Dogs and Bears and Pigeons, Oh My!

• Dogs - huge surprise when we got home from shopping on Friday, Mum had gone over and taken the dogs out to potty! We were stuck in Victoria because of an accident on the Malahat, so she took the boys out not only to pee but for a long walk around the yard. It's surprising because she is not a dog person, although she does like Cuinn and Darwin.
  


• Bears - Selena and Mum have seen a juvenile black bear twice this week. Both times they only saw his (?) rear as he headed for the hills, but it's enough for me to keep wandering Iolaus cat in at night. We also picked up a bear bell while we where in Victoria.
  


• Pigeons - Niko acquired a pigeon yesterday. It turned up outside my ex's place near Victoria on Friday morning. He discovered it pecking his sliding door and when he opened the door it came in the house. It is banded so he checked with his neighbours, they phoned around and found the owner. Turns out this kid got "tired of feeding it" so he let it go. \\Grrr\\ My ex phoned to see it we wanted to take it, Niko being a small animal fan said yes and now we have a pigeon in our chicken coop (no chickens).
  
  We're now keeping an eye out for one or two more to keep it company. It's a beautiful black and white bird, fairly tame and friendly - Niko thinks it might be a nun pigeon. I say "it" because we haven't figured out it's male or female. Anyone know how to sex a bird?