Just days ago, the Pacific Northwest (and much of the West coast of the U.S. in general) was ravaged by wildfires, which destroyed thousands of acres and blew toxic smoke throughout the region. In the midst of this week+ of avoiding the outdoors entirely, I looked out my kitchen window to see a squirrel standing in the driveway, chewing on a nut or seed, going about its business. I found myself overwhelmed with pity for this little creature who had no option but to stay out in the smoke. As with many animals, it was adept at ignoring or hiding its pain, but there was no way this little squirrel was not experiencing some burning in its lungs or stinging in its eyes — with no understanding of why.
Since I can remember, I’ve had an affinity for urban wildlife (so much so that I was in a band of that name for almost ten years). Squirrels, crows, geese, possums, raccoons, chipmunks, rabbits, blue jays, and even rats. These amazing creatures are able to survive (even thrive) in a world where their needs provide no competition for development-minded humans and their need to chop, clear, raze, and build.
These animals are an amazing glimpse into humankind’s inability to integrate smoothly into a world unless it is solely owned and controlled by us. Search for “possum” in a search engine and most likely the first results will be something like, “How to get rid of a possum” or “Can I kill a possum?” or “Will a possum kill my cat?” But it doesn’t take much digging at all to discover that the worst a possum will do is “hiss” at you. In fact, possums consume ticks, cockroaches, snails and slugs — generally unwelcome in urban or suburban areas. A possum can eat an estimated 5000 ticks in a season! What an amazing gift in the prevention of Lyme disease.
Working up the ladder of perceived urban annoyances, let’s talk about crows. Personally, I’m fascinated by crows. Studies have shown that crows have memories that last at least five years! Ever see a group of crows get angry at a human and make all kinds of noise? It turns out, crows can remember the faces of humans who they perceive as dangerous. In addition, they teach each other of that danger, a social learning skill that is said to only be demonstrated by humans and a handful of other animals. So, freaked out by the thought of walking into a scene in Hitchcock’s The Birds? Be nice to your neighborhood crows… 😉
And everyone’s favorite: rats. Having had a rat infestation at a previous house, I know the damage they can do. It’s no fun. But we can at least appreciate their intelligence: rats actually are very social creatures, playing, sleeping and eating with their communities, and they have been shown to get depressed when they are alone. They can also have empathy for other rats and studies have shown they can recognize each others’ expressions. They also learn incredibly well, which is why they are often used in labs (a practice of which I am staunchly opposed) as a precursor to human trials. So, I know, I know — the truth is rats can spread diseases like hantavirus and plague. So I’m certainly not saying let’s let them take over and live in harmony with them. But for me, knowing more about them helped me to realize that I need to focus on prevention so I don’t have to kill any of these really intelligent and social animals.
The point of all of this is to say: every creature serves a valuable purpose in the natural world, even if it isn’t to serve humans. Many people tend to view the simple presence of another creature as a threat, but if we can just shift our perspectives and take an extra step or two to live peacefully with these animals, we’ll all be better off for it.