10. 39 dogs, 5 cats seized by SPCA from Island home filled with feces and urine, Nov. 28
More than 40 animals were seized from a house saturated with urine and were transported by boat to Nanaimo to receive care.
In a press release, the B.C. SPCA said 44 animals – 37 small-breed dogs, which included seven puppies, as well as two Bernedoodles and five cats – were found in a “home filled with feces, urine and garbage in a community off the coast of Vancouver Island.” From Nanaimo, the animals were transported and cared for at centres across the Island, the press release stated.
Eileen Drever, B.C. SPCA spokesperson told the News Bulletin the seizures took place Nov. 22-23. Five dogs were surrendered on the first day and the remaining animals on the second day.
The litters consisted of two puppies, approximately three weeks in age, and five puppies approximately six weeks old. All animals were dirty and smelled of feces and urine, according to the SPCA, with urine-stained paws and overgrown nails.
All the animals were in the care of a veterinarian and it is not known when the pets would be available for adoption.
9. J-pod orcas ride a fast ocean current in a narrow passage off Nanaimo, Feb. 18
When Anna Mihalj decided to go for a run on Valentine’s Day, she wound up being at the right place at the right time to witness something spectacular.
The new-to-the-area resident said she was running along the Cable Bay Trail on the outskirts of Nanaimo about mid-day on Feb. 14. At the same time, a pod of orcas were “rolling on through” Dodd Narrows — a narrow, fast-movement passage between Vancouver Island and neighbouring Mudge Island.
“I was just like, ‘I can’t believe this,’” she said of the encounter. “I was really lucky.”
In an e-mail, the co-founder and president of the Orca Behavior Institute, Monika Wieland, referred to the sighting as a special and unusual occurrence.
Based on Mihalj’s video, Wieland said they were able to determine the whales passing through were members of J-pod by identifying their unique markings, and added that while there are records of southern resident orcas transiting through Dodd, it’s not a common occurrence. Bigg’s killer whales, she said, also known as transients, tend to travel through the passage more regularly.
8. Good Samaritans help rescue dog with life-threatening injury along Nanaimo trail, Jan. 10
Thanks to fortunate timing and a pair of Good Samaritans, a young dog survived a life-threatening injury sustained while exploring the great outdoors.
Michele Hillier and her partner, Danny Dares, had been hiking a familiar path along Cable Bay Trail on Dec. 31 with Pip, a two-year old Australian shepherd, when the dog hurt itself.
“Pip was running through the woods and launched into a blunt stick – basically, like a big blunt log – and was immediately injured,” said Courtnay Huber, Hillier’s daughter-in-law, who was not with them at the time.
Hillier and Dares had a two-kilometre trek back to the parking lot, and the pup needed to be carried back. Dares struggled with Pip for approximately half a kilometre before the couple came across a group of friends walking their own dogs.
David King and Brent Murphy, offered to carry the pup the rest of the way.
Pip was taken to a veterinary who identified the dog’s injury as a ruptured trachea.
“They had to tap her chest because her chest cavity was filled with air and it was collapsing her lungs,” Huber said. “So, probably 30 minutes to losing her.”
7. Volunteer firefighters rescue dog that fell down rocky ridge south of Nanaimo, Jan. 26
Firefighters with Extension Volunteer Fire Department put their rope rescue skills to work to retrieve a dog that fell over a cliff face.
The incident happened shortly after noon on Jan. 26, when a woman was walking the dog – a chocolate Labrador, according firefighters who attended – on the steep terrain of the Extension ridges south of Nanaimo.
Kevin Young, Extension VFD chief, said firefighters were called out to the 2100 block of Bramley Road at about 12:30 p.m.
“The dog went off a ledge on some slippery moss and fell about 35 feet down to a lower isolated ledge where it was more or less stranded, “he said. “Our crews managed to get in the area safe and, basically, devised a safe rescue for the canine and the outcome was positive.”
Young categorized the operation as a “low-angle” rescue and fairly routine in nature. The dog was not injured and was reunited with the woman within about two hours.
“We don’t get a lot of those calls, so we like to help out where we can,” the fire chief said.
6. Sea lion-versus-octopus battle filmed in waters south of Nanaimo, Nov. 20
A woman witnessed the brutal side of nature in the waters south of Nanaimo last week.
Lindsay Bryant was getting ready to go for a swim in the ocean off the Cedar shoreline south of Nanaimo on Nov. 16 at about 12:30 p.m. when she saw a sea lion behaving unusually in Stuart Channel about 100 metres offshore.
“I was getting ready to go for a swim, which I do several times a week there, and it’s not uncommon to see a sea lion eating fish – throwing them around a little bit,” Bryant said.
At first the sea lion’s behaviour caused her to suspect the animal might be in distress, possibly even caught in a net, or was ill, but it was only after Bryant picked up her cell phone and video recorded the activity that she realized what she had seen.
Bryant said in the first few moments in the video it appears the sea lion had been fighting an octopus, which was putting up a fight and trying to grab onto the sea lion’s head. After a few moments the activity quieted down and the sea lion submerged.
“The sea lion sort of went under the water for a minute, things quieted down and then, maybe 10 or 15 second later, I saw it surface up the channel a little bit more so I’m assuming he had his lunch,” Bryant said.
