During my time in Vancouver, I traveled through everything the city had to offer, including downtown, universities, and the mountains. It became more and more clear as the days went by, that there was a clear difference between Vancouver and Tokyo on animals found and how they were cared for.

Dogs
When we were cycling through downtown, or when we were going to a bus station during the morning, I noticed the large number of dogs being walked by their owners. In Japan, I would have only seen a dog in public around my apartment, as they are the only pet-welcome apartments in the area.
The sizes of these dogs were different as well. In Japan, the lack of wide houses makes it very hard for owners to keep a larger species of dogs, such as golden retrievers. In Vancouver though, the residential areas are occupied mostly by houses, not apartments. It was common to see people with ginormous dogs that literally looked like a wolf or a bear!

Crows
Crows are seen in Japan and in Vancouver. They live in the city as much as they do in Vancouver and Tokyo. So why are they on this list? Because they’re so small! They’re probably smaller than pigeons in Japan! They behave the same, but it’s funny to see an unusually small crow.
Apparently, there is a bird very similar to the crows in Japan. In fact, Japanese crows are more closely related to them compared to the Canadian crows.
The bird I’m talking about, are Ravens.🐦‍⬛They are pretty rare in Vancouver, and lives mostly in the mountains. Fortunately during my stay in Vancouver, I managed to spot a few of them in the city, and while hiking. They looked a lot like the crows I’m used to, but just sounded a little different. Their cries were lower, and it made them sound much more vicious. I get why people like Ravens.

Seagull
Since Vancouver is a coastal city, seagulls populated the area. They were very common, probably more Seagulls lived in Vancouver than Pigeons do. They behaved just like a pigeon though. Always greedy with food, annoying us during our outside meals, and they being quite big bothered a lot of people.
“I thought seagulls only stayed in the ocean!” Was my first thought on them. Though Vancouver was very close to the sea, the residential area was more in-land. It surprised me how many seagulls actually left the ocean and stayed in land, and have a pigeon’s lifestyle.

Squirrel
I saw squirrels pretty much everywhere in Vancouver. Since there is so much more vegetation in Vancouver than in Tokyo (mentioned in previous blog posts), wild squirrels are capable of thriving in the city. They were common especially in the residential areas where tall trees and fruit-rich bushes grow. We even spotted one which seemed to have no fear of humans! They must be really used to us.
Not just in the city, we saw them in the mountains. They seemed to be a different breed than the ones found in the city. They were smaller and more cute looking.

Seals
I never expected to see a seal during my stay in Vancouver. I thought seals lived in really cold oceans, like the Russian and Iceland’s. Well I guess they sometimes take a little trip to Vancouver every so often, because I saw them about 4 times during my stay. I’ve only got one photo of it, the other 3 occasions were when I was on a Kayak, so I couldn’t pull out my phone fast enough.
I think this was my first time seeing a completely wild Seal. They were really cute, even when I only saw their face pop out in the middle of the sea.

Conclusion

Vancouver’s environment is very different from the one in Tokyo. Higher latitude means colder climate, and geological location being near the ocean made the animals here dissimilar than the ones found in Tokyo. Nevertheless, I think they were a good find, and a good experience.