Wildlife Backyard Adventures

This morning was Husband's yard-cleaning day... meaning, it was weed-mowing day!  Remember how I said we have more dandelions, than grass?  Well, Husband decided to just mow it all over.  Someday, eventually, years down the line, we will re-seed the entire lawn, or lay down new grass...  But until then, the plan is to just mow them down, and/or pluck them out if we felt like doing some extra back-aching work.

Anyway, while in the shed, Husband found a dead rat.  Wonderful.  We decided it was best to bury it (deeply) in an unused corner of our yard.  The only worry is that the neighbourhood bears might smell the rotting carcass and dig it up for fun.  But we can deal with that another time, if it happens.

So how did this lovely rat die?  We don't know, but I'm glad it is dead.  Apparently there were no visible signs of trauma, so my not-so-educated guess is that it ingested some rat poison, and crawled into our shed to die.  Or maybe the neighbourhood bears found it and wanted to play with it, and the rat found refuge in our shed to die quietly.  But like I said, there were no obvious signs of trauma or open wounds.

So about those pesky bears... yes I am now speaking in the plural form.  There are at least two bears in the neighbourhood.  A mama and a cub, spotted by two of our neighbours, now.  They are regular visitors to our backyard, as noted by 4 more piles of bear pooh.  They are also regular visitors to our neighbours, as noted by eyewitness accounts.  Anecdote tells me that trail-building near a mid-sized park has been disturbing the bears, causing them to explore and wander outside their usual haunts.  The trail-building includes activities such as digging and cutting down trees.  Conservation officers are aware of the bear visits, but so long as they do not act aggressive, nothing will be done about them (which is fine by me, because if "something" were to be done, it would more than likely involve something lethal to mama and cub).  So what do we do now?  We just keep an eye out, mornings and evenings, and just keep reporting them, if seen.

On a happier-wildlife-note, in the last month, we've seen a Heron fly over our neighbour's house at least twice now (very majestic to see).  I also catch glimpses of jays and robins, and other small birds (finches and/or sparrows?) while looking out our windows.  They like to perch on our trees and hide in our bushes, and they peck away at the insects in our yard.  Some birds are kind of squawky, while others whistle or sing!  These little creatures are not a worry.  My concern is mostly that the bears have decided that our yard makes a good bathroom, for them!  Eww!