Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Urban sprawl is a quiet killer.
—Mark Southerland and Scott Stranko,
Urban Herpetology
(2008)
It is not surprising that birds can handle many of the challenges of living
with people, given that they have wings to propel them and an ancient lin-
eage, including dinosaurs, as ancestors. Add the engaging personalities, l ex-
ible behaviors, and short generation times and birds are a recipe sure to
succeed in even the grittiest parts of our human-dominated world. We've seen
this success play out as a great variety of birds interact and evolve in our cities,
and especially in the outlying areas that comingle built and natural areas into
a true subirdia. But what about the other beasts whose origins are more hum-
ble and that must crawl and slither over the built and developed environment?
Do those that challenge, frighten, and threaten us, or require pure water, air,
or soil, also thrive in cities? My suburban yard has hosted black bears, coy-
otes, and bobcats, but a comparison of mammal sightings with bird lists in the
city will quickly persuade you that most mammals are less able than birds to
live among us. And while the occasional alligator lizard and garter snake in
