The Creatures in Our Lives

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“Character is like pregnancy. It cannot be hidden forever.” – African Proverb

When we went to the Oakland Zoo this past week, they had this incredibly creative display of the animals that are native to the area. With a shout-out to the Silicon Valley vibe, they classified them as different characters.

The Influencer: I think these might be crows in my neighborhood in Seattle.

The Engineer: This nails it for the raccoons in my neighborhood.

The Creative: We have coyotes in Seattle as well and it always surprises me how they can adapt to a big city.

The Free Spirit: We have a lot of wild bunnies in our neighborhood and I think they might be our free spirits.

The Foodie: I think the foodies in Seattle might be the Sea Lion. We had a famous one named Herschel who liked to park himself next to the fish ladder to get a parade of snacks that just lined up for him.

Do you have these animals or characters like these in your neighborhood?

(all photos are mine from the Oakland zoo)

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64 thoughts on “The Creatures in Our Lives”

  1. Characters for sure, Wynne, but they aren’t as cute and thoughtful. The proper sign for one I know would read “Maniac.” Just kidding, sorry of.

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  2. I love how they introduced theses animals as characters. And they all fit, very well. Except the Foodies in our neighbourhood are our two dogs. I’m telling you, they have quite a diverse palate!

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  4. I love the concept of this and its execution; I like the animals that brachiate through the jungle: those long limbed Gibbons 🙂 we were once very good friends with a family called Gibbons: wonder where they got that name from?

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      1. Lol; love your sense of humor, Wynne: it vibes with mine ; I see Jude in the shopping centre now and then: we say hello; must ask what the kids are up to; hubby died ten years ago — heart condition —

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  6. I love all these ingenious ‘characters’ Wynne. Applying their instincts and experiences in order to survive and live amongst us. 🥰
    Many of the birds in our garden in Cheshire, UK certainly outwit Cafferty, our tuxedo cat. He’s 3 and hasn’t caught a single bird yet – thankfully. We have several bird feeders in our garden. 😀

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  7. This was so fun to read, such an interesting take on classifying animals. I’m looking at quail outside my window scurrying around, always in motion. I’d say they are the busy bodies, never at rest, or else the guardians, always one or two percent high on a fence looking for predators and shouting warnings as needed.

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  8. Crows ✓, raccoons ✓, coyotes ✓, bunnies ✓, sea lions X … our Foodies here in the Great Smoky Mountains of TN are Smoky and his friends 🐻 … but … I’d love to toss a sea lion in the creek to add a little character and liven things up a tad Wynne 😀

    Keep Looking Up ^… His Best is Yet to Come!

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  15. Fun post, Wynne! Just the other day I saw a roadrunner dart in front of my window and eat a six-inch-long lizard. Not something you get to see everyday, and I haven’t seen that bird again! I had no idea we had those around. I’m used to seeing doves and hummingbirds!

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  16. What a clever way to introduce the local animals. We have most of those except brown bears. Living next to a national forest and nature’s preserve, I feel like our wash behind the house is a freeway for wildlife. Even living down town Palm Springs we had raccoons and coyotes. Like someone mentioned above, we have our fair share of quail scurrying about. I wrote about them today. We’re still waiting for babies.

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  18. What a fun series of posters at the Zoo! I was ready for you to say you also had mountain lions in Seattle too. 🤣 But yay for the bunnies and seals instead. The urban wildlife do make our communities all the more interesting – even the ones we have to keep a closer eye on!

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  20. ‘everything I’ve ever done that’s valuable was something that I was terrified to try’ -amy chua (I found this quote and it reminded me of the focus of your new podcasts)

    now for the animals, I love what the zoo has done, that is brilliant! in michigan, I’d day the influencer is the bald eagle, because it’s back and everyone wants to be like it and looks up to it, the engineer is the beaver because they are constantly helping to rebuild our waterways, the creative is the snowshoe hare, because it loves the winter and knows how to find food even in the harshest of conditions, free spirits are the squirrels, because they are endlessly zany, crazy and fun to watch them play, and our foodies are the deer, because they will eat pretty much any vegetation, much to the dismay of many, they love a good salad, fresh from the garden!

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  24. Fun theme, Wynne. Our backyard menagerie has: foodies and creatives, our squirrels will try–and find a way to get to–anything remotely edible; free spirits, definitely our rabbits; engineers, our nest-building birds–currently there are four baby finches in a nest on our front door!

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  28. That opening quote said it all. This made me think of the animals that live in the houses along my street. There are the busybodies, the fixers, the chit-chatters, the monks, the gardeners, and influencers. It is most likely the same in every neighborhood. My heart (daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren) lives right across the street and that makes all the difference. Great post, hugs, C

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