If you’re an astute reader of the North Shore News, you’ve maybe seen before the unofficial motto of our newsroom: “Dogs, bears, trees. In that order.” It was the observation of a longtime editorial team member who realized that no matter what stories we thought were most important, our readers would always let us know with their clicks, letters and comments that they’d rather be reading about animals.
To that end, we have compiled a list of our favourite North Shore animal stories of 2024.
No gulls allowed: Raptors employed to patrol North Shore dump
In February, reporter Brent Richter and multimedia reporter Alanna Kelly visited the North Shore Recycling and Waste Centre where, for the last five years, Metro Vancouver has been using trained raptors to scare off seagulls.
There, they met Poquito, an eight-year-old Harris’ hawk who is the enforcer around the dump.
“Just seeing him, they know that he’s a hawk, and he’s a predator, he’s apex to them,” said his handler. “And he is very good at his job.”
Without any kind of deterrent, the transfer station might look like something along the lines of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1952 classic The Birds, with gulls getting in the way of people and machinery, coating the vehicles and visitors with guano, and creating public health and safety risks. But not with Poquito on the job.
‘Magical experience’: Kayaker stunned by orcas in North Vancouver
The only thing that might make a Metro Vancouverite more envious than telling them you won the lottery is telling them you had an up-close encounter with whales.
Scott Suffron got to do just that in August when, while he was out on Indian Arm in his sea kayak, two killer whales came within three metres of him. Suffron pulled out his phone to record part of the 10-minute encounter and to call his wife.
“I’ve never felt more at ease. It was just incredible. And I knew it was a super rare occurrence, so I just tried to stay in the moment and just really enjoy it,” he said, adding that his wife was “so jealous.”
Barking sea lions take over West Vancouver bay
Decidedly less serene was when a raft of California sea lions took up lodgings on a private float in West Vancouver’s Garrow Bay in the spring and proceeded to bark incessantly for days.
“Are they ever noisy,” said one neighbour. “We’ve got all the windows and doors closed, but you can still hear them pretty loud and clear.… They pretty much go all night long.”
While some within earshot speculated the non-stop barking may have been an indication of mating behaviour, a Vancouver Aquarium expert informed us that wouldn’t be the case as all of the visiting sea lions were male, here to feed. The massive marine mammals are more common at that time of year on the west side of Vancouver Island, but clearly they were finding plenty of fish to feed on in Howe Sound.
As for the reason behind the non-stop barking: They just like to do it.
“They’re very gregarious – very vocal all the time and have large personalities, that’s for sure,” she said.
‘Fearless’ dog reunites with owner after surviving 100-foot cliff fall in West Vancouver
Few dogs will ever have a tale has harrowing a tale as Freeway, the three-year-old lab-mix that disappeared after falling off a 100-foot cliff at Cypress Mountain in April.
As a general rule, North Shore Rescue doesn’t get tasked with going after lost pets but, every once in a while, they make an exception. The volunteers were concerned the dog’s owner or other friends might put themselves in danger trying to get to the bottom of the cliff.
When an NSR search manager repelled down to the bottom, he found what appeared to be blood but nothing else. They returned the next morning with a helicopter and found tracks, which led to a day-long scramble by Freeway’s owners, their friends and even perfect strangers trying to chase down and nab the errant mutt all over Cypress Mountain. Her owners managed to corral her into their car the next day.
Whale poop in West Van lab sheds light on orcas at risk of extinction
Much as we love our southern resident killer whales, they are in a tight spot, with just 74 remaining. Scientists in West Vancouver’s Pacific Science Enterprise Centre are getting their hands dirty in a bid to save them and their northern resident cousins.
Researchers have been tailing the endangered species to collected their endangered feces, which contains critical information about their diets as well as DNA samples.
The hope is that, by taking action to boost the cetaceans’ food sources while reducing environmental stressors, populations can recover.
