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
CHAPTER 1 THE RACCOON IN THE TRASH CAN ANYTOWN USA WHEN YOU THINK OF WILD ANIMALS INVADING THE BACKYARD WHAT IS THE FIRST IMAGE THAT COMES TO MIND IF YOU LIVE IN NORTH AMERICA CHANCES ARE IT'S THE FAMILIAR MASKED FACE BELOW Raccoons are a nuisance They raid our garbage cans come through pet doors to snack from the cat's dish or snatch a pizza from the kitchen counter when our backs are turned We worry that they might carry rabies But at the same time raccoons are well pretty adorable How did raccoons come to be the familiar creatures raiding our garbage cans Raccoons probably got used to human beings well before Europeans came to the Americas The word raccoon is borrowed from the native Powhatan word raugroughoun By the time settlers began cutting down forests to plant crops the raccoon was already accustomed to raiding the garbage piles on the edge of villages perhaps even stealing fish from the fish traps the Powhatan set in local streams In the wild a raccoon will claim a home range It will patrol this territory looking for food and mates and defend it against other raccoons It may make several dens throughout its home range often using the former burrows of foxes or woodchucks or a hollow tree
RACCOON FACTS This familiar mammal is the most common and widespread medium sized carnivore in North America Since raccoons drink and forage near water a permanent source of water is necessary for them to survive whether they live in the city or the country SCIENTIFIC NAME Procyon lotor ALSO KNOWN AS Common raccoon northern raccoon RELATED TO Raccoons are distantly related to weasels and skunks and are more closely related to coatis and kinkajous of Central and South America SIZE Up to 3 feet 1 m long from the nose to the tip of the tail and about 13 to 15 pounds about 6 to 7kg NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA Yes Raccoons are found throughout the lower forty eight states of the United States Their range extends up into southern Canada and down as far as Panama in Central America ENDANGERED No Raccoons are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a Species of Least Concern
