Call of the moose is loose at Scotties
If it sounds like someone’s being sick, Northern Ontario must be in the house
GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALTA.— Every now and again, it emerges from the forest of sounds inside the arena with a series of unmistakable bursts. It is a celebration — like other fans would clap or whistle — but it hits an untrained ear like the sound of someone who is becoming desperately ill into a large garbage can.
It is a moose call, and it is a staple of fans who cheer for curling teams from Northern Ontario.
“It’s not very pleasant at all,” Rick Lang, a retired world champion from Northern Ontario, said with a smile. “But, apparently, it’s fairly close to the sounds moose make when they’re mating.”
“At first, people probably questioned it, wondering if someone really was barfing somewhere,” said Kendra Lilly, vice-skip with the Northern Ontario rink competing this week at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. “But I mean, with that sound, everyone knows that’s Northern Ontario now.”
Northern Ontario does not have its own government — though not for lack of effort — but it is allowed to compete against other provinces at national events due to the historical quirks in Canadian curling. It is a unique situation that has led to a unique cheer, which has appeared often in Grande Prairie, Alta., with Northern Ontario winning five of its first six games to sit high in the round-robin standings.
A decent moose call takes effort. Linda Scharf, mother of Northern Ontario skip Krista McCarville, had to procure a number of essentials before she could introduce it this week. She needed a tin can, a length of string — flat string, and preferably cotton — a hole punch, rosin and duct tape.
She got a used coffee tin from the hotel and punched a hole in the top. She ran a black shoelace through the hole. The rosin, the kind intended for use with violins, was purchased from a music store near the arena. It was ground into a fine white powder and sprinkled over the shoelace.
When Scharf pulled on the string, the sound and vibration echoed across the 3,000-seat arena. It was a loud barking — sounding either like a very sick person or a very excited moose.
“It is silly, but I think people are fascinated by it,” she said. “When you pull the string, everybody’s looking.”
“It’s nicer if it’s the bigger can,” said Cloe Lilly, mother of Northern Ontario vice-skip Kendra Lilly.
Some fans use water on the string, but she prefers rosin: “Water, it’s hard on your fingers, and you can end up with blisters.”
Northern Ontario is home to the reigning Olympic men’s curling champions, with the Brad Jacobs rink winning gold in Sochi two years ago. McCarville, based in Thunder Bay, is well positioned to be one of the four teams to qualify for the playoffs at the Canadian championship this weekend.
Their appearance would not be without real-world symbolism. A petition calling for Northern Ontarian independence has been circulating online this year, based on concerns the Ontario government makes decisions that often overlook the needs of the north.
“You can see it when you go home,” Victor Fedeli, the Progressive Conservative MPP from Nipissing, said on Tuesday. “You can identify with it by all of the decisions that are being made by Queen’s Park — they appear to be Toronto-centric solutions for all of the province, and so the north feels left out.”
Kendra Lilly, the Northern Ontario vice-skip, said she had heard of the petition, but that she identifies as an Ontarian. Except on the curling ice, with the moose call as a soundtrack.
“It feels almost like home to us,” she said.
“I mean, it’s not the best noise you can ever hear, but anytime we hear it, we love it.”