# Putting snow on my lawn? Tabernac, that's a shotgun! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542 "2008-03-16T13:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/1 "2008-03-16T13:34:11Z")
Or, the real reason Quebeckers go to Florida in the winter. Quebec’s been suffering under record snowfalls this winter, with over 460 centimetres. Normally in Canada, by March you start to have a glimmer of hope as the day gets lighter and the snow starts to melt. Maybe the world won’t end in ice after all, and the maple sap will run again. Not this year: another record storm last week, dumping an additional 40 centimetres of snow on Quebec City. Tempers are fraying. Forget Currier & Ives, jingle bells, toboggoning down the hills, joyful laughter and mischievous lads throwing snowballs. As the snow accumulates higher than the windows in some peoples houses, life is apparently starting to get a bit tense. The most recent: someone living in a posh area of Quebec City near the Plains of Abraham hired a commercial service to blow snow off his yard. Snow plough operator blows snow onto the lawn of the 63 year old neighbour. Appropriate response, in the neighbour’s mind, is to get out the shotgun. Fortunately, no shots were fired: [Man accused of pointing shotgun in ‘snow rage’ case](http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=368363): > [@](#): > > The municipal police said the man simply “lost it.” He stormed outside, banged on the snowplougher’s door with a shovel and lashed out at the employee. > > “He called her names and was yelling. The woman apologized, said she was very sorry and that it was a mistake,” explained Catherine Viel, a spokeswoman for the Quebec City police. > > But the heated exchanges didn’t put an end to it. The man, a gun collector, went back inside his house and came out with a 12-gauge shotgun. He cocked it and pointed it at the 25-year-old woman. > > “She was scared and called 911,” Ms. Viel said. > > The police found 13 other weapons in the man’s home and seized them. > > The man was charged with negligent use of a firearm and will appear in court in the coming weeks. Monsieur Shotgun has a slightly different take: he says that the snow plough operator tried to run him down with the plough: [… as Quebeckers see red over the white stuff](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080312.RAGE12/TPStory/National): > [@](#): > > Luc Pelletier admitted he had been the one involved in the Sunday altercation. Speaking from his home on Des Braves Avenue, he said he had previously warned the snow-clearing employee to stop sending snow onto his property, and claimed he pulled out a gun because the woman was trying to run him down with her snow-blowing machine. > > “How can you fight a 3-tonne snow-blower?” Mr. Pelletier asked. “It takes a man who stands up.” Elsewhere, fights over parking spaces on the streets are erupting, as streets narrow from the snow being ploughed to the sides: > [@](#): > > On the same day, as Montrealers were coping with the after-effects of their ninth snowstorm of winter, police say an argument broke out between two motorists fighting over a parking spot in the city’s West Island. The city’s snow-choked streets have made cleared parking spaces as rare as discounted snow shovels in Montreal. > > “There were very few places available,” said Constable Raphaël Bergeron of the Montreal police. One of the men, aged 38, pulled out what appeared to be a real gun, and made a clicking sound; the weapon turned out to be a toy. The other motorist called police, who may lay a weapons charge. And the snow keeps falling: > [@](#): > > Mr. Tremblay, the psychologist, said some people feel trapped and powerless by the incessant snowfalls. Snow banks were piled so high outside his girlfriend’s house on Sunday morning that the couple couldn’t see out the windows, he said. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/2 "2008-03-16T13:44:37Z")
The CBC had a story on this the other day (Wednesday). They’re calling it “Snow Rage”. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/3 "2008-03-16T13:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] The CBC had a story on this the other day (Wednesday). They’re calling it “Snow Rage”. [/QUOTE] As did the OP. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/4 "2008-03-16T14:04:24Z")
Je voudrais Tim’s, Tabernac! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/5 "2008-03-16T15:46:46Z")
There have been [fatalaties](http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j8aKHXwzsQa1gsuTABR4u6PpiW6A) from roofs collapsing under the weight of the snow, too. Harsh. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/6 "2008-03-16T17:32:42Z")
