VOTING WITH THEIR PAW

More and More Wild Animals are 'Moving In' to American Cities

The wild animal population is gradually losing its fear of humans, says biologist

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Dec 20, 2012 by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t +

Mark Wahlberg and "Ted" / Image: Universal Pictures

So, a bear walks into a bar...

That line may soon represent reality with the news that more and more wild animals are showing up on city streets, from Chicago to LA and beyond. Grist informs us of biologist Stan Gehrt's data revealing that climate change, habitat destruction and successful animal re-population efforts are contributing to more carnivores making their way in the urban world today. But that's far from the only explanation, Gehrt tells us. In short, humans and other mammals are getting to know each other.

"We're now seeing generations of certain carnivores that have had fairly light amounts of persecution by people," he explains. "They may view cities quite a bit differently than their ancestors did 50 years ago; then, if they saw a human, there was a good chance they were going to get shot."

Via Grist.

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45 Comments (view in Forum)

Dec '12

ScottK

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it is bad but Ted is a great movie.
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Dec '12

woodtick57

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The focus on Coyotes in insane. they have always been adapted ot living with humans. they have thrived wherever humans have moved. the more humans have tried to get rid of them ,the more they have spred their range.

nothing hew here.
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Dec '12

Denizen_Kate

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"I'm a GEENyus, I tell ya!" -- Wile. E. Coyote
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Dec '12

kirbstomp1

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Maybe more and more humans keep pushing animals out of their habitat. Oh that may be the reason why....
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Dec '12

RobertJHarsh

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It's a concern....but call animal control. I'll start worrying I have to compete for jobs with animals. See that Bear on "The Cleveland Show"?
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Dec '12
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Dec '12
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Dec '12
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Dec '12
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Dec '12

FFX_VA

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Who are the wild animals voting for?
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Dec '12

PNWest

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As Americans don't we have the right to arm bears? Or is the right to bare arms?
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Dec '12

stepped_in_it

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Well, we can;t say they are "illegals"....can we (unless of course they're crossing the border).....lol
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Dec '12
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Dec '12

Sharpshooter

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Makes hunting a lot easier....
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Dec '12

Knightkore

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Well...it just might be that the animals are having problems finding food in their territory because of droughts as well as more people starting to live in their territory...eventually we'll have to get used to "wild animals" being around us more...{apart from politcians of course}...
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Dec '12

mimi57

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At least their not nuts and shooting at people...could be worse..
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Dec '12

FollowTheMoney

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I remember the tree huger's in Washington state shutting down the logging industry over the spotted owl. They claimed the owl's could live in an environment inhabited or disturbed by humans. Then they found mating pairs of owl's living/ nesting on top of K-Mart.
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Dec '12

FollowTheMoney

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...couldn't live...
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Dec '12

woodtick57

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The logging industry in Washington has continued to cut more and more board feet of lumber. Some areas were set aside for habitat protection.
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Dec '12

FollowTheMoney

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@woodtick57 Glad to hear it, the people on the Olympic peninsula were devastated. This was the early '90's, I lived in Olympia.
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Dec '12

PoliticalSpice

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Just goes to show owls appreciate a good sale, very wise!
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Dec '12

artjeb

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follow the money YUP ythat spotted owl breeding at k mart was a payback aginst stupid enviormentals
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Dec '12

woodtick57

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With all the new automatic weapons out there now, this should be an easy way to fill the local food shelves...
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Dec '12

Buckfan4life2

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Hell I fear humans way more than I do a bear. Guarantee your chances of getting killed will more likely come from a human than any animal. Bank on it!
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Dec '12

Fitz

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I live with a squirrel, no problem.
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Dec '12

Huntfoodfish

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The last statement reinforces my position on firearms: animals' ancestors feared being shot so they tended to shy away from humans. Hmm. If all responsible humans were armed and used their weapons properly, then animals and criminals would stay in check to keep from being shot!
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Dec '12

woodtick57

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perpetuating the mindset that guns can solve all your problems. more mass shootings on the way!
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Dec '12

culinary

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Absolutely. And woodtick, I bet you are one of those that refuse to eat wild meat, only drink pasteurized milk, and pretend the steak you are enjoying for dinner was born in cellophane in the grocery.
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Dec '12

PoliticalSpice

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@culinary Don't be silly everyone knows steaks aren't born in cellophane, they are wrapped in cellophane, after the butcher gets them from the garden where they grow.
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Dec '12

Huntfoodfish

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@woodtick57
All my problems? Hardly (chuckle)! However, guns do give me the upper hand when hunting for food/sport, and a gun in MY hand turns a wanna-be robber/car-jacker/criminal into a corpse.
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Dec '12

Kellso

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The animals dont have much of a choice do they now? We have and are destroying all their home teratory and some adapt the best they can. Some are quite destructive and dangerous to humans unless we educate the citizens on how to cohabitate.
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Dec '12

woodtick57

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Coyotes and wolves are really no threat to humans in almost all situations.

we did have a bear in the Twin Cities a summer or two ago and the police had it cornered and cordoned off and someone asked an officer if they could go pet it...silly humans...
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Dec '12

bsking

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you think it's bad now wait until you take all the guns away.... we'll be like caveman we'll have to fight the grizzly bears with sticks.
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Dec '12

thejimbo

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No bows and arrows?
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Dec '12

bsking

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@jamesmitchell will have to see they will probably be the weapon of choice in a little while
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Dec '12

mndudester

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I have urban coyote's running around our neighbor hood and we are just a couple of miles shy of St. Paul, MN and they are eating our pets to boot. I can't believe how sneaky they are. I open the sliding door and they just shut up and scurry off
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Dec '12

Sharpshooter

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Are you sure that's not David Axelrod?
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Dec '12

mndudester

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@Sharpshooter Funny....your my new best friend....
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Is this trend in animal-human relations a good thing?

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