One cultural shock I didn’t prepare for as a newcomer in Canada is this.

Animals that naturally live in the bush back in Africa? They live comfortably among humans here without fear. 😄

When we lived in Toronto, raccoons were our regular “night visitors.”

The house we lived in didn’t have a garage, so we kept our garbage bins outside. These raccoons? They really dealt with us.😂 Every single morning we woke up to scattered trash like they hosted a midnight party. We would rearrange and tidy up before starting the day.

Fast forward to moving to our house in a new city, problem solved, right?
Now everything is locked safely inside the garage.

But guess what?
New city, new animals. 😅
Last year it was groundhog. This year? It’s a skunk.

We suspected something was around but couldn’t tell what it was until our neighbour mentioned he had been seeing a skunk and advised us to be careful.

I have never seen a skunk in my life before coming to Canada. Now I get scared going outside at night. 😩

Sometimes I laugh and remind myself: this is part of the immigrant experience nobody tells you about.

Back home, you worry about mosquitoes.
Here, you worry about raccoons, groundhog, and skunks. 😂

I know we can’t be the only ones dealing with this. How do you cope? How do you handle wildlife around your home?

Drop your experience in the comments. Let’s learn from each other.
#NewcomerLife #LifeInCanada #ImmigrantExperience #AfricanInCanada #CanadaLiving