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creepy_shetan) wrote2024-02-23 07:40 pm
creepy_shetan) wrote2024-02-23 07:40 pm
Close encounters with wildlife
Today is Friday the 23rd. I had no idea this week would turn out so interesting. I had some rare experiences mixed in with some quieter days at work, not to mention the very abnormal and fluctuating weather.
On Monday afternoon, I had the really cool experience of a bird of prey gliding along near me for a good couple of minutes. I was walking downhill, and on the other side of the wire/metal fence, there's a drop down to a few buildings and open spaces. I was almost walking sideways to watch it, haha. It was very windy, and this bird was definitely scanning the ground, but it wasn't in a rush. After a while, it slowly circled a couple of times and flew away. When it was at its closest to me, I could tell it was huge...! I got a really good look at it, but when I tried to identify it online later, all I could match to the photos were "ummm it was big and brown." XD; I think maybe possibly it was a black kite!
It's especially interesting timing, because just that morning, I saw a crow fly over to hang out on a street sign. They generally like to perch on electric poles and roofs, not right above a sidewalk, especially during the prime morning commute time. That part of my commute isn't too busy, but there are a few people walking, plus cars. It wasn't a trash/recycle day, either -- that's usually when crows are louder and more bold, haha (considered more pesky) -- and I didn't see anything potentially edible nearby...
On Wednesday, the first day of final exams, a tanuki (raccoon dog) walked into the school! It came through an open student entrance of my high school, wandered down a hallway, and ended up in the empty gym. Luckily, it didn't run into the usual number of people walking around! A teacher caught a glimpse of it and returned to the staff room with a look of "so, you're not going to believe this, but..." I had no exams or anything in particular to do, so I stuck around for most of the tanuki's visit.
I've never seen one so close before -- it even walked by me! I'm talking a couple of human-sized steps away. It was very cute, and not aggressive or panicking or anything, and wet from the snow. It was about the size of a medium-sized dog, but more long than tall. I'm glad that all of the adults stayed calm and didn't want to hurt it. Some teachers and school staff managed to get it into a makeshift cage (a large plastic crate with a larger wooden board underneath). They then carried it to the wooded area across the street behind the gym, which is most likely where it came from. (I didn't follow the small procession past the gym door, because I didn't have my coat or outdoor shoes.)
Everyone felt bad for kicking it out, back into the snow, but y'know... A high school and the neighboring apartments and houses aren't the best places for a tanuki to be. It was very much a rare incident, too. This isn't rural Japan. Occasionally, there are reports in the city of deer, wild boars, bears... but not near this school, from what I've heard. Tanuki seem to avoid people as much as possible, too. I tend to think of them as kinda similar to raccoons and opossums in their behavior, but I could be wrong. (The crows, on the other hand, are kinda like squirrels and mockingbirds apparently, lol. But I love them! They're great. Haven't met many asshole crows, and they're not as annoying as those screeching, flower-eating little... ahem. Moving on.)
I could have gotten a few pictures of both the bird of prey and the tanuki, but I was more focused on watching the wild animal behavior (and the human-animal interactions) to really try. I'm sure the potential kite would have been a brown blur in the sky anyway. >:P I only have one photo of the tanuki, from when it was under the plastic crate, so the clearest bit you can see is its nose and mouth, visible through a handhold hole. I hope the little guy is okay. It seemed healthy and uninjured.
Anyway, I didn't write this up well, but I wanted some account of it somewhere besides the very sparse notes in my current daily log notebook, which are basically "cool birds~!!" and "tanuki~!!" written at the tops of the pages. XD;;
On Monday afternoon, I had the really cool experience of a bird of prey gliding along near me for a good couple of minutes. I was walking downhill, and on the other side of the wire/metal fence, there's a drop down to a few buildings and open spaces. I was almost walking sideways to watch it, haha. It was very windy, and this bird was definitely scanning the ground, but it wasn't in a rush. After a while, it slowly circled a couple of times and flew away. When it was at its closest to me, I could tell it was huge...! I got a really good look at it, but when I tried to identify it online later, all I could match to the photos were "ummm it was big and brown." XD; I think maybe possibly it was a black kite!
It's especially interesting timing, because just that morning, I saw a crow fly over to hang out on a street sign. They generally like to perch on electric poles and roofs, not right above a sidewalk, especially during the prime morning commute time. That part of my commute isn't too busy, but there are a few people walking, plus cars. It wasn't a trash/recycle day, either -- that's usually when crows are louder and more bold, haha (considered more pesky) -- and I didn't see anything potentially edible nearby...
On Wednesday, the first day of final exams, a tanuki (raccoon dog) walked into the school! It came through an open student entrance of my high school, wandered down a hallway, and ended up in the empty gym. Luckily, it didn't run into the usual number of people walking around! A teacher caught a glimpse of it and returned to the staff room with a look of "so, you're not going to believe this, but..." I had no exams or anything in particular to do, so I stuck around for most of the tanuki's visit.
I've never seen one so close before -- it even walked by me! I'm talking a couple of human-sized steps away. It was very cute, and not aggressive or panicking or anything, and wet from the snow. It was about the size of a medium-sized dog, but more long than tall. I'm glad that all of the adults stayed calm and didn't want to hurt it. Some teachers and school staff managed to get it into a makeshift cage (a large plastic crate with a larger wooden board underneath). They then carried it to the wooded area across the street behind the gym, which is most likely where it came from. (I didn't follow the small procession past the gym door, because I didn't have my coat or outdoor shoes.)
Everyone felt bad for kicking it out, back into the snow, but y'know... A high school and the neighboring apartments and houses aren't the best places for a tanuki to be. It was very much a rare incident, too. This isn't rural Japan. Occasionally, there are reports in the city of deer, wild boars, bears... but not near this school, from what I've heard. Tanuki seem to avoid people as much as possible, too. I tend to think of them as kinda similar to raccoons and opossums in their behavior, but I could be wrong. (The crows, on the other hand, are kinda like squirrels and mockingbirds apparently, lol. But I love them! They're great. Haven't met many asshole crows, and they're not as annoying as those screeching, flower-eating little... ahem. Moving on.)
I could have gotten a few pictures of both the bird of prey and the tanuki, but I was more focused on watching the wild animal behavior (and the human-animal interactions) to really try. I'm sure the potential kite would have been a brown blur in the sky anyway. >:P I only have one photo of the tanuki, from when it was under the plastic crate, so the clearest bit you can see is its nose and mouth, visible through a handhold hole. I hope the little guy is okay. It seemed healthy and uninjured.
Anyway, I didn't write this up well, but I wanted some account of it somewhere besides the very sparse notes in my current daily log notebook, which are basically "cool birds~!!" and "tanuki~!!" written at the tops of the pages. XD;;