I live across the street from the Georgia Walsh playground, on the Rumsey Road side. We live in an ’80s style home with the kitchen in front. Over morning coffee, we get to see Leaside wake up, both animals and humans.
On the animal side we see foxes running down the street, bunnies hopping across the driveway, and of course, the ubiquitous raccoons.
Always raccoons. There is a big maple tree near the splash pad which is home to a family of raccoons. Around 7:30 a.m. we see the mom slowly climb down from her sleeping quarters, babies following behind her. They cross Rumsey and scamper down our alleyway to the trees in our backyard where they spend the day. I guess the park is too busy for them?
Around 8:30 a.m. I go out to do my street litter cleanup and throw the spoils in the park litter bins. Imagine my surprise when one day I heard a hissing sound after depositing my assortment of rubbish. Curious, I opened the lid and looking down I was met by the sweet face of a baby raccoon. Somehow it had found its way in, but there was no way to find its way out. Lots of good stuff to eat in a park garbage can, especially ours!
What to do? I tried to tip the bin, however it was chained to a post so that was not an option. Next step was to call 311 and have them refer the situation to Animal Services. I received a call about 30 minutes later saying they were slammed with a backlog of 20 injured animal calls. Together we came up with a plan that I would put a board in the bin which would enable the raccoon to crawl out. So off I went, board in hand, placed it in the bin, and went out to run errands. Thankfully, when I returned, the baby was gone. According to Animal Services, this happens all the time. I’m not sure what the solution is. Over to you, City of Toronto.
On the human side, we see dog walkers, kids walking to school, and adults walking to the bus stop. We also see neighbours, and people in cars stopping to deposit their household garbage in the park bins. There is nothing more gross or annoying than walking by a bin that is overflowing with someone’s discarded possessions, or see them lying on the ground because they wouldn’t fit in the bin. I often call 311 but really, I don’t want the job. If you choose to use park bins for your personal use, which is against the law by the way, and you cause it to overflow, please call 311 and report an overflowing bin. Unfortunately, the City does not publish a park garbage schedule, and pickup is weekly, so it could be sitting around for quite a while. Bottom line: we don’t want to look at your discards.
Yes, there is more in the Trace Manes garbage bins than park garbage. One never knows what surprises a walk around the park will bring. Try it!
