Wild Moment

We were blessed last week with a couple visits from Little Al the eastern screech owl.  Give thanks to Mother Nature for this happening with some really rainy weather.

The one day the weather cleared up rather fast come day time and Little Al sat at the entry hole for over 6 hours, from 1 PM until about 7:50 PM when he flew out for the night.  It was fun to see him all day just hanging out, enjoying the warm sun.  It was also interesting how none of the birds bothered him at all.  Was it his being a master of camouflage that kept him going undetected?

Well, until he flew out at last light and then a couple robins went crazy on him (from a safe distance).  Little Al ignored the yelling and had a good preen up in the cedars down back, stretching his wings and cleaning up his feathers.

Then a few days later we had another good soaking which started overnight and continued through the day.  Little Al had his head out early on, which I saw when having my morning coffee.  He disappeared for a while and then reappeared a few hours later.  All was good and quiet when suddenly in came a pair of northern mockingbirds.  

They took notice to him up at the box and these birds went absolutely ballistic on the owl.

Now it's always nice when Little Al is here.  Who wouldn't enjoy having an owl hanging out in their backyard?  Then add these mockingbirds.  We haven't had a mockingbird in the yard since 2017.  Back then we enjoyed one visiting our yard through the fall and winter, feasting on the holly berries, and the bird did this 3 or 4 years in a row.  So, on this day, having a pair was pretty cool.  We never had 2 of them.  Awesome stuff for a nature lover!

It was loud and chaotic out there for about 20 minutes with the birds yelling and strafing Little Al.  I wondered why he did not retreat into the box just to get away from those birds?  Maybe holding the gate was his idea of a best defense?  There was no way he could get attacked except from the front where he could see the birds coming.  I doubt the mockers would go inside the box, but if they did, they could corner Little Al.  Was that his thinking?

Here is some of the action that I captured with my camera while standing on the deck.

Little Al would hiss at the approaching bird(s).

It was non-stop for quite a while.

The ruckus got some of the other bird species all riled up and joined in the shouting at the owl.

Little Al would look down to them all.

I decided to try and disperse the mob by stepping out onto the lawn.  It worked faster than I thought.  Both of the mockingbirds quickly flew to a yard 3 doors over and I did not see them while I was home for another 90 minutes before work.  The sparrows went about their business.  Little Al disappeared into the box about 20 minutes after I went back in the house.

Angie got home later in the afternoon and Little Al was at the entry hole again.  She also saw one mockingbird in the yard but it was doing other things (looking for food, etc) and did not bother the owl.

What a wild moment!  Who needs to turn on the nature channel, eh?  

Not Again

A few weeks ago I started noticing a small raccoon out and about day and night, no specific times, just any time and that was that.  He was a little guy and a bit of an adventurous soul, only showing slight fear to humans (me).  

He wouldn't come to me for a hand out like some tamed raccoons that I have seen over the years, which is a good thing.  What I found is that there were days he would appear when I was feeding the feral cat Dusty and the raccoon would take over the food dish for himself.  I watched closely over this guy every time he showed up.  Those little peculiar things about him had me wondering if he had the early stages of distemper.  I never saw crusty eyes or really unkempt fur, so I kept holding out he was just trying to find his place in the neighbourhood, finally leaving his mother as I am sure she's ready to have a new litter soon.  I decided to nickname the little raccoon "the unruly one" and I meant it in the nicest way possible.  His appearances and antics were rather entertaining.

Dusty was never impressed by this fellow.  Many times he even pushed the cat out from under the shed, which is packed full of straw as I have mentioned in a past blog about Dusty.  I know this for certain as the unruly one would sometimes have straw stuck to his back end.

One early evening he was here with another much larger raccoon.  Was that his mother?

I posted a number of times about this raccoon on my social media platforms.  I vowed that I would keep an eye out on this new yard visitor as he looked like he was just going to get into trouble one of these days.  Well I sure proved those words just last week.

It was Thursday morning, right before the Easter long weekend.  I ran some errands early in the day, prepping for the 3 days off.  It was a nice sunny morning.  I was looking forward to the end of the work day which was about to start in mere hours.  As I was getting home with some groceries, I pass a raccoon on the side of the road just a couple houses away from ours.  He's just sitting there in front of a car and looking around.  I could tell something was wrong...  and of course I could tell it was the unruly one.  I let out one really loud and long swear word in my head.

I got the car in the driveway, emptied out the groceries and put them in the house.  The cold stuff went right into the fridge and everything else I just left on the counter.  I went to the shed and got an animal carrier along with one of Dusty's dishes which I put some cat kibble, shelled peanuts and a splash of wet cat food (Fancy Feast).  I also grabbed a large towel.  I set the dish in the carrier as I was walking to where the raccoon was.  He had some attention by a couple who were looking at him and trying to shoo him off the road.  Turns out it was their car that he was in front of.  They got in, leaving him there, and backed up, then drove around him.

