Wild Things, Literally

Posted by Cynical Sarah on September 22, 2007

The other day I stepped out of our building into the back courtyard area and standing right smack in the middle of the grass was a coyote. I stopped in my tracks, and we had a little stare down as I called my hubby to tell him about it.

We kept a wary eye on each other as I slowly walked down the path to finish my trek to work. It was still there when I came home that evening with my husband. It was just lying peacefully in the grass in the sunshine, until it heard us.

By the time we got inside and could make it back out with a video camera, the coyote was gone – and my hubby’s dream of a YouTube video of me saying “Meep, meep!” and pretending to run from the coyote was dashed.

It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen a coyote in our neighbourhood recently. It was just a month or so ago that one was wandering down the sidewalk when I was on my way to work on another morning. Of course, at the time my hubby questioned whether I knew the difference between a dog and a coyote, but this time he got to see it with his own eyes.

I’m from South Dakota – the coyote state – I know what a coyote looks like even if I’ve seen more of them in person since moving to a big city than I ever did in South Dakota.

In fact, I’ve probably seen a lot more wildlife in the city than I ever did back in rural America.

The most I personally saw in Rapid City, S.D., which is a good-sized city, were deer on occasion. There was a moose that made its way into the city once, but I didn’t see it myself.

Since moving to Vancouver, I’ve seen a coyote in the park and two of them in my own neighbourhood. I’ve seen raccoons and raccoon families on a few occasions. We’ve even spotted a skunk back in the courtyard area. On occasion we can smell them around as well even if we can’t see them.

The other night I would have sworn a skunk decided to spray right outside our bedroom window as the air conditioner blew in the lovely stench and my eyes were burning even in my sleep – but there was no way that air conditioner was going to get turned off either. I discovered it’s easier to sleep in a room that smells bad than a roasting one.

Perhaps there is a strategy to the skunk smell – a method to the stench, if you will. Perhaps the wildlife is trying to take back some of the city. Imagine if the wildlife banded together and started retaking the territory we humans have encroached on.

Not everyone is going to be willing to sleep through skunk scent. Plus, raccoons are smart, and a bit vicious. I must admit, I’m more afraid of the raccoons than I am the coyotes. They may look all cute and friendly, but that’s just a mask to hide how crazy, mean they are with their sharp teeth and claws.

If there were skunks wafting their odor into my bedroom every night and raccoons hanging around in packs all the time, I might be more inclined to find some new territory to claim instead of here.

Of course, others might argue the better explanation for the increased animal sightings is that they’re just more brazen now that garbage is piling up because of the city workers’ strike. More garbage means raccoons are out raiding the trash more, plus the skunks, the crows and the gulls.

I’m sure coyotes don’t mind scrounging through the trash as well, or they’ve got plenty of little critters who are raiding the trash to go after.

I’ve seen all sorts of reports from people talking about the increased animals because of the trash. The consensus seems to be that it’s an increase in nuisances. People have to worry about the homeless and addicts hanging out in their back alleys, and now something as simple as wildlife also rummaging through their trash is making their lives more difficult.

Of course, we made their lives more difficult with cities built on top of their habitats. Maybe it’s only fair we get a little discomfort for it. We should look at them as an example of how to adapt in the face of adversity and fit in to an unfamiliar environment. It takes a lot to survive and even thrive when life around you changes drastically.

- Sarah L. Polson

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