For my first 8 months in Toronto, I lived with some friends in the upper two floors of a house in “Little Portugal” (near Dufferin station). It was a great place, we didn’t have access to the yard, but we did have an awesome balcony with a nice view. We also had another squirrel invader. At the back of the house, there was an un-insulated “cold-room” on the second floor. Outside, there was a hole in the side of the house, in which this particular squirrel decided to nest. At first, we just heard the scratching (which drove the cat nuts). Then, one day, the squirrel started to come through:

At first it didn’t seem so bad. We figured it would hear us (and smell the cat), realize it was coming through the ceiling into scary human-land, and stop digging. At least, that was the story I told my roommate, because she was slightly paranoid about waking up one morning and finding a rabid squirrel loose in the house. (I have to admit, I did start locking my bedroom door closed - just in case…). But this squirrel wasn’t going to be deterred by a vicious, hungry cat, and things quickly escalated:

At first, the landlord figured a few strips of packing tape would do the trick. I tried to point out that this was an inferior approach, and duct tape would be far more effective. But in the end, no tape-based solution was going to keep that squirrel out. We were forced to abandon the cold-room and retreat back to the kitchen, barricading the door at all times (except when we had to get stuff out of the refrigerator). Although guilt was felt (by some), we requested an exterminator. The landlord was a bit squeamish about that, though, so instead she just had the hole patched over. The squirrel lost it’s nest and probably froze to death. And the cycle of life continues…

Toronto has lots of weird public service advertisements, like this one I saw on a full-size billboard in the subway (below-left). Maybe it’s only been since the SARS thing, but there seems to be a general paranoia about GERMS. Every bathroom at the university has signs explaining secret hand-washing techniques that will prevent you from leaving behind any GERMS. Secret techniques like “wiping down everything you might have touched with a huge wad of paper towel”. (I guess when it comes to GERMS vs Environment, GERMS win). I would not be surprised to learn that there is a number you can call if you accidentally contaminate something with your GERMS, to have a biohazard clean-up team dispatched immediately. Although, I guess Alberta does have the rat patrol. I wonder what weird neuroses other provinces have.

Also, fighting meats:

Finally, just in case you are ever having some trouble classifying different types of wood, the IKEA in Etobicoke has your back:

Posted October 2nd, 2007 at 5:07 am. Filed under photos, rambling.
[rss] [comment] [trackback].