by Robin Blankenhorn
Many of you are probably asking one of
two questions right now, what is Urban Wildlife? Is it the same thing
as Pest Control? To the first question it is exactly what it sounds
like: wildlife that can be found in urban or city areas.
For the
second question, personally I would say n
o. Pest control deals with
wildlife that has become a nuisance or a pest. In this instance we
often think of raccoons or feral cats. Yet working with urban
wildlife is completely different.
As a child I thought that I never
really encountered wildlife unless I was outside of the city. As I
grew older I figured out that I had encountered wildlife everyday of
my life.
Animals that we consider to be staples of city life, yet
were never meant to live here. They have just adapted to this life
because it provides them with more protection than there natural
habitats, and, more importantly for them, food. Some examples are
squirrels, pigeons, and water fowl.
Squirrels originally lived in the trees
of forests. Hiding from owls, hawks, and other birds of prey that
would make meals out of them.
The pigeons that we see are descended
from birds called Rock Doves, and are originally from the Middle
East. While the geese, swans and ducks that we see in our parks have
found that they are protected from their natural predators at the
lakes inside our city parks.
More than that, we habituate them
towards humans by giving them food and keeping them safe.
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