Nicholas Read - City Critters: Wildlife in the Urban Jungle

This book could not have been written without the knowledge, expertise and generosity of people who study and work with urban wildlife every day. Thanks to them, I was able to gain an understanding of the subject myself. But without their original research, inquisitiveness and hard work, this book would not exist. I am indebted to them. They are:

John Calambokidis , Co-founder, Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, Washington

Wayne Campbell , Bird Biologist and Former Curator of Ornithology at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, British Columbia

C. J. Casson , Curator of Life Sciences, Seattle Aquarium, Seattle, Washington

Sara Dubois , Manager of Wildlife Services, British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Vancouver, British Columbia

Stan Gehert , Associate Professor and Wildlife Extension Specialist, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Chris Harley , Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

Morgan Hocking , NSERC Post-Doctorate, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia

Darren Julian , Urban Wildlife Specialist, Arizona Department of Fish and Game, Mesa, Arizona

Amy Knowlton , Research Scientist, New England Aquarium, Boston, Massachusetts

Eric Lonsdorf , Former Director, Urban Wildlife Institute, Chicago, Illinois

Gary Luck , Assistant Professor, Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Stuart University, New South Wales, Australia

Barry Kent MacKay , Writer, Natural History Specialist, and Founding Director of Zoocheck Canada and Species Survival International, Toronto, Ontario

Seth Magle , Director, Urban Wildlife Institute, Chicago, Illinois

Julia Phillips , Adopt-a-Pond Coordinator, Toronto Zoo, Toronto, Ontario

Tom Pitchford , Wildlife Biologist, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Jacksonville, Florida

Richard Simon , Deputy Director, Urban Park Rangers, New York City, New York

Ann Spellman , Marine Mammal Biologist, Marine Mammal Section, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, St. Petersburg, Florida

Tony Young , Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida

When we think of deer, many of us picture Bambi a graceful, timid creature who nibbles delicately on forest leaves and leaps away at the first sign of danger. So it was with jaws dropped and eyes open wide that people watched a doe like Bambis mom attack a dog in the small British Columbia town of Cranbrook (search deer attacks dog on YouTube). The deer thought her fawn was being threatened, so she went after the dog with hooves flying, kicking and stomping him in a way youd expect to see in a WWE wrestling ring, not a small-town side street. Fortunately, the dog, who was pretty old and frail, wasnt hurt, but people were shocked. Viewers just couldnt get over seeing a deer, an animal they picture one way, behaving so outrageously in another. No wonder the video went viral, getting almost three million hits.

Despite their size, moose have much to fear from people, especially people behind the wheel of a car.
LAURA COX

Shortly after, a newspaper carrier in the same town complained of being head-butted by another deer. I was just lucky it was the head because their hooves are so sharp, Brock James said afterward. He suffered a gash in his chin that required eight stitches to close. The following year in Langley, a suburb of Vancouver, a mother doe protecting her fawn stomped on an elderly dog and broke her back. The dog had to be put down.

Deer have become so numerous in some urban areas that citizens want them culled. Its a controversial business, to say the least.
THEA HAUBRICH

All over the United States and Canada, white-tailed deer, once known best as the endearing stars of that classic 1942 Disney cartoon, are becoming targets of city dwellers fed up with seeing their gardens browsed to bits. In some US states, the problem is considered serious enough for lawmakers to permit hunting of urban deer with rifles and crossbows. In Canada, such control measures are usually left to government. Regardless, its an issue, with more and more people thinking about deer in a way they never have beforebecause deer are going places theyve never gone before.

The presence of black bears on urban streets depends largely on how much food there is for them in the wilderness. If there isnt enough, theyll look for it elsewhere.
TOM BOPPART

What happened? As mentioned in the Introduction, its a question of space: ours and theirs. As cities grow bigger and more sprawling, wilderness areas get smaller and more limited, so whats a doe, buck or fawn to do except go for those petunias in your flower bed? After all, the deer dont know they were cultivated specially to decorate that dead space between the front path and the window box. To deer theyre just food. We shouldnt blame them, but we do. So when deer like the ones in Cranbrook and Langley get frightened and defend their offspring in the same way they would in the wild, we freak. We demand that something be done, and, chances are, whatever that something is will be bad for the deer.

Such is the curious relationship we have with large urban mammals. We may like the idea of deer, moose, bears, cougars, bobcats and coyotes roaming the hills around the cities where we live. Knowing theyre there gives us a connection to nature that city living undercuts. But once they move out of those hills and into our neighborhoods, we think differently. On one hand, its kind of cool to see a deer or bear so close to where we live. After all, theyre not supposed to be there, and a lot of us have a soft spot for rule breakers. But on the other hand, they really are not supposed to be there, and sometimes they cause trouble. Deer destroy gardens. Bears, moose and large cats can hurt people and damage property, and coyotes hunt our beloved cats and dogs. So when you look at it that way, the idea of living so close to nature isnt quite so appealing.

Mammals on the fringe

Three medium-sized mammals seen inside urban borders from time to time are beavers, mink and foxes. But unlike coyotes, skunks or raccoons, beavers, mink and foxes never parade down city streets or poke their noses in city gardens. If theyre found in cities, its usually because of an urban park system big and natural enough to meet their special needs. Beavers require trees and ponds to livetrees to cut down and ponds in which to build lodges. And its the rare urban park thats prepared to suffer that kind of damage. Mink require freshwater swamps, known as , to survive. But wetlands are among the most endangered habitats in the world, especially in cities. So if theres no mink habitat, there are no mink.

Urban fox territories include golf courses, parks and some suburban areas, as long as the houses are spread out and there arent too many people. In Europe urban foxes are everywhere. In Great Britain theyre as common as pubs. But in North America urban living isnt the lure for foxes that it is there.