My Journey With Weight Loss – Spring Safety And Wildlife

I first want to say that I successfully managed to take a day off of training yesterday (ok, I still got in 6 days in the past week) and did so with no guilt. Today I was back at it with some hill intervals but I realized something as I was leaving the house at 6am, the sun was already coming up. By time I was finished my workout and doing a light jog back home it was actually daylight. Now all I can think about is being able to do morning runs down at the beach with the sun out. I just so can’t wait.

As I was jogging to the hill where I train I saw a raccoon kind of meandering across the road. As always I gave the animal a wide berth and kept an eye on it until I had safely passed. When I was telling my husband about now seeing more raccoons because of the earlier sunrises, he said I should do a blog about spring safety and animals. I realized this would be a new topic and I can try and pass on my knowledge without focusing too much on my paranoia.

As we head further into spring it means time for those animals we have in our neighbourhoods to start having their babies. That also means they become super protective of their family and will often become more aggressive with humans. Here are the ones we see and what you can do to keep safe;

1. Raccoons – they tend to stay in their den until their kits (a group of kits is called a nursery) are a little older. But remember raccoons are very territorial and protective of their kits so always keep a good distance from them especially if they have their ‘nursery’ with them.
2. Coyotes – coyotes are apparently not native to BC but they have been around here forever. As areas become more urbanized it seems to be the coyotes appear in places you wouldn’t expect them and in some cases they have become more aggressive towards humans (this is not helped by people feeding them). Where we live there is still a fair amount open space so you tend to see them occasionally on the side of the road. Apparently the best thing to do if you see a coyote is to make as much noise as possible. The worst thing to do is to run away from them because you then become prey. And, if you see someone feeding coyotes make sure to report them to your local by-law department.
3. Crows – ok this one may seem strange but every year I hear reports of crows dive bombing people. Like raccoons, crows are very territorial and will attack especially if they believe their babies are at risk. If there is an area where crows are dive bombing the easiest solution is to simply walk another route. You can also try carrying an umbrella and open it if you are under attack (not as practical in my view). And here is an interesting fact, crows have facial recognition ability which means if you threaten them once you will now be their target.
4. Geese – I know I have stated numerous times how geese terrify me (growing up on a hobby farm with them hasn’t helped me) but really when it comes to gosling season they are, as far as I am concerned, outright dangerous. Try to get anywhere near a goose with their babies and they will attack and if they get you on the ground will beat you with their wings. Because they love being down at our beach it is impossible to avoid them so what I do is give them as much room as possible and run like hell to get past them.
5. Bears – while it is not often we see bears in our area, it does happen. We do see them more often at our recreational property but even then it is an occasional thing. Not to worry, these are black or brown bears, not the grizzly kind. If you see a bear, please do not think about pulling out your phone and taking a picture. Also, do not run away which like with a coyote makes you prey. The recommendation is that you try to quietly back away from the area. However, if the bear approaches you should try to make yourself look as big as possible, make loud noises, clap your hands and continue to back away.

We all need to find ways to live with the wildlife in our neighbourhoods and keep ourselves safe. Respect for wildlife and recognizing dangerous situations is an important part of that.