I’ll give you snow rage: those fast little tanks that careen down the sidewalks and fucking just about kill you before you swan-dive into the nearest snowbank. Is there some reason they need to go at 100 kph down the damn sidewalk? I’m glad I’m not a little old lady. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/7 "2008-03-16T17:33:42Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I’m glad I’m not a little old lady. [/QUOTE] Me too. For starters, none of my clothes would fit. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/8 "2008-03-16T17:52:42Z")
Yeah, we’re all starting to scratch at the windows a bit. At least it’s sunny here, and there’s a lot of melting going on. I was startled to discover yesterday an entire extra lane on some streets… ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/9 "2008-03-16T17:57:59Z")
Wow. :eek: I just can’t imagine what that much snow would be like. I do think that I’d be mad too, if the neighbor had someone blow a bunch more on me! It’s supposed to be in the [70’s](http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=39157&hourly=1&yday=75&weekday=Sunday)here today. Hang in there, Canadjian dopers !! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/10 "2008-03-16T19:23:43Z")
Bragging about temps in the 70s - that’s a shotgun offence too! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/11 "2008-03-16T19:27:42Z")
I won’t mention a word of our weather. Unless it’s to my sister in Yellowknife. When Mom came to visit last month, it was 75 degrees different here than it was in Calgary, where she’d flown from. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/12 "2008-03-16T19:51:57Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Bragging about temps in the 70s - that’s a shotgun offence too! [/QUOTE] Ooops! Sorry. Care to come visit? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/13 "2008-03-16T19:57:46Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I’ll give you snow rage: those fast little tanks that careen down the sidewalks and fucking just about kill you before you swan-dive into the nearest snowbank. Is there some reason they need to go at 100 kph down the damn sidewalk? I’m glad I’m not a little old lady. [/QUOTE] And a little old lady died recently, trying to negotiate the crosswalk near where I live. (Actually it was a tow truck, not a snow plow, and certainly not the evil little sidewalk tanks, and the truck was making an illegal left turn, but still…!) It’s not just the ELST either; the big snow plow drivers are just as psychotic. The above-mentioned intersection is a fairly major one, with lots of traffic at most hours of the day. When snow removal crews show up and the big plows start zipping up and down the road at 100 kph, often getting to one end, and then reversing at the same speed _out into the intersection_ it’s a bloody miracle there aren’t more accidents than their are! It can get really scary. I was at the Olympic Bassin a couple of weeks ago, after a fairly major storm, and I had to park alongside the building I was going to, and walk up the driveway to the door. There were two snow plows working at the time, and one rolled up to me at about 40 kph and barely stopped before hitting me, and proceeded to _follow_ me, the driver making irritated little faces the entire time! I am sick of it, too. I’m amazed that it is mid-March and the snow is still above the backs of the benches in the park! University street near Pine is unwalkable, since it’s covered by a solid sheet of ice. Nevermind going through some of the smaller streets here; the major roads are clear, but the sidestreets around us haven’t had their snow removed, so the sidewalks are down to 1-person-wide footpaths, and there are (literally) 10-feet-tall snowbanks at street corners! We’ve taken to leaving my husband’s car permanently parked at his job, and using my car all the time (which involves some interesting scheduling for my activities for which there is no real transit option) because we just can’t bear the thought of shoveling out _two_ parking spots. We will likely sell one of the two cars this summer. Arrgh. I want springtime, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Cream\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ice\_Cream\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Cream_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/14 "2008-03-16T20:00:25Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I’ll give you snow rage: those fast little tanks that careen down the sidewalks and fucking just about kill you before you swan-dive into the nearest snowbank. Is there some reason they need to go at 100 kph down the damn sidewalk? I’m glad I’m not a little old lady. [/QUOTE] No kidding. Those things are scary! ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/15 "2008-03-16T20:08:46Z")
