Ever since I thought about coming out to work at the Cannery, wildlife was a huge concern. Keep in mind, in Toronto, we have squirrels, the occasional skunk, and around York's campus, the rare fat groundhog...not exactly "wildlife".
So why do I wait so long to post about wildlife? Well, 1. I'm lazy and 2. Last time I thought salmon would be more interesting. However, a few days ago, Anne was walking down the road toward Port Ed to catch the bus when she encountered a small brown bear on the road, turned, and walked back. Turns out, said bear is a small grizzly and now the entire community is under grizzly warning. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Ok, so I'm overreacting a bit, but if you haven't noticed, I do that. A lot.
Anyway, since I'm posting about wildlife, I'd like to tell you all about two of the more amusing wildlife-related antics that just happened to happen to me.
One. The first time I took the bike out, I was about to enjoy a leisurely ride to the convenience store 6 km down the road to get a popsicle when I encounter Ed, one of the construction workers on site. Ed says to me "Careful of the wolves! I saw a couple down by the railroad the other day." Now I cannot tell if people are pulling my leg or if it's serious, so I say ok, wave, and try to leave. Then Bob comes along, and says "There are quite a few bears out there too." Ed says "Yeah, my llamas - he owns llamas by the way - chased a few up a tree once. It's the grizzlies you should be afraid of". Of course, now, I'm pissing my pants. Not literally. Haha. Bob then proceeds to give me his whistle, which I clip to my zipper, and I ride off in total panic. The popsicle was delicious, by the way. :P
Two. Anne and Naomi are always telling me "Don't get between a bear and its cub!" Apparently then they actually mull you, whereas if you're not between the bear and cub, they just sometimes mull you. Good times. So I'm riding to town, and I see a small, brown animal on the road. I panic because I think it's a bear cub, and that even though it's really cute, I'm about to die!!!! Of course, it was not a bear cub. It more resembled a large ferret, so it may have been a mink or a river otter. However, I don't realize until I get close, so when I do, I look at it, it looks at me, and we both take a deep breath and move on.
Anyway, there will definitely be more to say vis a vis wildlife at the Cannery. For now, I remain un-mulled.
Susan :)
PS. Sorry for the massive post!!!! Actually, I'm not really sorry, but I figured I'd attempt apologizing. :P
Update:
ReplyDeleteAfter much googling, Anne and I have concluded that I saw a fisher, not a bear cub, river otter, or mink. For all you curious readers out there (and by that I mean the five of us), now you know.
:)