Montreal isn’t particularly well-known for its wildlife. A lot of people think there are just a few stray cats walking around in its darkest back streets, and rats in dumpsters if you find yourself behind Chinese restaurants…

That is not true at all… People just overlook the obvious presence of bigger predators luring about the streets, particularly at night. I say predators, but not in a big bad bold blood seeking animals kind of way. Don’t go Googling about horrible deaths in Hochelaga neighbourhood, you would be disappointed.

No, I’m talking about foxes and bears, but if you’ve been in Montreal already, there is a good chance you didn’t get to see them. Because they are few, and they hide well…

Since I work late at night, I end up walking in the streets at times most people would rather just stay home. I see things people don’t see, and I encounter creatures people don’t normally encounter.

The foxes are sneaky little creatures… I say the foxes, but I can only talk about one, and that’s already quite something. I heard there was a pack somewhere in town, for you know, foxes’ gathering and doing foxes’ things.  I often wonder what it would be like to attend a foxes’ GT. For now, I think it would be too intense to see all that golden fur altogether and all those pointy noses turning my way as I got to their foxes’ annual nibbling of whatever foxes eat.

No, I have only one little fox running around my neighbourhood. He is funny to watch, strolling around, always looking like a bouncing critter in the snow. From time to time, he comes by, sits in front of my apartment window, and we play some kind of staring game. He keeps a steady, calm and confident look, holds its grey eyes gaze until he has a fox’s reason to leave… No one knows where he comes from, no one knows where he trots back to…

And every time, he sits just one step closer to the stairs. I don’t know what I’ll do if he one day makes it to the balcony…

Bears on the other hand are more difficult to catch. I know we have one somewhere. But with all the white fur, it hides easily and blends right into the snow. And snow is something we have enough of to let all the polar bears hiding here in Quebec. What do I know, maybe there’s just a little snow outside, covering tens and tens of bears ready to grab your ankle as you pass on the side-walk…

I haven’t seen it for sure, but I have heard its call many times. Polar bears have a mermaid-like growl, and not many people are aware of that. When you hear the Polar bear’s call, you are doomed. It freezes you instantly, leaving you at the mercy of the beast… Needless to say they could be terribly dangerous if they ate people! But PB are playful animals that benumb you, and get just close enough you KNOW it is right there, hiding in the snowy swirls, its breath almost on your neck. (Impossible to prove because of the big wool scarf) It gives you goosebumps, smiles in a content Polar bear way, and withdraws in the night…

Why do I stay there, surrounded by such wild creatures, you might wonder?

Well, to this day, I haven’t been bitten…