I get to him, setting the carrier down and he's just looking up at me.  I said "ohhhhhhhhh buddy".  He was sitting in a small pool of blood.  He had an open wound on one of his back legs.  As I get the carrier in place, opening the door, he puts one of his front paws on my knee.  I look down to him, our eyes meeting and I tell him that I will take care of him.  I tap on the carrier and he moves closer to it.  He smells the food inside and takes a cautious step in.  I have the towel wrapped around my hand and I shove him inside, quickly shutting the door once he was in.  Door locked.  I drape the towel over the carrier and take him back to our front porch.  I have the door of the carrier facing the brick of the house to help prevent any escapes, even though I am certain he is secure.  It was just a precaution.

I go inside and contact the Toronto Wildlife Centre through their online reporting system.  It is much better than calling and leaving a voice mail.  Online you can submit photos, which I did, sending them this one of him.  Look at that innocent little face.  You can see some of his wound.  Was this a cry for help or what?

Thankfully TWC called me within about 40 minutes.  I was getting nervous on how long until they were going to call me back since I had to leave for work in a couple hours, and I still needed to get him up to the centre.  A bigger THANKFULLY that after some conversation and me answering some questions, they agreed to take him in.  I got myself ready for work as fast as I could.  Took care of our little zoo.  And away I went.  I checked Google maps and traffic looked okay.  27 minutes to get to the centre which is only 13 km away.  Kinda sad but that is city driving in Toronto and this is acceptable now.  I am at the last main intersection before getting to Downsview Park where the centre is when traffic is backed up and we are all being rerouted in any other direction except east towards the park.  There was a very serious accident.  ARGH!  It took another 15 minutes, which felt way longer, to get to the centre, taking Keele St north and then going through a number of side streets before coming out on the east side of the park.  So many confused drivers, not knowing where to go, made it a really shitty stressful drive.  But in the end, I made it to the centre, had a nice catch up with some people at the centre and then headed off to work, still having time to get myself a much needed coffee before starting my shift.  I should add that I gave the centre a $50 cash donation for the raccoon.  That was not to get some praise or recognition but to remind some that the centre runs on donations and anything helps.  It was the least I could do for the centre since they agreed to take the raccoon in.  If I had called animal services, they most likely would have euthanized him without any assessment.  

I was feeling pretty good about this "rescue" and had high hopes for the unruly one.  I had a drink on his behalf after work that night.

Also, get this...  when I got home from work that night, Angie was still awake, just about to go to bed when she told me there was something on the computer desk for me, something that came in the mail.  I asked from who.  She said there was no return address.  I opened to find this along with a very short note and again no name to it.  A really cool yet mysterious surprise.  And of all the days for it to arrive in the mail, the same day I had to catch and help this raccoon.  

We have since found out who sent it.  A friend and of course a fellow nature lover.  Still, the timing on this blows my mind.

I waited out the weekend before trying to track down anyone who could give me an update.  On Monday I contacted some "friends" I have in the centre.  Sadly I got news that I did not want to hear...  he was euthanized.  His wound was pretty bad but more so they were quite certain that he had the early stages of canine distemper.  His body condition, the fur and his behaviour were all big red flags.  I did ask them to put in his notes/file that he was not terrified of humans and I know there's a few in the area who are "extra friendly" to the wild ones.

This news hurt.  I didn't want to believe their distemper theory but they see way more of this stuff than what I do, and perhaps I just didn't want to see it as that.  Days after the fact I think back to last summer and one that I caught who acted similar, and was a bit further gone, just starting to show the crusty eyes and nose.  *sigh*  The more recent raccoon that I caught, see my last blog, was really far gone with the virus.  How many more will I come across?  Again, they are predicting a very bad spring with distemper in the animals that can get it.

Rest in peace little one.  You were unruly but I loved you as one who admires and appreciates all that nature has to offer us.  

I'm holding on to my favorite memory of him, which was just a few nights earlier.  I was out in the shed after work.  It was pouring rain.  He came out from under the shed, stuck his head in through the open door and looked at me.  I said "come on in" and he did.  He walked around the shed, sniffed a few things and then when I took a step to do something, that spooked him and he ran out and back under the shed as quickly as he could.  I can still see his face looking into the shed, with all that rain coming down.  I took a crappy photo of him...

I used my AI app to make the image a little better for story telling.

I've been missing the unruly one this week.  As I said, he was a great distraction and addition to the backyard.

I wish this were the last distemper case that I come across for a while but I am not holding my breath.