INTRODUCTION THE BEAR IN THE BACKYARD I LIVE IN SOMERVILLE MASSACHUSETTS ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BOSTON IN THIS CITY OF SEVENTY FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE THE HOUSES ARE PACKED TIGHTLY TOGETHER BUT NOT TOO TIGHT FOR WILDLIFE My backyard has been visited by raccoons opossums woodchucks rabbits bats hawks snakes and skunks A coyote has walked the former railroad bed that runs behind our house So far no bears But on May 26 2012 about two hours from my home a young black bear was spotted in Provincetown on Cape Cod By June the bear was a celebrity with many local sightings in cranberry bogs and on a golf course People across New England and across the country followed the bears exploits on YouTube and Twitter On June 12 the Massachusetts Environmental Police darted the bear and transported it off the Cape But that wasn't the end of the bears story Two weeks after his Cape Cod vacation the bear was back this time in a suburb of Boston The states Large Animal Response Team found the bear up a tree in the wealthy neighborhood of Chestnut Hill For the second time in two weeks the young male was darted This time he was released in the western part of the state For many New Englanders the Cape Cod bear came to symbolize the problem of urban wildlife a wild animal that strays out of the wild into human suburbs and cities We are asking ourselves What is bringing these creatures out of the wild and into our paved over glassed in and built up human habitats our concrete jungles And once here why do they stay What does it mean to be urban or wild in the twenty first century In the chapters that follow we will visit city sidewalks and suburban backyards the world over to find out
BLACK BEAR FACTS Despite their common name black bears can be brown cinnamon or blond In Alaska they even have cream or blue gray coats While they mostly eat roots berries and insects black bears quickly acquire a taste for human food Using their powerful claws like can openers they can even get into locked vehicles SCIENTIFIC NAME Ursus americanus ALSO KNOWN AS American black bear RELATED TO The black bear shares its genus Ursus with the brown or grizzly bear and the polar bear SIZE Males range from 55 to 79 inches 14 to 2 meters long and weigh from 110 to more than 800 pounds about 50 to 400 kilograms Females are shorter and lighter from 47 to 63 inches 1 2 to 1 6 m long and between 86 and 520 pounds about 40 to 250 kg NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA Yes Black bears are found from Canada southward as far as northern Mexico ENDANGERED No Black bears are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a Species of Least Concern
city as ecosystem wild things survive and even thrive in our cities and suburbs Many aren't just passing through They call the city home Some like weeds and rats pigeons and bedbugs have been city dwellers since the time of the earliest cities Others have found a home in the city as their wild habitat shrinks and disappears Here are some of the features that make the urban ecosystem unique ASPHALT JUNGLE Water quickly runs off concrete and asphalt and other surfaces and runs down storm drains This means urban wildlife must rely on artificial sources of water such a fountains in parks S ARTIFICIAL LIGHT Cities never sleep A Artificial light creates a permanent glow over urban areas and can disrupt the sleeping and waking cycles of people and wildlife alike
HEAT ISLANDS Cities are warmer than surrounding country or wilderness Scientists all this the heat island effect The warmer city is a more appealing place for some animals such as raccoons to raise a family STEEL AND GLASS The way sound bounces of the surfaces of buildings is causing some city birds to alter their songs to be heard DOH GREEN SPACES Most plants in cities are nonnative and grass and trees are clipped pruned and artificially maintained Plant eating animals aren't able to find wild foods Urban wildlife can be sickened by pesticides used on urban greens spaces ARTIFICIAL CLIFFS I a Skyscrapers provide habitat for cliff nesting species such as hawks and swallows
