5 Stories of Wildlife Taking Over you Probably Haven't Heard Yet!
Beavers escorted out of town centres by police? Sheep just as upset about Mc donald’s closing as you are? Find them all here!
I took this photo at Richmond Park during the one-week April heatwave. The deer seemed to enjoy the lack of cars and cyclists on the road.
I have scoured the internet and bothered strangers on social media using Google Translate to bring you some of my favourite stories of animals taking over in urban areas that you probably haven’t heard yet! Deer roaming the streets of Romford and Kashmiri goats taking over a town in wales have become famous stories in the media, but what else is going on with wildlife worldwide? As animals globally breathe a sigh of relief at our sudden and unexpected absence, which wild animals are expanding their territory further than before? Find out below!
1. Fox vs. Seagull: The Ultimate Battle
These fantastic images, taken by Siobhán when she was woken by seagull squawking, depict a sneaky fox attempting to steal eggs from a seagull’s nest in Brighton. Foxes are also a natural predator of seagulls, so the bravery shown in image 3 is pretty impressive! As lockdown continues, wild animals in the UK are becoming bolder and are being observed more frequently than before.
2. Backyard Mountain Lions
Amy Kern caught these mountain lions on camera in Colorado last month. This was the second time she had spotted them in her backyard recently, and it definitely makes a change to the cute house cat that keeps showing up outside my house. Amy explained the moment she saw them:
“It was snowing heavily and we were just watching the snow come down. Suddenly a huge mountain lion stepped up onto the deck in full view, just a few feet from our glass door. We sat perfectly still and just stared eye to eye with this beautiful creature through the glass for about 15-30 seconds, and then it slowly walked away.”
3. Berlin Beaver
Image: Polizei Berlin
Image: Polizei Berlin
According to the Germany correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, this ‘beaver was strolling down the empty streets of Tegel, Germany. Policemen eventually escorted it to the local harbor’ The images were shared by the Berlin police on Twitter with a caption that needs no improvement:
‘Notice from Berlin police: a beaver spotted in the city, behaved in accordance to #coronavirus lockdown rules (moved alone) and was escorted by three cops to the lake for swimming (sport is allowed under the emergency rules).’
4. deer enjoying traffic-free richmond park
I took this video in April during the UK’s annual one week of summer. These deer are popular inhabitants of Richmond Park. Under normal conditions you usually see them sprinting across the road and darting between traffic. But, right now, they rule the whole park as cars and most cyclists are currently banned, meaning that they can enjoy leisurely strolls between areas.
5. Sheep queuing for a big maaaaac (sorry…)
Image: Andrew Thomas
This highly relatable picture of sheep outside McDonald’s was taken by Andrew Thomas in Ebbw Vale, Wales, and accurately depicts how I spend my time mourning over closed food outlets. I don’t mean to sound dramatic but if I don’t get a McNugget soon I will die.
If you’ve enjoyed these images, check out the Nature Revives Lockdown 2020 group on Facebook, co-owned by Sivan Yanir, who helped source images for this post. For more entertainment during lockdown, check out these 11 sites for free online wildlife conservation courses, these 10 places to volunteer for wildlife online, or these 9 wildlife livestream sites.