A girl-grabbing sea lion, a pink horse and a blob: B.C.'s best animal stories

When it comes to B.C. animal stories in the news, you would be hard-pressed to make up better fiction.

In 2017, a sea lion grabbed a girl by the dress and pulled her into the ocean, a teenagerpainted his family's horse pink and then there was a mysterious blob in Stanley Park.

These stories, and othersgrabbed headlines here in B.C. and even across the globe as peoplecouldn'tseem to get enough of tales from the natural world.

'We're part of it'

"People are realizing more and more now that we're not separate from this thing called nature, that we're a part of it," said Celina Starnes, an ecologist with the Stanley Park Ecology Society.

Her job is to help people seek out wild experiences in Vancouver, particularly Stanley Park where, despite being right in the middle of a busy metropolis there are otters, beavers, coyotes and even flying squirrels.

"I think people have the opportunity to see themselves in a diverse world, in a world that still has a bit of mystery, still has a bit of wonder," said Starnes.

But as this past year showed, sometimes the wildlife comes to you.

The sea lion and the girl

In May,Simon Fraser Universitystudent Michael Fujiwara filmed the interaction between a sea lion and a girl on the docks in Steveston. Itended with the animal grabbing the girlby the dress and dragging her into the water.

The video was shared across the globe and prompteddebate abouthow best to interact with animals that are curious and perhaps accustomedto being fed by humans.

• Sea lion drags girl into water off Steveston dock in Richmond, B.C.

Starnes says it's natural for humans to want to feed or even try to help animals who they think need it. However, she says it's often best to keep wildlife wild.

"A lot of time these peoples' hearts go out to these animals, they want to maybe feed them or shelter them somehow," she said.

"But the best way to keep these furry friends or feathered friends is to let them find their own food, let them find their own shelter."

Antler hammock

An animal that seemed to truly need the help of humans, however, was Hammy, a deer in Prince Rupert that got itsantlers caught in a backyard hammock in August.

Police managed to free it from the purple fabric, but a portion of the material remained.

It took several days in November for conservation officers to catch up with the animal to remove the rest. Theyworried the fabric would affect the deer's ability to lock antlers with other males during rutting season.

During the months when Hammy was adorned with the purple fabric, T-shirts were made in itshonour, people dressed as the deerfor Halloween, and itsstory was chronicled on Facebook.

• B.C. deer makes international headlines after getting purple hammock stuck on antlers

The pink horse

There wasn't a lot of levity during B.C.'s record-setting wildfire season, but what there was came from Rosy, a horse in the Interior,who was painted entirely pink by a 15-year-old boy.

His mother had asked him to paint a phone number on the white and brown mare in case flames came close to the hobby farm in Likely, B.C. If the animal needed to be released, the idea was that the phone number could lead to its return.

However, the teen misunderstood and painted the entire horse pink. The family said the horse didn't seem to mind.

• Rosy pink: Mistakenly painted horse brings levity to B.C. wildfire fight

The Stanley Park blob

As the hot summer dragged on, the water level in Vancouver's Lost Lagoon dropped, exposing a creature from its depths.

Described as similar to week-old Jell-O by Starnes, the mysterious gloopy blob was actually Pectinatella magnifica or bryozoan, whichhas been around for ages.

Each colony is made up of tiny animals that are genetic clones of each other, and secrete a goo that binds them together, sometimes around a branch or rock.

• What the heck is that slimy goop in Stanley Park's Lost Lagoon?

Dogs save dog walker

Then came the story of a dog walker stranded in the wilderness for three days after she wasinjured in a fall.

Annette Poitrasand three dogs managed to survive by hunkering down in heavy forest on Coquitlam'sBurke Mountain.

The 56-year-old credited the dogs with helping her stay alive by barking so that searcherscould locate them.

"I love them, I love them, I just love dogs," she said upon being released from hospital on Nov. 28.

• Dogs help dog walker survive three days injured in wilderness

Rescued dog walker, Annette Poitras, thankful to be alive

7 years ago

Duration 0:48

Annette Poitras is overwhelmed with emotion after being released from hospital