Contact us by phone at (613)258-3107, or e-mail bckcdb@istar.ca
in Oxford Mills
![[Mudpuppy, dorsal view]](mudpupwc.JPG)
is our
weekly nocturnal
visit to Kemptville Creek below
the dam at Oxford
Mills,
every Friday evening at
20h00 (8 pm) from the first
Friday after Thanksgiving until spring high water.
The best
Mudpuppy viewing
in Ontario!
Flat bedrock and
clear
shallow water
provide safe footing
for researchers and
spectators
of large numbers of
giant aquatic
salamanders
pursuing their
winter activities.
(there's no registration fee, and all you risk by not contacting us is
the unlikely chance that illness or disaster will mean we'll have to cancel)
Mudpuppy Nights
4 Feb 2005
19 Jan 2003
field note archives from Mudpuppy Night
1984-1996
1998-1999
1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
...more years coming soon!
Mudpuppy publications
Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills: It's your only
chance to see an active Amphibian when the air temperature is -26
C!
Narrative of a Mudpuppy field trip with Little
Ray's Junior Herpetologists - 3 June 2001
Featured Creature - Mudpuppy Necturus
maculosus
Mudpuppy links
CARCNet
Andree Gendron's
research
About us
Pinicola Home
Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills
![[Mudpuppy,
dorsal view]](mudplin3.gif)
This is an opportunity to see our giant aquatic Salamanders at the only place in Ontario where they're known to be easily viewed during their winter activity. We assemble on the County Road 18 bridge below the dam, and walk around the shore or ice shelves, seeing up to 180 Mudpuppies prowling the bottom. Afterwards we retire to the Brigadoon Restaurant, to drink coffee, eat desserts, and talk about Mudpuppies and everything else!
![[MudpuppyNight
in Oxford Mills - working the area below the dam]](mudpnite.jpg)
Fred Schueler and David Tomes working the area below the dam, 28 Dec
2000. (photograph by Bev Wigney )
If you're not familiar with Oxford Mills, just follow the twisting route of Leeds-Grenville County Road 18 south from Kemptville or north from Hwy 401 at Prescott - we meet at the parking lot just below the dam at the bridge in the village - not the Hanlan Bridge outside (west or downstream) of the settlement.
Alternatively, you can reach Oxford Mills from Hwy 416, from Ottawa, Montreal, or the bridge from Ogdensburg. Take Exit 28, to County Road 44. At the end of the exit ramp turn right (onto Co Rd 44 northbound). then take the first left onto Beach Rd. At the end of Beach Rd turn right, onto Crozier Road, and once in the village turn left towards the Brigadoon Restaurant, and there you are. Park along the street, or in the lot behind a little log building east of the dam (if it's not snowed in).
From Smith Falls or Merrickville, take Hwy (now ?County Road') 43 east, to the stone church and township archives at Actons Corners, turn right at the sign to Oxford Mills (County Road 25), proceed south, crossing railway tracks, passing Craig Road, and then left at the stop sign onto County Road 18 and into the village, cross the bridge, and park.
From Winchester take Hwy 43 west, over Hwy 416 to traffic lights at County Road 44, turn left, go to the stop sign at Clothier Street (=County Road 18) turn right, and continue about 7 km to the first left after the railway tracks, across the downstream (Hanlan) bridge, through the village, and park as above.
Mudpuppies don't come up into the area where they can be viewed when the water is high and fast. After rain or thaws it may take weeks for water levels to subside to the point where significant numbers of Mudpuppies are visible, so after such events it's best to contact us, or to check the NatureList for recent reports.