Chance encounter with a raccoon
One of the simpler, yet no less delightful, joys of living abroad is seeing fauna and flora not native to Malaysia.
I’VE finally encountered my first real, live raccoon. It happened unspectacularly enough. I was on my usual evening walk around the Reflecting Pool that faces the Lincoln Memorial, and had stopped briefly at a water fountain to refill my water bottle.
It was then that I noticed people gathering around a dustbin, exclaiming and pointing delightedly at something inside.
“Pffft, tourists!”, I thought disdainfully, “So excited over squirrels!” However, as I approached the group, I realised that the creature peeking out had decidedly non- squirrelly features. It’s darkrimmed eyes and distinctive facial and body colouring only meant one thing.
“Oh my God! A raccoon!” I trilled, quickly joining the ranks of the gaping tourists.
Slightly irritated by all the iPhones and selfie sticks that were nudging closer towards him, he stopped his rummaging, jumped down and moseyed along the green, his bushy striped tail trailing behind him. He then scaled one of the elm trees nearby and slipped into a hollow in the trunk.
While everyone dispersed, I mentally kicked myself for not having brought my own phone along. The next day, I made sure I carried it with me and the raccoon did not disappoint. I’d made a mental note of his tree, and so I slowed down as I approached it. I was in luck. Rochester – for that’s what I’ve christened the raccoon – was doing his rounds again. I managed to get a few good snaps of him as well as enlighten a curious Italian couple as to what exactly he was.
So, I can now check “raccoon” off my “must-see- with- my- very-own-eyes- and- not- at- a- zoo” US animal bucket list: I’ve still got beaver, bison, and grizzly bear to go. Pretty lofty plans, I know. And chicken that I am, I’m perhaps better off seeing the bear on National Geographic.
Yet, this to me is one of the simpler, yet no less delightful, joys of living abroad: seeing fauna and flora not native to Malaysia. Perhaps this stems from the many books I’d read ( and reread), that used to transport me from a little plantation in Johor out into “enchanted” woods, willows, forests, or savannahs I’d never dreamt back then I’d see.
And the creatures that dwelled in them certainly seemed cuter and cuddlier than the cobras, pythons, monitor lizards and bats that imposed on us ever so often from their hidey holes in the rubber and oil palm estates surrounding us.
I still remember how thrilled I was to spot my first hedgehog and badger – regularly featured in Enid Blyton stories – while studying in England. My all- too- brief sojourn in South Africa afforded me unforgettable experiences of seeing, among others, whales and rhino up close and in the flesh. Walks in forests lying just outside Frankfurt meant seeing deer gambolling among the trees.
Given its proximity to the Rock Creek Park, the Chesapeake Bay and the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, Washington, DC too plays home to varied animal and plant life: “240 species of birds, 29 mammals, 21 reptiles, 19 amphibians, and 78 species of fish” to be exact. Animals like the Eastern grey squirrels, Blue Jays, and robins live here year round. Others are seasonal and migrate during the spring and fall. Some “migrants” apparently have gotten too comfortable in DC and have “overstayed” their welcome.
The National Mall has become the hangout of choice for large gaggles of Canada geese, which due to the absence of predators and the abundance of food, switched from being temporary to permanent residents here.
The downside to this is their droppings. One goose is said to be able to leave behind up to 1.3kg of droppings per day. Not a very pleasant sight at one of DC’s premier tourist spots. National Park Services officials add that the droppings “can damage pipes and filters in the Reflecting Pool and create a public health hazard.” So in May this year, the ‘ Geese Police’ was mobilised. These are Border Collies that are trained to chase the geese off to other areas. That probably also explains the fewer geese hanging around my walking route these days.
Meanwhile, with summer coming to an end here, other creatures are in the midst of migrating to warmer climes.
Just last week, I was reading on my balcony when I noticed something flitting among my neighbour’s sunflowers downstairs. It was a black, orange and white butterfly. I quickly realised I was looking at a monarch butterfly! I could hardly contain my excitement watching it but when I related this to my neighbour later that evening, he nonchalantly said, “Oh yeah. They’re migrating now. You’re gonna be seeing them around.” I guess I’d be just as blase if he were to tell me he encountered an orang utan in Sabah.
We may often think of a country in terms of its people or policies or the headlines it makes. To me though, the vibrancy and colour of its fauna and flora add a whole new dimension to living abroad.
For some of us, they embody what we once thought we’d only “experience” within the pages of a book.