tales from the wild metropolis
Consider, if you will, the sartorial importance of tail attire. To bare, or not to bare… that is the question. The answer might seem to be of little consequence, but for marsupials living in cities and suburbs some strategically placed fur can make all the difference. That’s because naked tails make people nervous. I blame... Continue Reading →
Happiness is a shy little bird. Hiding from sight in life’s nooks and crannies, impossible to find if you look but then it darts out and lands on your shoulder just when you least expect it. It sidles up beside you like a pickpocket on a crowded street, soft and silent as wings brushing against... Continue Reading →
Add another accomplishment to my resume as official wildlife guru and animal-vehicle biologist for NPR's Car Talk—the 14th most popular radio show on the U.S. airwaves and the 6th most popular if you exclude shows that feature a some kind of shock-jock (and that, I'm sure hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi would agree, is pretty... Continue Reading →
I've never been much for following trends and this week was no exception. I'm writing from an altitude of 10,000+ feet and, as I fly west-to-east across North America on my way home from a conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, millions of birds are winging from south-to-north along time-honored sky routes. Spending time west of... Continue Reading →
Whenever I see a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) at this time of year I'm reminded of my days as Executive Director of the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, back in the late 1990s. For a few weeks every winter, the waxwings would appear by the cardboard box-full and the clinic would turn into… well, a different... Continue Reading →
How can one small voice cut through the cacophony of modern metropolitan life? A recently published study, combined with some earlier work, suggests that contrary to what you might assume, the secret to city communication isn’t shouting. Urban background noise is heavily weighted toward the lower sound frequencies of 20 to 200 Hz—think diesel engines... Continue Reading →
World War II had barely ended when researchers began to notice a major migration under way in North America, from undeveloped and agricultural areas to cities and suburbs. Now, in the early 21st Century, the urban population is over 20 times that of the early-1940s—in some places, more than 50% higher than the surrounding rural... Continue Reading →
Boy meets girl. It’s such a familiar story I probably don’t need to spell out the rest. Ah, but folks like stories to have a beginning, a middle, and an ending, don’t we? Ok, ok… so a male and a female find one another. They “meet-cute” (the classic contrivance of romantic comedies), or through the... Continue Reading →
Next-Door Nature 