This year has gone to the dogs. Well, actually, the deer, snakes and hornets, too.
It seemed as if no cage was strong enough nor any forest large enough to contain the wilds of the animal kingdom in 2007.
About 50 Newfoundlanders braved the cold and stood cheek to cheek, baring it in front of the North Atlantic. The call of the nude came from actor-director Mary Walsh for a photo shoot.. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tara Brautigam/ file
The blood-stained corridors at a Winnipeg seniors' home in October was not the brainchild of a horror-movie director but the accidental antics of a confused doe who bounded through a window, leaving a trail of blood and frightened residents as she tried to find her way back to the well-forested area outside.
In the end a police officer slowed the deer with a stun gun and herded her outside. Unfortunately, she had to be put down.
Deer crashing through windows were almost commonplace this past year.
A Regina resident was forced to entertain an uninvited breakfast guest when a deer smashed through a basement window on a June morning. Conservation officers were called and removed the dazed animal.
Instead of the messy display of shattered glass, one posh fawn checked into an Edmonton Best Western. The deer was accompanied by a man and woman who had planned on taking the gentle beast - who they had cared for since hitting it with their vehicle - to the University of Alberta's Experimental Farm.
There was also a four-legged intruder at the New Brunswick legislature press gallery in Fredericton. The young deer entered through an open door of the building on May 31.
Video captured by security cameras showed the deer crossing the lobby and briefly entering an elevator, before bolting into offices used by reporters. The animal escaped by jumping through a window.
Another deer startled Calgary shoppers by smashing through the window in a building adjacent to a supermarket. The animal was eventually subdued by a tranquilizer gun and then relocated to the northwest part of the city.
In fact, Calgary police had their fair share of wild ones this year. In addition to deer, they had to deal with an inquisitive black bear and a couple of rogue cougars.
Still, 2007 had even more wild moments.
In July, three elephants escaped from the circus north of Toronto before they were corralled.
And not all wild encounters were with animals of the Disney-cute, warm-blooded variety.
A Winnipeg woman was faced with one of her biggest fears when she entered her kitchen on a September evening to find a black and silver snake slithering along her counter into her sink. She picked it up with a tea towel and took it outside. The city's animal services removed the reptile.
For those with insect phobias, 2007 was terrifying.
In June, a deer fly in Huntsville, Ont., flew into the cab of a truck and buzzed its way behind the driver's eyeglasses.
The startled driver lost control of the vehicle and drove into a hydro pole, which left a quarter of the town in darkness.
In August, a man in Burlington, Ont., was smoking on his back porch when several bees from the home's eaves swarmed him. To drive the bees away he flicked his cigarette at them and went inside.
The lit cigarette ignited the dry material in the roof's overhang and the fire resulted in $60,000 in damage.
And judging from this year's news, it wasn't just insects or animals of the four-legged variety that made us take pause.
About a month after the Western Canadian Sasquatch Organization asked for anyone who had seen the hairy man-beast to come forward with their stories, RCMP responded to a call from a woman camping in Pinawa, about 90 kilometres east of Winnipeg.
The woman said a beast had banged on her camper window. RCMP discovered the "beast" was an 18-year-old man in a gorilla mask.
Instead of putting on a mask, some Canadians took off more than their inhibitions.
About 50 Newfoundlanders braved the cold and stood cheek to cheek, baring it in front of the North Atlantic. The call of the nude came from actor-director Mary Walsh for a photo shoot. But the thought of going starkers in -10 C was more than some could bear, so a few donned toques and boots.
Some folks chose to lose their clothes for other reasons.
A judge in New Brunswick heard testimony from people who took exception to one of their neighbours who enjoys hitting golf balls on the beach in the nude or simply sports a tiny loincloth. Continuation of the trial of the 57-year-old man accused of public nudity has been set over to next year.
One Ontario man's reason for stripping down wasn't planned. He was stopped by police for suspected drunk driving. When asked to take a breath test, the man proceeded to take out his contact lenses and eat them. He then started to eat his shirt and socks before police stopped him. He was charged with refusing to provide a breath sample.
There were those who showed their wild side in different ways.
In the spring, a Guelph, Ont., man approached six women while they were jogging and asked them to kick him in the groin, telling one that a doctor had recommend the treatment to correct a chemical imbalance. Five of the women refused, but one complied. Guelph police said the requests were comparable to indecent exposure and laid six mischief charges against the 27-year-old.
And a purveyor of pizza is thrilled with how popular his Winnipeg Porno Pizza business is doing. People - mostly women - place orders for pies that come with a pornographic image on the box underneath.
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