College Ward gets WildWise

With warmer weather around the corner, the wildlife residents in our city are beginning to wake up and make their presence known! While we are lucky in Ottawa to have so much green space and many forested areas, this does mean we can occasionally have clashes between humans, pets, and wildlife in our neighbourhoods. With increasingly warm winters, we are interacting with wildlife more than ever before and it’s important that we all do what we can to cohabitate peacefully. We want to empower everyone to enjoy the outdoors safely!

You are invited to join us to help kick-off our first annual College Ward gets WildWise informational campaign! This event is taking place April 6^th at 10:30am at Bell High School, located on 40 Cassidy Road. We will be featuring a talk about urban wildlife from beloved local naturalist and Carleton University Professor Michael Runtz. There will be an opportunity to meet Professor Runtz after his talk, as well as to purchase his books and merchandise.

“Most people think of wildlife as living in the wilderness, far removed from cities. Yet, cities harbour their own special fauna, with some species looked upon less favourably than others. In this highly visual presentation, Michael Runtz will explore the world of urban wildlife, focusing on controversial animals such as Eastern Coyotes.”

This event will feature additional take-home resources and activities about how to navigate urban wildlife interactions - for both adults and kids alike! We want to be sure you can be proactive in reducing encounters, as well as ways to be safe when you run into members of our wildlife community. All are welcome to attend this free event!