Urban wildlife

A few weeks ago, I read a gardening article in the San Francisco Chronicle that made me shake my head in complete disbelief. You know, the kind of disbelief that ends in WTF?? Anyway, the scenario was this: A lady wrote to ask the columnist how she could "rid" her garden of raccoons and squirrels. The columnist's response was appalling! She should have stuck to roses or weeds. What she said was this: "The raccoon and squirrel population boom you are experiencing is probably due to practices in your neighborhood that are allowing them to multiply more rapidly than usual. Much of the available advice on managing these animals assumes a moderate population, but when the animals are very crowded, the usual advice may not work. What you need to do is try to find out the reasons for the population boom and seek wider help removing them." WTF???

Multiply more rapidly than usual? Does that mean crank them out faster, or crank out more? The reasons for the so-called population boom is that these animals' habitat--normal nesting and feeding areas, has been destroyed. There are more of US and so we see more of "them." Removing "them" does not work.

As a long-time wildlife rehabilitator, former veterinary technician, and head of a large humane society's humane education programs, I am frequently surprised at how little people know about other animals, both domestic and wild. I say "other" animals because humans are also animals. This blog will be about our kinship with other animal species, about the myths and bullshit that have been and continue to be propagated to justify "removing" (a euphemism for killing) them, and I will offer tips for caring for our in-home or urban furry and feathered friends.

Myth buster #1: squirrels and other rodents almost NEVER have or transmit rabies. Want to know why? Stay tuned.