Welcome back to Vancouver Island! Today I’d like to share a few of the mammals we saw on our recent trip. Bunnies may not be the most unique animal ever, but our second cottage seemed surrounded by them! We’d step out onto the deck (or drive in late in the day) and find the little critters hopping every which way. I had to laugh because the typical “bunny stance” is exactly what you see in chocolate Easter bunnies. This little guy figured he was camouflaged because he wasn’t moving… right???
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We watched this river otter having a great time sand-bathing for probably ten minutes before he noticed us and disappeared into the water. I was thankful for a good telephoto lens on my camera as we were a fair distance away. Yes, he looks like a giant mouse!
Last Week on Inspy Romance
On Monday, Kimberly Rose Johnson took us on a journey down memory lane.
On Tuesday, Jolene Navarro shared about her tribe and her hero.
On Wednesday, Alexa Verde asked, Do you judge a book by its cover? (and #giveaway)
On Thursday, Annalisa Daughety reminded us all we need is love (and…)?
On Friday, Cecelia Dowdy invited us to cake for two.
On Saturday, Autumn Macarthur wondered if it was lost in translation (and #giveaway).
Next Week on Inspy Romance
Monday: Liwen Y Ho (Judging a Book by its Cover + A Cover Reveal… and #giveaway)
Tuesday: Jackie Castle (On Dates and Dating Mishaps)
Wednesday: Brenda S Anderson (Stacy Monson’s OPEN CIRCLE – Meet Minnie and Jackson… and #giveaway)
Thursday: Valerie Comer (3 Single Dads Seek Romance… and #giveaway)
Friday: Narelle Atkins (Book Recommendation: Luna Rosa)
Saturday: Deb Kastner (Made in the Image)
Another day, we spent a while watching a sea otter hanging out in the waves, just floating along…
New Releases
June 2018
Dolce Vita: Sweet Life (A Tuscan Legacy 8) by Autumn Macarthur
La Risposta: The Answer (A Tuscan Legacy 9) by Autumn Macarthur
Restoring Faith (The Potters House Books 7) by Marion Ueckermann
May 2018
Harvest of Love (Garden Grown Romance 3) (Arcadia Valley Romance 17) by Valerie Comer
Rapsodia (A Tuscan Legacy 3) by Alexa Verde
Ti Amo: I Love You (A Tuscan Legacy 4) by Marion Ueckermann
Bella Notte: Beautiful Night (A Tuscan Legacy 6) by Heather Gray
Solo Tu: Only You (A Tuscan Legacy Book 7) by Narelle Atkins
No trip to the ocean is complete until we’ve seen Bob, the harbor seal. Yes, I’m perfectly aware that there is more than one harbor seal in the Pacific Ocean, but they’re all named Bob, because they just bob up out of the water and take a look around.
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Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
Hi Valerie, my youngest son and I LOVE otters- they are very cute! Are rabbits native to Canada? They are an introduced pest here in Australia, and have created a LOT of damage. Bilby’s are our native species that most closely resembles a rabbit.
Thanks for sharing more photos,
Blessings:)
Hi Valerie! Thanks for sharing your pictures. Otters are always fun to watch. Haven’t seen many rabbits this year, maybe because we have a dog. One year a family lived under our deck. We watch squirrels who are busy unearthing their nuts and get angry when they are interrupted by the dog or grandkids playing outside. Love to hear the squirrels yelling at us from the trees. We have had one of the wettest years on record. Flooding in February and May. Today is the fourth day of rain in a row. This week a turtle came up from the ravine and creek. He had to walk over two yards and a street before he got to our house. We watched him walk across our front yard, and then cross the street to the neighbor’s house. Our four year old granddaughter was cheering the turtle on – hoping he would get across the street before a car hit him. He made slow and steady progress. We also had a toad on our deck. God’s creations are fun to watch. Several weeks ago we had 4 deer that came up from the ravine. Thanks for the photos and fun blog. Best wishes.
That is one very well camouflaged bunny. Made me laugh .
I love bunnies!! At our old house we had protected woodland behind us and there was a bunny that lived in there. I called him Fred, and would leave him lettuce and carrots!
I miss Fred…..
Bunnies that have survived *know*that predators see _movement_, so stillness *is* invisibility. :-) Whereas, Humans see non-movement as well. He(?) does look cute, though.
Those otters do not look like giant mice! :-) Much cuter.
Hi Wemble! Rabbits are native to Canada, but in southern Vancouver Island they are an introduced pest. My son and daughter-in-law attended University of Victoria (UVic), which was, at the time, overrun with over 1300 feral rabbits. Sadly some, an unknown percentage, became residents after people got tired of having them for pets. And yes, they’re responsible for creating quite a mess! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rabbits-causing-headaches-at-uvic-1.898894
Often years go by and we don’t see any otters, but we’ve declared 2018 Year of the Otter for us! In late winter, we watched a group of four playing on the ice and dipping into the water at our local wildlife center. We were too far for photos – the binoculars just barely brought them clearly into range – but we watched them for probably fifteen minutes. They were stalked by a bald eagle. An otter would catch a fish and flip it up on the ice to eat, and the eagle would flutter over to snatch it away. Then another otter would pop up elsewhere, and the eagle would glare in that direction. It was pretty funny to watch!
Even on the trip I’m sharing photos of, we saw an otter that didn’t get its photo snapped since he was too quick for us, crossing the path and slipping into the water in mere seconds.
Speaking of turtles, our area is home to a species of western painted turtles. Hubby and I saw several just the other day! https://www.instagram.com/p/BjtUhmDgzUm/?taken-by=remocmij
So cute, isn’t he!
Fred. The wild bunnies we see will henceforth be known as Fred, as the harbor seals are all known as Bob.
So true! It was funny to see them hopping along and then f-r-e-e-z-e!
When I looked at the (forty) photos I snapped, it did remind me of a fat grainfed mouse rolling in the sand! But yes, definitely cuter.
Aw…I am honored!!
The bunny reminds me of the Tom and Jerry cartoon. Tom the cat would disguise himself as a chair or clock to hide from Jerry the mouse. I love watching river otters at the zoo. They are soooo fast and look like they’re having so much fun.
I think the zoo was the first time I saw river otters, too. My daughter was about 18 months old and we watched them for a long time by the glass. She was delighted!