I propose a different kind of immigration...

...because I'm all for sharing our wonderful country.

Just after our first snowstorm of the season, I was out walking the dog in a nearby forest. The day was grey; more snow was coming. The woods were quiet; even birds were hunkered down, protecting themselves in preparation for the next portion of the wintery blast. It was a very black-and-white kind of day.

Dog and I wandered down the path at the side of the hill. A few cedars and pines were the only things adding colour to the white and grey world. The previous day’s storm had blasted white snow into the tree trunks, coating the north-facing side of every tree. The woods looked striped. Like this:

It was a zebra-forest.

Yes, my mind wanders to zany places sometimes.

But really, on that day, these woods were a perfect place for a zebra to hide. In plain sight! I stood still, looking and listening for the zebras, but their hoofbeats were silent in the snow. They had mastered the art of blending in. :)

Canadian winters, especially the grey, low-cloud kind of days where I live, could be hospitable to the black-and-white equines. Canadian forests could provide perfect camouflage for zebras, whereas the green and brown African savannahs only accentuate their existence. On the plains, they stand out, becoming easy pickings for hungry lions. But here, even if there were lions around to hunt them, zebras could simply hide in plain sight. Their striped coats would render them practically invisible. Just like this:

Monochromatic Forest with Zebra

If someone knows the Zebra email address, let me know and I’ll send over an offer to sponsor them to come to Canada. Many levels of government would jump on board, I'm sure. I mean, exotic animals immigrating … just think of the press they’d get.

Three or four zebras could happily roam in the forest I was in. I don’t think the educational institution that owns the property would mind. Much. Their students could study zebra adaptations. Potential-scholars would flock to that university simply to be near the native-Canadian zebras. How cool would that be!

And the forest is beside a creek and a canal-lots of water to drink. Zebras could watch the boats go by (summer only), while munching on the grass at the park (again, less so in the winter). Extra bonus: the zebras would care for our park-- think fertilizer and grass-trimming.

What a human-zebra interaction might look like:

We’re already familiar with monochromatic animals in these parts. Black-and-white skunks are native. In fact, a few probably live in the woods already, unless the coyotes have gotten them.

I know, however, that not all black-and-white animals would thrive in Canada. Pandas, for example, need warmer weather. Besides, bamboo doesn’t grow here. White tigers would probably be happy in these woods, but the neighbours would probably object. A tiger needs more hunting area than these woods can provide, but they’d probably love the weather.

Zebras, though, just think of how they’d eat the grass and native bushes throughout all seasons. We could even launch a go-fund-me page to get money to buy hay, just in case. My town could become trend-setters.

Resettling zebras! What could go wrong with that?

<a lot. Don’t mess with nature!>