Coyotes and gators and whales — oh my!
Humpback whale is not the first wayward creature to make a splash
By now most Montrealers have probably heard of the wayward humpback whale that has become the latest attraction in Old Montreal.
Seems as though the whale is either lost or fishing in the fresh waters of the St. Lawrence River.
If and when the whale returns to Tadoussac, from where presumably it travelled, is anyone’s guess. Even the marine biologists are stumped as to why a whale would stray so far from its salt-water home.
But it’s not the first time a whale has wandered off course to Montreal. A beluga whale made its way here in 2012.
Over the years, various types of wildlife have captured the imagination of Montrealers who are more accustomed to seeing raccoons, skunks and squirrels than say, an alligator crossing Jarry St. on a cold winter’s day.
Remember the Kirkland coyote, Verdun python and West Island snowy owl?
Here is a look at some of the critters that have made headlines by crashing our urban jungle.
THE VILLERAY ALLIGATOR
What are the chances of crossing paths with a nearly two-metre long alligator on a cold winter’s day in Montreal?
That’s exactly what happened last December when a gator made its way — jaywalking in true Montreal fashion — across Jarry St. to the astonishment of local residents.
Mayor Valérie Plante later tweeted the alligator was safely returned to its owners, who had permits to use the animal for educational presentations. Might sound like a croc, but apparently true.
WEST ISLAND SNOWY OWL
A photo of a magnificent snowy owl, captured in full flight by a traffic cam in the West Island, went viral after it was tweeted by Robert Poëti, then Quebec’s transport minister, in 2016.
Perhaps, like many visitors to Montreal, the Arctic bird had heard about the city’s reputation for amazing fast food.
The flat landscape of Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, similar to northern tundra, is like a food tray for the owls, whose menu favourites include small animals like mice and rabbits.
“It’s like a buffet for them,” said Pierre Molina, an airport biologist for Falcon Environmental Services, who captures and releases the birds back into the wild.
KIRKLAND COYOTE
Coyotes are not rare in the outskirts of Montreal, but in recent years there have been hundreds of sightings across the island.
A Kirkland resident had a scary encounter with a coyote in the summer of 2016. While working on a vehicle in his driveway, Petro Rizos felt something scratch his lower back.
He turned and found himself facing a menacing coyote.
“I had a (wrench) in my hands and I was scared, so I swung hard at his head,” Rizos said. “He fell down, but when he got back up, he was baring his teeth … Then, before I could hit him again, he went away.”
There were coyote sightings across Montreal last year, but many were probably of the same sick animal spotted in Ahuntsic-cartierville and Villeray— St-michel—parc-extension boroughs.
VERDUN PYTHON
An escaped python had residents of Verdun looking under their front porches, and beds, in September 2016.
The pet snake slithered away from its owner’s residence on 1st Ave. At one point, police said the reptile had been found between the walls of an apartment building on Willibrord St., but a search effort failed to capture it.
After more than two weeks on the lam, the non-poisonous python was recaptured.