Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
order of magnitude more animals than we run over with our cars each year.
And it is mostly a dif erent set of animals that cats eat; Fluf y doesn't eat
many deer or salamanders, but she really tears up the mice, birds, and small
reptiles.
Some herpetologists call urban sprawl the silent killer. Many of its victims are
indeed extinguished without notice. To me, however, the city kills with a
meow and a squealing of brakes. These sounds are growing, leading city
people into small actions that may produce big benei ts for the animals that
seem capable, yet unable to live in subirdia.
Residents concerned about migrating salamanders shut down Beekman
Road, a suburban street in East Brunswick, New Jersey, on February 27,
2013. They do so each spring to give male spotted salamanders safe passage
from their upland wintering areas to their breeding ponds. Without their ac-
tions, the road would be slick with dead salamanders, and a local treasure
would be lost. In cities throughout Europe other citizens are building “toad
tunnels” and drift fences to funnel amphibians safely under highways. Else-
where, signs warn motorists to break for hedgehogs, newts, and all manner
of mammal. New streetlights no longer emit bright, multispectral mercury
vapor that disrupts animal movements. Owners of swimming pools are also
pitching in on behalf of urban wildlife. Pools attract many amphibians that
cannot escape the steep-sided, chlorinated water. Pool covers, chlorine-free
sanitizers, and “frog logs”—l oating mats attached to small, frog-sized exit
ramps—are reducing the deadly nature of spas and pools. We are capable of
much more.
Subirdia is alive with a great variety of plants and animals. Our actions
challenge many, but we live with much more than rats, mice, pigeons, and
roaches. The other species include not only the terrifying or pesky. Many
