urbpan | (no subject)

I've written the very beginning pages and the last page of the next Urban Nature Walk zine. Now I just have to work on the middle. Here's a look at the ending:

You aren't supposed to feed wild animals, and you really shouldn't hand-feed them. Feeding animals causes them to lose their wariness of humans, which is an important survival attribute for urban animals. Food that we provide for animals is almost always bad for them-surely white bread bagels are not good for a gull's digestive system.

But people who call themselves animal lovers willingly commit this small sin of corrupting a wild creature's habits and diet. Why is it such a strong impulse?

In John McLoughlin's "The Animals Among Us," he supposes that people feed urban birds "for the solace of...feeling the whir of their wings...sensing the freedom of flight above the stinking cities that lean close around them. " Perhaps, but there's something else there. People hand-feed squirrels, who are flightless, with much the same enthusiasm as they feed birds. Unwise people have hand-fed foxes, moose, and even alligators. What I think people are reaching for, when they hold out a peanut or pizza crust, is the connection with nature that--as a species--we have lost our immediate touch with. When an animal comes so close that you can see yourself reflected in its eyes, in some very small way you are connecting with wildness itself.

Threaded | Flat

That's delightful honey.

I like it a lot!

people need to hear this regularly. we live on the edge of a forested area, and people are constantly trying to feed cat food to the racoons and peanuts to the squirrels. one of them asked me last week what opossums like to eat, so she could get some at the store. i said that's nice, but you don't need to- they've been getting it for themselves for quite some time now.
you actually can get a ticket here, for feeding the geese.

by george i think you've got it.

and to some extent - some of these creatures are no longer "wild" in the sense that their worlds, their universes, are separate from our own. it's a disconcerting thing to think of yourself and your bagel as part of that urban ecosystem niche that the birds are exploiting - even if, as you point out, the refined white flour in that bagel isn;t going to do them (or you) much good.

hi. i'm sure this is totaly random.

for lent, i've chosen to give up meat (something i've always wanted to do) for 40 days, and while I was searching for vegetarian meal ideas, my friend asked me what vegetarians eat for dinner. so i went to google, and typed in "what to vegetarians eat for thanksgiving?" and the first link was to your livejournal post.

so hi.
and thanks for the information on salad. :D