Yesterday my diva Bengal, Star, died of pancreatic cancer. I am devastated. My whole life I have had cats and yet she was the one who's had the most impact on me. She had the biggest personality, was a loud talker, and a diva. She was such a priss with her dainty little paws. She also loved me back so much. She loved to play fetch and would only play with certain types of balls. Star was very smart too, being a Bengal. I will miss her dearly. I wanted to put together a page of photos that I can return to when I want.

My beautiful Star, rest in peace.
























I like to follow viral animal 'celebrities'. Animals on Instagram and Facebook can lift your mood with a simple photo or video. Whether you like cats, dogs, raccoons, or monkeys, there is probably some animal that has a following on social media.

One of my favorites to follow is Canuck the crow. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia and became a viral sensation when he stole a knife from a crime season. He now has a huge following on Instagram and Facebook

But let's start at the beginning. When he was a fledgling, he was found by a young boy that raised him until he was able to fly. He then released him after first putting a red zip tie on his ankle so that he would be easy to recognize. Canuck is, therefore, a wild crow that is used to humans. After his release, he decided that the next door neighbor, a guy named Shawn, was going to be his human best friend. He has developed a bond with Shawn so that he greets him in the morning and as soon as he gets home for work. (Shawn is his official Instagrammer.)


Shawn @canuck_and_i
A couple of years ago there was an incident at their local McDonald's and while the police had the place roped off for collecting evidence, Canuck swooped down and stole the weapon, a knife! This made worldwide news and his local celebrity turned into global.

Over the last few years there have been more crow adventures. Canuck has been seen riding the buses and trains, stealing keys from the nearby fairgrounds, making his first nest, and attacking the postal carrier for a while until they became friends. He's also got a lady love, Cassiar, and they had their first family together, although sadly the chicks both did not survive.

Canuck has become so well known that every year there is an art showing featuring artwork by his fans. He has his own short documentary and this year he beat out Seth Rogen, Ryan Reynolds, and even Michael J. Fox in a bracket contest to become the Unofficial Ambassador for Vancouver's Metro. Makes sense. After all, Canuck actually rides the Metro.

I was determined to meet Canuck on a trip to Vancouver last month and so my friends and I went crow stalking. Luckily it's easy enough to do. First is the address of the McDonald's where the knife stealing took place. Then it was a matter of looking for Canuck's favorite landmarks and haunts. 


Our trip was not blessed with good weather, even though it was August. The first day of looking was rainy and we were out in the drizzle for an hour with no luck. The next day was not that much better, just no rain. We walked around for an hour and fed his crow friends with no luck. We still had one more day, so we decided to give up. Just as we were getting in the car (I had put my drink on the top of the car to open the door), when Canuck swooped in, landed in front of me, and said, "I hear you were looking for me! And you've got food!" We were even blessed with his gal, Cassiar!




Suddenly Canuck took off again. He had spotted Shawn and immediately flew to his friend. We talked to Shawn for a while as a posse of other crows surrounded him. He now has another he has named Junior that, a week after we were there, finally sat on his knee. Many other crows also hang out as well. Shawn is going to need to come up with more names as he continues to become the Crow Whisperer of Vancouver. 

Yes, I was in Vancouver for a mini-vacation with my friends, but I did have only one Vancouver site I needed to see. A crow named Canuck.