Zoology 101
The long awaited post about Israeli wildlife is finally here! I'm going to start things off small and work my way to the larger species, which also happens to correspond to most and least prevalent creatures/animals!
Creepy-Crawly
As I briefly mentioned above, the small, creepy-crawly critters are the more prevalent species we've seen while in Israel. The doctor posits that this is because Israel is so hot for such a long period of time, and hot temperatures are where these kinds of things flourish. Lets get into some specifics, without any pictures - you're welcome.
Inside of our apartment we have seen a wide assortment of many-legged bugs, including spiders, silver fish, large grasshoppers, centipede, ear wig, and even a beetle. I have no idea how these are all getting in since we never open the windows! Try as we may to keep them out, they keep finding their way inside, and then into the garbage bin or the toilet - nobody needs that kind of negativity in their life. Bye-bye!
The things we've seen in and around the apartment building get even scarier: mega spiders with a body the size of your thumb, giant otherworldly cockroaches that look more like the Madagascar hissing ones than the small ones I've seen in Canada, a terrifying praying mantis, and a snake that the doctor thinks is cute and wanted to take home - I think it's cute how he thinks that's a thing I'd ever allow.
With the small and numerous out of the way, let's move on to some bigger (and scarier?) animals.
Birds
Birds here in Israel are the same as in Canada, and yet very different. The two most common types of birds that I've seen are pigeons and crows, but these are not your normal Canadian pigeon and crows, no, these are strange alternate universe ones. Let me explain.
In Toronto, pigeons are a very normal site to see. They are all over the city and are well fed from the various amount of garbage that winds up on the streets of this highly populated city. As a result, they are quite large. In contrast, the pigeons in Haifa are teeny tiny little things that look almost cute - almost (Those of you that know me well know that I have an extreme phobia of birds and flying things likely from watching Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds at a too young age, if there ever is an appropriate age to watch such a horrifying film). There are also colour differences, as evidenced by the picture below.
The complete opposite can be said about crows. In Canada, they are not seen too often, and are small dark birds. In Haifa, they are extremely common, enormous, and have a dark grey colouring.
Cats
Cats are extremely prevalent in Haifa, but not really as pets. Everywhere you look at any given time, there are at least 2 stray cats within a 5 meter radius of you, and sometimes many, many more. Here is a picture of 4 cats close to a 24 convenience shop on a busy street near where we do our grocery shopping. Below, there are 3 cats near a highly populated children's park.
These are only a few examples of just how prevalent stray cats are. Unlike from what I've seen in Europe, stray dogs are not really a thing in Haifa, but I have seen lots of dogs as pets which makes me miss the cutiepatootie puppers I love back in Canada.
Everything Else
On the hiking trip we did with some friends (that I posted about here), we saw many four legged friends in and around one of the parks we went to. It's a bit hard to see in the pictures, but the doctor was completely enamored with the cows we saw. We also saw some sheep and horses in a nearby field which I didn't get a chance to get a picture of.
Hopefully this post was worth the wait! Until next time!
Creepy-Crawly
As I briefly mentioned above, the small, creepy-crawly critters are the more prevalent species we've seen while in Israel. The doctor posits that this is because Israel is so hot for such a long period of time, and hot temperatures are where these kinds of things flourish. Lets get into some specifics, without any pictures - you're welcome.
Inside of our apartment we have seen a wide assortment of many-legged bugs, including spiders, silver fish, large grasshoppers, centipede, ear wig, and even a beetle. I have no idea how these are all getting in since we never open the windows! Try as we may to keep them out, they keep finding their way inside, and then into the garbage bin or the toilet - nobody needs that kind of negativity in their life. Bye-bye!
The things we've seen in and around the apartment building get even scarier: mega spiders with a body the size of your thumb, giant otherworldly cockroaches that look more like the Madagascar hissing ones than the small ones I've seen in Canada, a terrifying praying mantis, and a snake that the doctor thinks is cute and wanted to take home - I think it's cute how he thinks that's a thing I'd ever allow.
With the small and numerous out of the way, let's move on to some bigger (and scarier?) animals.
Birds
Birds here in Israel are the same as in Canada, and yet very different. The two most common types of birds that I've seen are pigeons and crows, but these are not your normal Canadian pigeon and crows, no, these are strange alternate universe ones. Let me explain.
In Toronto, pigeons are a very normal site to see. They are all over the city and are well fed from the various amount of garbage that winds up on the streets of this highly populated city. As a result, they are quite large. In contrast, the pigeons in Haifa are teeny tiny little things that look almost cute - almost (Those of you that know me well know that I have an extreme phobia of birds and flying things likely from watching Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds at a too young age, if there ever is an appropriate age to watch such a horrifying film). There are also colour differences, as evidenced by the picture below.
The complete opposite can be said about crows. In Canada, they are not seen too often, and are small dark birds. In Haifa, they are extremely common, enormous, and have a dark grey colouring.
Cats
Cats are extremely prevalent in Haifa, but not really as pets. Everywhere you look at any given time, there are at least 2 stray cats within a 5 meter radius of you, and sometimes many, many more. Here is a picture of 4 cats close to a 24 convenience shop on a busy street near where we do our grocery shopping. Below, there are 3 cats near a highly populated children's park.
These are only a few examples of just how prevalent stray cats are. Unlike from what I've seen in Europe, stray dogs are not really a thing in Haifa, but I have seen lots of dogs as pets which makes me miss the cutiepatootie puppers I love back in Canada.
Everything Else
On the hiking trip we did with some friends (that I posted about here), we saw many four legged friends in and around one of the parks we went to. It's a bit hard to see in the pictures, but the doctor was completely enamored with the cows we saw. We also saw some sheep and horses in a nearby field which I didn't get a chance to get a picture of.
Hopefully this post was worth the wait! Until next time!
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