Living With Urban Wildlife
Hundreds of different species of animals coexist in the hillsides and open fields of our communities. As we bulldoze and cement these areas to make room for more homes and bigger roads, animals of all types - skunks, raccoons, opossums, feral cats, mice, foxes, gophers, lizards, and dozens more - are displaced and involuntarily forced to live among us. As a result, animals must find their meals in our garbage cans, raise their litters in our backyards, and mate outside our windows while we are trying to sleep.
As they spill over into our neighborhoods in search of food, frightened by cars and dazed by lights, they end up in our yards and basements where, out of fear and ignorance or for the sake of convenience, we have them trapped and killed, or lay out poisons. It is a tragic story of blaming the victims. It is time we lived peacefully with this new wave of urban immigrants. With a little patience, a good dose of compassion, old-fashioned common sense, and a few simple and non-lethal tricks, you will be able to keep your garden intact, the garbage lid on, and get a good night's sleep.
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