I am currently in central Vancouver, at the Syliva Hotel, a nice boutique hotel which I have frequented for well over a decade when visiting the city. It is quaint and (the bit I like most) allows dogs. But despite the abundance of some sort of ivy on the outside walls and dogs in the foyer (Ok, for dog-phobic people, the dogs aren't really in a big abundance there), I did not expect the guest I had last night!
I entered my room well after the sun had set and turned the lights on. Being an historical hotel, there is a broad ledge outside - and pacing restlessly on it was a racoon! I am 3 stories up so don't even know how a racoon got there - where did it come from (the nearby Stanley Park?) Talk about a refugee from some time when there were less skyscrapers and more tall Douglas Pine trees!
Anyway, as I walked towards the window to look at my guest a little closer, it scurried along the ledge, peered at me through the other window before going to the corner of the building and sitting in the shadow for a few seconds, staring cautiously at me. Then with the freedom such critters have, it scurried around the corner and out of sight.
I am sure many in Canada would probably just about have flung themselves out of the window to kill the racoon as they can be a real pest, but you got to give it some credit for living right in central downtown Vancouver and surviving (it certainly didn't look unhealthy) in an area which is more concrete jungle and fast-driven cars then natural forest and only the odd hungry carnivore (or angry trapper) around... But I am a tourist here and I was very bemused by my brief and unexpected encounter with Canadian wildlife in the heart of the city.
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