A rat that likes pizza, a hawk that hates drones, and a cobra with wanderlust were just a few of the animals that graced the city with their antics this year. Here's a look back at our favorite animal stories from 2015.
Sheshe The Cat Finds New Home After Being Locked Inside Candy Store
A Bed-Stuy candy store’s 40-year run on Tompkins Avenue ended on a sour note after a new landlord locked its owners out — and their pet cat inside. Luckily Sheshe was later saved and sent to a new home in Staten Island.
Prospect Park's Painting Bunting
A rainbow-colored bird that's considered as rare as a unicorn delighted birders in Prospect Park, though the beautiful show was almost ruined by a cat that was stalking the exquisite creature.
Coyotes Make Themselves at Home in NYC
After coyotes were spotted on a rooftop in Long Island City, near a church in Chelsea, and slipping through the NYPD's grasp in Riverside Park, an animal expert predicted that there will be "20 or so" coyotes in every borough within a few years.
The Return of Smoke, the Cat Who Showered With His Owner
Smoke the Cat and his owner, Jim Greene, are so close that the two sometimes shower together, so it's not surprising that Greene refused to give up his search for the missing feline after Smoke's disappearance in July. The perseverance paid off. Smoke was reunited with his shower buddy after six weeks on the street.
Hawks Attack Drone in Prospect Park
Mother Nature isn't giving up easily. A pair of red-tailed hawks attacked a drone as it flew (illegally) over Prospect Park in November. "They were really upset," a veteran bird watcher told DNAinfo New York. "They see a drone in the air, they take it as a competitive predator, like another hawk that’s coming into their territory."
911 Call Reunites Missing Snake With Family
A panicked Park Slope woman called 911 when she spotted a snake in her apartment building, but the emergency ended happily when the serpent turned out to be a pet that had been missing for eight months from a nearby family's brownstone.
Stowaway Cobra Rescued and Sent to Bronx Zoo
A poisonous cobra trying to hitch a ride to Singapore aboard a container ship was rescued by herpetologists and sent to the Bronx Zoo.
Snowy Owl Visits the Tundra of NYC
The long cold winter was brightened by some rare visitors when snowy owls, which usually make their home in the Arctic, were spotted on Governors Island for the first time in recent memory.
Eurasian Wigeons Flock to New Brooklyn Park
Sunset Park's long-awaited Bush Terminal Park finally opened, and it only took a few months for the new greenspace to become a magnet for birders eager for a glimpse of rare species such as the Eurasian wigeon.
Queens Man Wrestles Alligator Named "Jaws"
A Queens bike mechanic used a fishing rod and his bare hands to help snag an alligator that had been living in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.