The way of the geese

It’s already June but it’s still cold during the mornings and evenings. I’m disappointed because I thought I’d be wearing flip flops by now! Instead I’m still going out with a jacket... MEH!

The geese are in town having babies and I don’t know why but they seem to always come back to our area. I don’t really get it since we’re in an industrial area in the city and it’s not like we’re beside a pond or anything. It’s quite amusing because there’s a pair of geese in almost every building and they build their nests and lay their eggs. Our pair wasn’t very smart because they’ve decided to build their nest up on our roof (our building is a single storey by the way) and it gets really hot up there with barely any protection against the elements. We suspect that the babies had died because the pair of geese we have aren’t very good parents and it seemed they neglected to feed their young. The poor little babies weren’t big enough to go down from the roof to our lawn to fend for themselves.

It’s quite cute because the babies of other geese in neighbouring areas have grown and we see them crossing the street or walking across lawns and there’s so many of them. There are parents and babies and there must be about ten pairs of geese and their young ones of different sizes. It’s funny when they cross the road and they walk sooo slow that they cause traffic. I find it rather amusing when the babies decide to lie down in the middle of the road, totally oblivious to all the cars waiting to cross. Steve says they’re defiant because they don’t seem to want to move even when there’s a car tire or person right beside them. Man I tell you, they must know they’re protected by law and that they can’t be harmed.

I still haven’t figured out what it is that they eat at lawns but whatever it is, they seem to like it very much.

Some snow, some geese and some other creatures

It rained and snowed intermittently yesterday but enough to have snow on the ground and certainly enough to cause traffic. Until now I still get surprised at how fast the weather and temperature can shift here in Canada. The past few weeks have been relatively warm... and when I say warm, I mean that it’s been mostly above zero degrees. Not really summer weather but better than being below zero. On Sunday it was so sunny outside that I almost felt bad for staying indoors. Then when I woke up on Monday morning, it was cloudy, windy and it was hailing. I remember walking to the bus stop yesterday with an umbrella and I was wondering why the rain drops felt heavy and looked like they were practically bouncing off every solid surface. As it turns out, it wasn’t water droplets... Rather, it was tiny pieces of hail. No wonder everyone was cowering in the bus shelter.

It’s sunny again today but there’s still a bit of snow on the ground. I wore my high-heeled leather boots to work today, forgetting how slippery it would be. I slid a few times while walking this morning. Thankfully, I didn’t fall. It seems I underestimated the snow.

The geese have returned from their southern migration and there are actually two geese who have decided to make a nest on the roof of our office building. Our office building is a single storey. Since we can’t get up on the roof to check, we don’t really know if they’ve laid some eggs or if they’re still n the process of building a nest. We think they’re staying to mate and lay eggs because they’ve been here for a little over a week now and they’re pretty vigilant about their territory. They’re beautiful and quite big for birds but they have this elegant look about them. Steve complains that they’re very defiant as they don’t seem to be afraid of humans. Just yesterday afternoon, while leaving work, one goose was standing in the middle of the road and we had to patiently wait for it to move to the side so we could pass. Steve drove right up to it to see if it will get scared but it didn’t. It just casually walked to the side but it wasn’t fazed at all with the car being so close. The pigeons here are the same... they don’t seem to be afraid of humans. You can literally walk up to one and it won’t budge. I tell Steve pigeons in the Philippines fly away as soon as you start moving towards them. I think it’s probably because they know Filipinos eat them.

I am not even sure if the breed of pigeons they have here in Canada are the same as the ones we have in the Philippines. For all I know they could be vastly different, hence the difference in behaviour.

Anyhow, I am assuming that the raccoons are now coming out of their hibernation as I’ve seen a few road kills. It’s pretty sad actually... seeing a crumpled baby raccoon dead on the side of the road. I think raccoons are quite cute but I hear they bite and could potentially infect you with rabies. Rabies, my friend, is NOT cute.

It still amazes me when I see the variety of animals you can come across here in Canada like squirrels, raccoons, geese, robins, blue jays, woodpeckers, skunks, foxes, coyotes... foxes and coyotes! Can you imagine walking outside your door and seeing a fox or a coyote in front of you? Unthinkable for a Filipino isn’t it? Certainly something you only see in the zoo in the Philippines. Never in my life did I think you can just see one outside your door here (but then again, Steve has never seen a Banana Tree which boggles my mind since they’re everywhere in the Philippines... I had to Google a picture of one to show him what it looks like... he said they looked weird by the way). Although I personally have not seen a coyote here in the wild neighbourhood of Toronto, I have seen a fox. I was so shocked that I blurted out the words, “IT’S A FOX!!” in an obviously amazed, somewhat scared kind of tone. Steve still reminds me of my expression when I saw one.

My co-workers tell me deer are very common and that they sometimes just cross the road especially if you’re driving north. Apparently, bears are quite common too in certain areas. I honestly think it would scare the hell out of me when I encounter one out in the wild. I wouldn’t know whether I should play dead or run or fight till the end. I hear you should only play dead if it’s a brown bear but if it’s a black bear, it will kill you if you play dead. Apparently your best shot with a black bear is to fight it. Like I would ever win that fight without any weapon! I don’t think I’d be able to outrun it either. Maybe I’ll consider climbing a tree instead? If that bear can climb, then I’m doomed.

Anyway, all this rambling and all I really wanted to say was that I was bummed out it’s snowing and cold again when it’s supposed to be sunny outside.

E - Jeepneys.

(Image courtesy of GreenPeace)

Nice… the Philippines now has E-Jeepneys which run on electric power. Apparently, it is charged merely by plugging into an electric socket. The article says the first E-jeepneys were first introduced last year but only in private, gated communities since it hadn’t been approved by the Department of Transportation. Now that they’ve gained approval from the said department, three have been launched for a pilot run in Makati City and that passengers would be able to ride them for free during the first week. I wonder how much it costs to manufacture these E-jeepneys because if the manufacturing cost is too high, the selling price could end up being high enough to discourage people from purchasing.

I think the E-jeepneys are a step towards the right direction and I do hope the Philippines finds ways to implement more of them in the future. It would do wonders in decreasing pollution and will be great for the environment.

***Read more about this interesting venture here.