‘Chill’ marmot takes up residence in busy North Vancouver neighbourhood
In April, we began receiving reports of a marmot moving into a small patch of brush near the corner of East First Street and St. Georges Avenue.
A rodent living in a bush wouldn’t normally result in a news story, but marmots ain’t from around these parts. WildsafeBC told us it was likely a yellow-bellied marmot – a species typically found in the Interior. It wasn’t clear if the marmot had been born here or if it had somehow made the trip west.
In any event, neighbours dubbed him Morty.
“We’ve kind of bonded,” one said. “He’s very, very chilled. He’s very protective over his burrow, which is very cute, but other than that he is very easy going.”
North Vancouver comedy show is for the dogs, literally
Maybe you’ve heard about Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. But what about comedians with dogs getting beer?
In May, North Point Brewing hosted Big Dog Energy, a comedy show that invited guests to bring their (ideally well-socialized) canines with them.
For the most part, dogs who attend the comedy nights get excited to see each other at the beginning and then settle down for a snooze, the organizer told us. Much like hecklers, there is the occasional bark from the audience.
“I know, it sounds weird, but it works,” she said.
Steve the cat rescued from 90-foot tree in North Vancouver
After surviving almost three full days stuck up a 90-foot tree, Steve the cat was rescued thanks to help of a kitty-loving arborist.
His owner speculated he might have been scared up the tree by a bear that frequents the Pemberton Heights area.
After first finding that District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service’s tallest ladder couldn’t reach him, his owner hired an arborist who used spurs and a rope to shimmy up to Steve, lured him with treats into a backpack and then lowered him back down to the ground.
Steve, clearly stressed, put on a bit of a display, his owner said.
“Oh, he was freaking out during the whole time. He was doing a bunch of ninja moves I’ve never seen him do before, standing on two feet. It was pretty interesting,” she said. “The bag finally came down and his nose was poking out.”
Four cougars spotted hanging out in Deep Cove backyard
Most years, we don’t run any stories about cougars because the big cats are experts at making sure they aren’t seen. So when someone sent us a tip about four of them hanging around together in Deep Cove, we – at first – didn’t believe it. After all, cougars are solitary aren’t they?
The Conservation Officer Service confirmed though that they had received numerous reports describing a family unit of three kittens and one adult female cougar. Cougars are more likely to stick near semi urban areas when they have young because of the concentration of prey species such as deer, and racoons, said the COS,
“They were so majestic. They’re really amazing animals,” one neighbour said. “The chances of spotting a single cougar is so unlikely. Oh my gosh, to see all four together like this, what are the chances?”
Watch: Tired of having his fence bashed down, North Van man builds a ‘bear door’
Living in a wilderburb such as ours inevitably means there’ll be a bear wandering through your yard soon or later. The trouble in Curt Scheewe’s case was that the bears kept taking out his fence. So he engineered a solution: a swinging “bear door” heavy enough to keep his dog in but light enough for a bear to mosey through.
Within a few days of its installation, Scheewe’s home security camera captured footage of the bear making his way up to the door and pushing his way through “like it was second nature.”
The North Shore Black Bear Society shared the video widely and held Scheewe up as an creative example of how we can better co-exist with bears.
Watch: Marine rescue volunteers save young eagle, get surrounded by orcas
One close encounter with wildlife in a day is incredible. But two? In February, the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station 1 crew spotted an eagle floundering in the water off Bowen Island and getting blown out to the Strait of Georgia. The bird immediately took them up on their offer of a rescue.
“As soon as I put the boat like within about a foot of him, he, right away, tried to climb on board. He knew what we were there to do,” the unit chief said with a laugh. “We go out to rescue people, normally, right? Not eagles.”
On their way back to the dock, the team had to cut their engines and drift as a pod of orcas surrounded them, which they recorded on video. The experience left them in awe.
“Everybody was just kind of glowing and beaming,” he said. “You just feel so good about where we are in British Columbia and being members of the West Vancouver community and being able to go out and train and do the things we do. It just felt like such a such a reward.”
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