The Animals Kingdom (6/10)
Granted, when it comes to dangerous and weird animals, Australia is probably number one (I will never forget driving at dusk in Alice Spring… bloody kangaroos!). But Canada, with its huge land mass and small population density, also has a great wildlife.
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Granted, I don’t get to see bears everyday, which is all in all probably a good thing. I mean, it’s not like they look like Winnie The Pooh — or so I’ve been told.
However, despite living in Ottawa’s close suburb, I get to see a bunch of animals on a daily basis. Rabbits run around the house and scare me when I go out for my last smoke at night. Squirrels are cute animals but they drive us nuts (no pun intended) in the summer, when they dig in potted plant and cause power outage by chewing on power lines (seriously). Raccoons are cute but also clever and persistent, and in residential and urban areas they can be considered as pest. They can open garbage cans with their hands and feast before the garbage truck even has a chance to come… Finally, skunks are best known for their strong odor secreted if frightened or disturbed. We usually don’t get too close to them in case of… but they don’t mind getting close to us!
Quite a few animals became Canadian symbols. The beaver, for example, which is on the 5¢ coin. Lots of places also bear the name of an animal: the cities “Moose jaw”, “Whitehorse” or “Goose Lake” for example. And generally speaking, Canadian are quite proud of their wilderness and fauna. A true animal kingdom, I’m telling ya!
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Isn’t it amazing how many animals can live in a human populated area. Deer on the highways are a constant danger down here.
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My family killed 6 bears one summer in our back yard in Canada. And there has been more than once that I had to stop for a moose in the road back home. But here in Missouri we have to watch out for deer in the road.
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**when it comes to dangerous and weird animals, Australia is probably number one
LOL I feel ‘weird’ now Zhu.
If I ever visit Canada, I wonder if I’d run into a bear in the middle of traffic? Like we run into Kangaroos here in Aus
Keshi.
Love the picture of the black squirrel. Always a favourite. But rabbits scare you? Are they demonic rabbits? Did you have the book Bunnicula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnicula) in France? I read that when I was a kid, and rabbits and night are always scary to me. Glad to see they scare other people too.
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@Froggywoogie — Not much frogs in Canada… apparently they don’t like the cold!
@Ghosty — I have never seen a bear (and not likely to see any in Ottawa!) but I find them fascinating animals. Feng has a cap with the oriole on it… prob. got it in Baltimore come to think of it!
@RennyBA — Australia is almost too exotic for me actually! I liked the kangaroos (not when I was driving though) but not so much the spiders and scorpions… The moose as a national animal? Another similarity with Canada!
@silverneurotic — Actually, kangaroos are more “dangerous” that foreigners generally think but yeah, not as bad as soom weird snakes or spiders!
@Trotter — Hi there, haven’t heard from you in a while! I’ll go have a look
@Saskboy — My English is good except when I’m tired!
Lots of weird names in Sask. and Alberta, I posted about that once I think.
@Beaverboosh — Sorry, it’s just that they are kind of hard to catch! Smart animals…
@Theresa — Really? I would think Spain was a bit more exotic than that… I trade a skunk for a spider if you want!
@Jay Cam — Canada IS a weird place!
@shionge — Oh we have other weird “animals” that I didn’t mention here
@Art — I know, I was amazed too when I first came! There are only pigeons in France…
@Spyder — 6 bears?? Wow!
I haven’t actually seen any in the area… good thing I guess!
@Keshi — You would more likely run into a deer… I think bears are smarter than that!
@Johnada — No, I didn’t know the book! It’s not a childhood trauma, it’s just that every time I go out half sleepy, I feel something spying on me and then spot two red eyes and…