Results tagged “animals”

If you've spent today warding off swarms of insects that don't look quite like regular ladybugs, don't be alarmed: they're just Asian ladybird beetles, and they're trying to make the most of an atypically warm fall day.

One of the famous signs outside Honest Ed's beckons, "Come In Here And Get Lost!" but late Sunday night, a roguish raccoon took that literally.

Artist Unknown

       

One week after four llamas, a yak, and a wallaby escaped from High Park Zoo, Torontoist is pleased to report that all animals are absolutely fine following their midnight jaunt.

Mystery solved (sort of). According to Nathalie Karvonen, the executive director of the Toronto Wildlife Centre, and Ralph Toninger, senior project manager of restoration services at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the naked (and rather terrifying looking) creature that’s been seen skulking around Parkdale is indeed a raccoon, and come winter, one that's in grave danger.

Ordinarily we take a dim view of sensationalism and fear-mongering here at Torontoist, but we hope, in this case, you'll forgive us for asking: WHAT THE HELL is that naked beast and how can I protect my [-self, child, community] from it? We haven't felt so scared of (and strangely drawn to) a piece of wildlife photography since last year, when the Montauk Monster washed up on that Long Island shore, and into our hearts.

Shhh—listen, do you hear them? The silences echoing through the air are the songs of the bluebirds, wrens, swallows, and purple martins, migratory birds whose populations are declining at alarming rates. Before stepping into the sunlit gallery at the Toronto Botanical Garden, you might go to the grocery store, the gym, or the pub oblivious to the plight of these birds, blithely accepting the pigeon as our emblematic avian.

When we wrote on Monday about a cute sign made on behalf of the city's rat population, thanking Mayor Miller and the striking unions for the proliferation of garbage around the city, we wrote that the artist whose signature was at the foot of the image, "madame HAIR," seemed to be, "sadly, human." She is! After seeing her work on Torontoist, she emailed us to tell us the big news: more of her rats are coming.

As the city workers' strike lurches into its third week, there's been a lot of talk about who is and isn't benefiting from it. Suffering? The reputations of David Miller, the striking unions, and their members; some, but not all, residents; some, but not all, neighbourhoods; our collective fear that tourists will think us unclean; and the expanses of concrete currently doing time as temporary dumping grounds. Doing just swell? Private garbage pick-up companies; the City's wallet (well, maybe?); people who like photos of garbage; people who like over-reacting to said garbage, and, oh, rats.

Renting in Toronto is already a trying experience, what with landlords charging outrageous rents for their "bright, sunny" basement apartments. But renters with furry companions face another hassle: apartment ads that boldly state "No pets," and landlords who won't rent to someone with a pet.

                                   

The place to be at this year's Woofstock festival was the fountain in Berczy Park. Despite the moderate temperatures and a layer of suspicious-looking foam covering the water, the fountain was crowded with dogs fighting for rubber balls, chasing each other, and—in the case of one very determined Great Dane—doing vigorous laps.

                     

As a prelude to this coming weekend's Woofstock festival, organizers arranged the Woofstock Doggie Weddings High Tea at the King Edward Hotel yesterday. The puntastic event—hosted by comedian Laurie Elliott—brought together doggy couples who wanted to prove their "commuttment" by taking their "bow vows." Each canine couple received a blessing from Reverend Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea and a certificate of "muttrimony".

A few days ago, we saw a handsome red-winged blackbird, with its distinctive red and yellow shoulder bars, happily chirping away in a tree in a backyard. Then, like something out of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, it dive-bombed towards us, shrieking as it spread its wings and raised its talons. Frightened, we ran inside—ceding the backyard to our winged foe. If, like us, you’ve recently been traumatized (or embarrassed) by a red-winged blackbird, don’t worry: you're not alone.

Aurora is not exactly known for having much that would entertain out-of-towners. So perhaps that's why, when a young male bear wandered downtown today, he decided that the best thing to do would be to go tree climbing. According to YorkRegion.com, this morning a two-or-so-year-old black bear was discovered up a tree, where it hung out for at least three and a half hours, before it was sedated and caged—to be released "north of the Greater Toronto Area." Here's a video.

