What the heck is a Maplelope?
The Maplelope is a purely fictitious and utterly imaginary denizen of the deep woods of Mississippi Mills. Its distinctive M-shaped hoofprints were once sighted only in the backwoods of Ramsay Township, but they have recently appeared closer to the more metropolitan areas of Pakenham and Almonte. During maple season, clusters of hoofprints have also appeared at area sugar bushes, often accompanied by small piles of Maplelope “leavings” which, perhaps coincidentally, have been found to contain a high maple sugar content. Like many other wild Lanark County dwellers, the Maplelope requires mixed tree cover in its habitat. It relies on trees for food, shelter, and protection from predators. In fact, it has been suggested that the increase in Maplelope sightings near urban areas is a result of the tree-planting efforts undertaken by the Mississippi Mills Chamber of Commerce over the past twelve years. The Chamber’s annual Tree Sale has resulted in the planting of thousands of trees in the area!
Plant a tree for the Maplelope!
Here’s what you can do to improve the habitat of the Maplelope (and lots of other wildlife): buy a tree from the Mississippi Mills Chamber of Commerce annual tree sale! Plant it on your property, or give it as a gift to a friend or neighbour! And here’s a sweet deal — the first 50 people to place tree orders will receive a free “I Planted a Tree for the Maplelope” t-shirt, complete with a beautiful rendering of the ‘lope itself by actual artist Sam Hamilton. All orders must be placed by Friday, April 20 for pick-up on Saturday, April 28, but hurry up and place your order soon so you can snag a t-shirt!
What does a Maplelope look like?
Recently, Almonte resident and artist Sam Hamilton and his two very quiet and observant children were fortunate enough to glimpse an actual, make-believe Maplelope when they were walking on the outskirts of town! Sam made a sketch once he returned home and stopped shaking with excitement.
What should I do if I see one?
Now that there has been a real pretend documented sighting of the actual animal as well as its hoofprints, the Almonte-based birding shop Gilligalou Bird Inc. has decided to add a “Maplelope Sighting” section to their bird sighting board. If you spot any M-shaped hoofprints, find piles of sweet “leavings” (don’t ask us how to determine if they’re sweet…), or are fortunate enough to spot an actual imaginary Maplelope yourself, please contact the good folks at Gilligalou on Facebook or drop in to the store! Or try tweeting "I saw a maplelope"...
The Maplelope on Social Media
As an imaginary creature of the 21st century, the Maplelope is quite familiar with Twitter and Facebook.