon dioxide gasses, which the animal then burps up.

The rumin then separates the feed into layers of solid and liquid material.  The solids clump together to form a cud.  The cud is then brought back up to the mouth and chewed slowly (chewing the cud).  During that process fiber is further broken down by microorganisms.

The microorganisms present in the deer’s rumin cannot digest a diet of high carbohydrate such as chicken feed, which contains about 80% carbohydrates in the form of corn and cereal grains.  If fed chicken feed, this can cause a rapid change in stomach chemistry and disrupt the microorganisms present.  The same condition applies to allowing deer to feed on new, sweet spring grass.  The rumin will not be able to work to digest the food or expel the gasses formed.  It will then shut down.

Other serious outcomes are the release of toxins which are absorbed into the deer’s system and lactic acidosis which causes stomach ulcers and secondary infections. 

The microorganisms in the deer’s rumin change during the year.  This is why you may see deer feeding on apples and other fruits as the rumin prepares for winter.  The microorganisms change further during the winter, allowing the rumin to change a high fibre diet of woody browse into protein.

It is not uncommon for deer to starve to death with a rumin full of food.