Backyard Battle Zone: Urban Wildlife vs City Dwellers
Toronto's mayor Rob Ford is no stranger to the news cycle, but earlier this week he got a lot of attention for delving into a particular hot button issue: Uneasy encounters with Toronto's seemingly infinite number of raccoons.
I've had some standoffs with some raccoons and they just look at you, and they're not scared any more. They used to scream or yell but now they just look at you. I mean right up to your front door ... We have a serious raccoon problem. Some people say we should have the right to euthanize them. You know what, that's not my call. I have met with people about that, it's a severe problem we have in this city and it's only getting worse.Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford
But it's not just raccoons that have people talking. All across Canada, borders between the urban world and the animal world are being erased, as many species move into cities ... possums, coyotes and deer.
• Fox takes a nap on Ottawa city bus -- CBC News
One of the many human - animal conflict zones right now is the community of Oak Bay, British Columbia. An increase in deer population in the region led authorities to plan a cull for later this summer, but apparently not everyone was on board with that. Plans are now on hold, after traps that were to be used in the cull were vandalized.
- Nils Jensen is the mayor of Oak Bay, B.C. He wants a local deer cull because his community is overrun by deer.
We asked to hear your stories about encounters with urban wildlife. Lynn Blatta of Pitt Meadows, BC, is one of our listeners who wrote in. She says:
I've seen coyotes plenty of times and have never felt any fear or threat, but all that changed this past January one foggy morning. I was walking my two rescue dogs, Murphy a small terrier, and Jack a larger lab cross....when I noticed a coyote off the dykes to the right. Jack started to chase it so I was calling him back when another coyote came out of nowhere, grabbed Murphy and took off. The attack went on and on, there would be silence for a few minutes and then Murphy screaming in agony. Finally I hiked to a clearing where there was a thicket of bushes and a large pile of bark mulch covered in coyote scat. He was in shock and his eyes had the look of someone ready to pass on. I don't know how Murphy survived. I look at coyotes a little differently now.Lynn Blatta of Pitt Meadows, B.C.
So, from coyotes to deer to raccoons, and rabbits to geese... what's behind the seeming spike in wild animals encroaching on our turf?
- Jim Sterba is a journalist and author of "Nature Wars: The Incredible Story of How Wildlife Comebacks Turned Backyards Into Battlegrounds." Jim says the war between city dwellers and wildlife is because of the way we've changed the landscape and our wildlife management practices over the past few decades.
Here are some pictures from listeners up close and personal with urban wildlife.
Marshalynn Mildon captured this photo of two deer resting in the Ross Bay Cemetary, in Victoria BC, beside such notables as Emily Carr and Amor de Cosmos, the first premier of BC.
Aurora Schmidt with Weyerhaeuser's Grande Prairie mill in Alberta says this Joe hangs out ever morning at the smoke pit ... and a heard of deer and elk live in the log yards are not afraid of heavy equipment.
A familiar sight for many ... a raccoon cozy on a roof in downtown Ottawa, just across from the Nature Museum fittingly. Paul Lalonde who sent in this picture tells us the hole in his neighbour's roof is getting bigger, making this guy a permanent fixture.
Dennis Wiatzka just lives outside downtown Calgary ... here's the view from his living room.
Neil Edelman In Montréal says a lot of skunks and raccoons descend from the mountain on garbage day.
Ken on Twitter sent us this picture from Jasper, "our critters are a bit different."
Last year, artist Sherri Rogers created a series of paintings based on animal stories in the news, editorializing and illustrating clashes between civilization and the animal world. She paired the paintings with the actual news stories.
If you've had an urban encounter with wildlife, tell us your story andsend us your picture.
This segment was produced by The Current's Peter Mitton and Ines Colabrese.