5. 3.5 million bees keep warm in North Oyster before heading to Prairies, March 17
Three and a half million honey bees from New Zealand arrived on a farm in North Oyster in March and waited for the weather to warm up on the Prairies.
Renato Gallego, along with his team from Nanaimo and Saskatchewan, were helping the bees into their new hive homes on March 8 before they get moved to Saskatchewan.
The bees arrived in frames weighing two kilograms each, with approximately 10,000 worker bees and one queen bee which will be the boss of every hive. The new arrivals are replacement stock for bees lost over the winter in the hives in Saskatchewan due to cold and disease.
According to the Canadian Honey Council it requires 556 worker bees to gather a pound of honey. The average life of a worker bee is about six weeks in honey season and six months out of season. Once the bees are in Saskatchewan, each hive will produce approximately 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of honey over the season.
4. Nanaimo racing pigeon ends up 743 kilometres off-course near Williams Lake, Sept. 7
After flying an estimated 743 kilometres off-course, a racing pigeon from Nanaimo named Bert was returned home, thanks to the efforts of a good Samaritan near Williams Lake.
When the BCSPCA Williams Lake Branch received Bert, they researched his leg band to find his owners. Branch manager Liz Dighton told Black Press Media the bird was found in the Dog Creek First Nation area, south of Williams Lake.
“He showed up in someone’s yard and they scooped him up and brought him to us,” Dighton said, confirming the likelihood of the branch receiving a racing pigeon is few and far between.
Racing pigeons are well-handled, and that was what caught the people’s attention when they found him, Dighton said.
“He really wanted to be with someone. He was thirsty, tired and hungry. He found humans that could hopefully help him and these ones certainly did.”
Dighton said the story is a good plug for racing pigeon owners to keep the information up-to-date on their permanent ID.
3. Mounties called out to round up alpaca on the lam in Nanaimo, Nov. 10
Nanaimo RCMP caught up with a loose alpaca and helped it get back home south of the city.
A three-year-old alpaca named Chewy drew the attention of Nanaimo RCMP when it took an unauthorized walkabout from its home in South Wellington, according to an RCMP press release,
Officers responded at about 2 a.m. on Nov. 7 after receiving a report that the animal was heading for the Trans-Canada Highway and there were concerns for its safety.
Police caught up with the alpaca “checking out the lights and sounds and seemingly enjoying himself,” the release noted.
Officers used their vehicles to gently guide the alpaca in the direction it needed to go to make its way safely back home where it was corralled by about 3 a.m. and reunited with its owner who was grateful to have it back.
According to police, Chewy’s owner thought the alpaca had become frightened, for reasons unknown, and jumped the fence to freedom.
“All in all, with a little creativity, the incident was successfully dealt with and the officers now have a good story to share with their workmates,” said reserve Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson, in the release.
2. Cat lost during visit to Nanaimo safe and on its way back to Ontario, Oct. 10
A cat visiting from Ontario that was lost at Port Place shopping centre was found safe and returned home.
A senior from Orillia, Ont., who was recently widowed, decided to drive across the country last month as it was something she and her husband had always talked about but had never gotten around to doing. She made it all the way to Nanaimo, but while making a few stops at Port Place mall on Sept. 14, she realized she had lost her cat Chloe.
The senior slept in her car that night at the mall parking lot, hoping her cat would return, and the following day, while searching, the senior tripped and fell on her face, badly enough that she had to be taken to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. For four days, black-eyed and limping, she continued to search downtown with the help of Nanaimo CatNap Society volunteer Kathi Baart.
Eventually, the senior decided she couldn’t stay any longer and made the drive back across the country.
On Oct. 5, a woman experiencing homelessness heard the cat in the engine compartment of an excavator parked near the TD Bank, enlisted the help of city workers to retrieve the animal, and Baart got there as quick as she could with a cat carrier. Coincidentally. Another CatNap volunteer who had business in Ontario dropped off Chloe at her owner’s home in Orillia on Oct 12.
1. Vancouver Island marmot makes marathon journey looking for love, July 7
A Vancouver Island marmot is back in custody after hitting the trail, most likely looking for love.
Vancouver Island marmots are few and far between, so it’s no surprise that Camas, a young male originally released last year on Gemini Mountain, southwest of Nanaimo, didn’t hang around long when it discovered its prospects of finding a mate were slim to none.
At least that’s a theory Adam Taylor, executive director of the Marmot Recovery Foundation, is working with to to explain why Camas went walkabout. Camas was bred and raised in captivity at the Calgary Zoo as part of a recovery effort to raise the species’ population, which the foundation estimates is about 200.
Fitted with a radio tracking device, Taylor said after being released on Gemini Mountain, Camas almost immediately headed over to nearby Green Mountain.
“This spring, we were having a really hard time pinning him down … we couldn’t figure out why and then, [July 5], we got a report from a fellow in Errington saying I’ve got this marmot in my backyard and sent us a couple of pictures and, sure enough, there’s this Vancouver Island marmot in their backyard,” Taylor said. “So, 30-plus kilometres from his home – that’s a straight-line distance – he’d wandered through the mountains to end up in somebody’s backyard…” Taylor said. “As to why he took to roaming, we don’t have a positive answer for you because I can’t ask him, but there’s a pretty decent idea. He’s a young male and young males often disperse from their natal colonies looking for mates.”
READ ALSO: Nanaimo News Bulletin’s top 10 most-memorable animal stories of 2022
