Bats, bears and deers

Heading Home with the light sabers

Watercolour on watercolour paper with black marker

9 x 12 inches

Barbara Muir © 2011

(After being on the beach this cute little

boy was still playing with the sticks

he called his light sabers.  I love

seeing brilliant imaginations at work.)

We do run into wildlife in the city – that’s why there’s

A radio on the garage full time and there has been for the

 past month.  Once we spotted a coyote in the park,

and apparently coyotes have killed small dogs and cats

north of the city.  But citings of some animals are

rare indeed in Toronto.

In Ottawa my mother lives on the edge of the greenbelt and

is visited regularly by deer who eat whatever vegetables she

doesn’t manage to protect.  On the way

to Quebec City a deer ran out in front of our car, and

luckily we missed it. 

Out here in Nova Scotia a huge black bear ran across the

road not too far from here.  But one of the creatures we

frequently have to cope with is the lowly bat.  You don’t want

 to kill bats if they aren’t pestering you, which they don’t.

  Because near the tidal river we live next to mosquitoes can be a

major nuisance in the summer and bats consider those insects

 to be fine dining.  But discovering them inside the shutters

when we first arrive, or worse making themselves at home

 in the ceiling above out bed – that is something we have to

 handle each year when we first arrive. 

As I write this a crow is telling me it’s a good day for the beach.

Have an enjoying the wildlife in your life day.