And just for the benefit of the Dopers who live in areas where snowplows are not found, “100 kph” (or just a tad over 60 MPH) is a bit of poetic exaggeration. 🙂 I just _wish_ the snowplows on the highways would go anywhere near 100 kph! Although, the image of a snowplow hitting something hidden by the snow at that speed is somewhat unnerving. I saw one of the city sidewalk machines hit a raised edge of pavement earlier this winter, and even at a brisk walking pace, the back-end lept up, and the vehicle jerked to a stop. As Sunpace says, we’ve had record-breaking snow this year in Toronto, too. But, it hasn’t been as bad here as in Quebec because we’ve had several melts, where most of the snow vanishes, so the total accumulation is best. That’s one thing I don’t miss about living in Montreal. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/16 "2008-03-16T20:54:30Z")
Hmm, and to think there was a time I thought I might like to emigrate to Canada. Snow wars and fierce scary snow-tanks? :eek: Nope, not good for a small nervous pedestrian with ambitions to live long enough to be a little old lady, no. 😃 I hope spring comes soon for all of you. I mean, snow is pretty, but it does tend to get in the way of the practicalities of life. I think I’d like to _see_ things like, picking random example from the thread, the snow still up to the backs of the benches in the parks, but I’m also thinking that snow as a concept (and as a cold wet reality) is rather like those places of which people say “it’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there”. Hot soup to you all! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/17 "2008-03-16T22:25:58Z")
Well, now all the stuff that was previously _hidden_ by the snowbanks is starting to emerge: fire hydrants (why weren’t they dug out or at least marked?), mailboxes, newspaper boxes, and three months of litter (shudder). The snowbank across the road from my apartment, which was head-high, has lost a third of its height. And removal crews have scooped away much of the snow along the road, revealing actual parking places that were covered! (And there were cries of joy…) Along Berry Road, I can see some of the ground, even. Yes, it’s wet, dead grass, but hey! The sun is warm, the water is running, and spring is coming! But the stream of dump trucks taking snow from the side streets to the dumping yards hasn’t stopped. The pile of snow in one such dumping yard near Six Points, in a vacant lot right next to the old Westwood Theatres, is at least six storeys high. It dwarfed the full-size excavators and bulldozers that were spreading the snow to make room for more. And it’s something to see a Cat on top of a three-storey pile of snow that’s higher than the roof of the building next door, while it is overshadowed by an even taller pile of snow next to it. I saw that from the bus on Thursday morning. They just leave the snow there to melt. Ii might last until midsummer at this rate. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/18 "2008-03-16T23:07:19Z")
Some of you need to move to sunny western Canada. Northern Piper failed to mention that we’re pretty much past winter boot season here. When I look out my front window, I see an ever-growing patch of grass exposed by the melting snow, and streets that are mostly free of snow and ice. It’s above freezing again today, and when I went out earlier I saw about a half dozen people wearing t-shirts and jeans, but no jacket. Winter coats are going away, and I don’t think I noticed anyone wearing gloves. Let’s hope it lasts. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/19 "2008-03-16T23:19:32Z")
Pictures? (please) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542/20 "2008-03-16T23:27:38Z")
[Sorry for the blurriness](http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h207/mnems/200712041753000.jpg) That was my car back in December, after the first major snow storm we had. It’s a Tercel, to give you an idea of the amount of snow there was. There’s been more since. [Some random blog](http://chicagomontreal.blogspot.com/2006/01/snow-removal-in-montreal.html) about snow removal in Montreal. You can see pictures of the Evil Little Sidewalk Tractors about a quarter of the way down. And I like [this description](http://www.urbanphoto.net/2003-december.htm) > [@](#): > > There’s a hierarchy: at the bottom rung of the ladder are zippy mini-ploughs, which clear the sidewalks at such a breakneck speed I’ve had to dive out of the way on more than one occasion. They act like two year olds with attention deficit disorder, dashing forward and spinning around, frantically looking for another snowbank to gleefully plunge into. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-snow-on-my-lawn-tabernac-thats-a-shotgun/441542.md?page=2)