Wiggles the Pig is having both a bad and a good day—bad because she fell off a moving transport truck on the 401, but good because she's been saved from becoming someone's dinner.

The Academy Awards of the pet world was held yesterday, honouring animals who acted to save a human's life. Four new pets were inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame, joining over 140 other life-saving pets (all cats and dogs, save one horse awarded in the '70s) at the Harbourfront Centre's PawsWay Pet Discovery Centre.

Although it doesn't feel much like it yet, spring is here, and all the birdies and beasties are getting ready to have their babies. Due to the abundance of parkland within the city as well as the constant real estate development nibbling on the borders of their natural habitats, wild animals are closer to us than ever. For this reason, the Toronto Humane Society—mostly known for rescuing cats and dogs—runs a Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre where people can bring injured or immature wildlife found in the city at any time, day or night.

On Sunday, Stilleposters were in a flap over what was perceived to be a cruel method of deterring pigeons being used at the TD Bank at Dundas and Ossington. Lara Williston posted photos of the location's façade, which appeared to have some pigeons' feathers stuck to it, followed by photos of a pigeon sitting on the sidewalk with its underside covered in some kind of thick, sticky substance. Williston explained what she had witnessed prior to snapping the photos:

The feathers that you see on the right side of the pillar are stuck in some of the glue and were ripped out a bird's wing that was dangling from the ledge. The pigeon that you see in the picture had fallen from the ledge and was glued to the front steps leading up to the door. He couldn't move his wings or walk because he was covered in this substance. I don't know if TD is specifically responsible or if it is the landlord of the building, but I suspect it is both, and either way it is an unacceptable and inhumane way of treating any animal, regardless of whether or not it is viewed as a pest.

For the last two weeks, the area around Keele Street and Bloor Street West has been plastered with a bizarre leaflet about the life and legacy of the cat Feliche Paradisis-Zoetmulder. It seems that Feliche was a special cat. In July 2008, he was found starving near a cottage in Wasaga Beach by two roommates, Vicky Paradisis and Charissa Zoetmulder. He was then brought back to Toronto, where he lived for four months until he was tragically hit by a car in mid-November.

When I was young and stupid, I took a job in the small animal department of PJ's Pet Store at Yorkdale Shopping Centre. I was really excited about earning extra pocket change and, even more than that, playing with cuddly animals all day long. Now, as someone older and wiser, I recall with disgust all the reasons I should have run screaming from that job. Like that, during my interview, I was told their motto was "The customer comes first" (translation: the animals come second). Like that, during the hot summer months, the guinea pigs and ferrets languished in poorly ventilated cages. Like that, during Easter, I was encouraged to push bunny sales, as though they were a type of candy or greeting card and not living things.

If you're an animal lover, the December fire that ravaged the Durham Region Humane Society's shelter, killing more than one hundred and fifty animals, probably broke your heart. Now, more than a month later, the organization still has no facility and is virtually inoperable without one.

                                  

A small group of activists gathered outside the Royal Ontario Museum on Saturday to highlight the often-ignored plight of dinosaurs in captivity around the world. The energetic protesters from Dinosaurs In Need, Ontario, carried signs proclaiming "dinosaurs are people too" and pleading for help to "save steggy." A petition was available to sign, and copies of the group's newsletter, the T-Rex Times, were handed out to passersby. Children were targeted with small dinosaur-themed toys.

Photo taken just after midnight on Friday by Jonathan Goldsbie. The "For Renovations" part of the sign has since been torn off.

A day after Toronto Public Health told CityNews they "found no evidence of a rat infestation" and "no problem whatsoever with compliance with public health standards" at Happy Seven Restaurant on Spadina—this despite a somewhat obvious rat problem—the restaurant has finally been shut down.

At just about noon today, Jesse Ship was walking along Spadina on his way to lunch with a friend when he spotted something slightly less appetizing in the window of Happy Seven restaurant, at 358 Spadina: a rat. He snapped the photo above, of the rat conspicuously beside a Toronto Public Health DineSafe Pass, and sent it to us and to BlogTO immediately, and recorded the video above on his cellphone. As it turns out, he wasn't the only one to see something: CityNews got footage of not one but three rats roaming the store, presumably taking a break from teaching fine cooking to the clumsy but ultimately endearing cooks.

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve.