| In recent years reports of wild animals in unusual | | | | the first British colonists arrived in the seventeenth |
| locations have become quite common. Packs of | | | | century, the East Coast was one huge tract of virgin |
| coyotes prowling the hills outside (and inside) of Los | | | | forest. Bison and elk lived on the East Coast, though |
| Angeles encourage people to build tall walls or fences | | | | they were smaller versions of their western cousins. |
| around their homes. In the eastern part of the United | | | | The colonists soon cleared away the forest for farms, |
| States, homeowners often spot deer on their | | | | homesteads, and the burgeoning timber business. |
| suburban lawns. | | | | Trappers went into the forest to harvest animals' furs. |
| Twenty years ago, sightings of wild animals generally | | | | Now, there are only a few hidden pockets of virgin |
| occurred in environmentally appropriate areas. When I | | | | forest. The wildlife that depended on such areas is |
| was growing up in the late/mid twentieth century, the | | | | mostly gone. America has created several extinctions |
| sight of a fox or deer was a thrill to be related with | | | | including the end of the famous passenger pigeon. |
| great excitement. Nowadays, the deer wander behind | | | | Flocks of passenger pigeons were once so huge, they |
| shopping centers and garden shops on the outskirts of | | | | darkened the sky with their passing. Despite the huge |
| cities sell deer repellent. | | | | numbers of the pigeons, not one is left today. They |
| Why are these wild animals invading highly populated | | | | were hunted into oblivion. |
| regions? The answer is simple. The building boom of | | | | In the American south, the Ivory Bill woodpecker lived in |
| the 1980's and 1990's ate into outlying areas, creating | | | | hardwood bottomland and cypress swamps. But after |
| vast tracks of housing developments in rural areas. | | | | the Civil War, timber companies invaded, creating more |
| The people who moved into the new houses needed | | | | devastation than the war did. Southern hardwood |
| schools, hospitals, and shopping centers so even more | | | | forests disappeared at an alarming rate. By the early |
| land was paved over. Animals with survival skills | | | | part of the twentieth century, the Ivory Bill was an |
| learned to live with people, roads, and populated | | | | increasingly rare sight. Trophy hunters shot occasional |
| locations. They adapted to their new surroundings. | | | | Ivory Bills, just to prove they were still around. As |
| As rural areas filled with bulldozers and noisy | | | | sightings decreased, and decades passed, the Ivory Bill |
| construction equipment, some of the wild animals fled | | | | woodpecker was assumed to be extinct, doomed by |
| the disruption. They moved towards the cities, traveling | | | | habitat loss. |
| along the green, wooded paths near highways. Once | | | | The American bison is a familiar emblem of the United |
| in the suburbs, they found some sheltering trees and | | | | States of America. Bisons have been depicted on |
| shrubbery. Food was available. Deer located gardens. | | | | coins, and they dwell in our minds as symbols of |
| Foxes dined on rats, mice, and the occasional rabbit. | | | | American wildlife, and stand as the signature animal of |
| Hawks trolled back yards in search of bird feeders or | | | | the great American prairie. But, the American bison |
| hung out near the highways looking for unwary mice | | | | was dragged to the brink of extinction by hunting. |
| or rats. | | | | Buffalo killing trips were conducted from train windows, |
| Obviously, some incursion of wildlife has been helpful to | | | | and the bison were shot as the trains passed, their |
| suburban regions. The hawks, owls, and fox feed on | | | | bodies left to rot on the plains. |
| vermin. Their food preferences are good for the | | | | America has done a lot of damage to wildlife in its |
| neighborhood. But once those beautiful deer start | | | | short history. The wild things that lately invade the |
| munching on the azaleas, they are no longer so | | | | suburbs display a wonderful ability to adapt to unlikely |
| appealing. | | | | surroundings. So, the next time you see something |
| Coyotes, in the west as well as the eastern coyotes | | | | unusual, something a bit different, not quite a dog, and |
| that have increased their range greatly, consume | | | | you wonder what you are looking at - maybe it is a |
| vermin, but will gobble up the family cat or a small dog. | | | | wild animal, a bear, a coyote, or a fox right out there in |
| The loss of habitat in America is an old story. When | | | | your own back yard. |