It is not too surprising to learn that critters like to live in urban areas where they don't have to work too hard to find both food and shelter. Of course, the humans who live there are not so keen.
Finding coyotes on sidewalks and frogs in swimming pools can be disconcerting, and often surprising. It's pretty easy to forget that in building those cities, we often encroached on the habitats where they had lived and flourished.
Diane Swanson will be a familiar name to readers who love learning about animals. What kid doesn't? She has written books about otters, owls, bears, rabbits, wolves ... the list goes on and on. Her interest in creatures of the world, and her tireless and diligent research are evident in her long list of publications.
In this new book, she turns her attention to animals that find themselves feeling quite at home in our cities, large and small. She includes chapters on peregrine falcons, cottontails, coyotes, garter snakes, Canada geese, rats, feral cats, red squirrels, and striped skunks. Each chapter is approximately six pages long, all designed in the same way to make the information accessible and enjoyable for the target audience.
It is this design that drew me to the book, and carried me from page to page. She begins with an introduction.
"Despite the traffic, which kills lots of wildlife, city animals face fewer dangers than their country cousins. Hunting and shooting are not allowed in cities. People use smaller amounts of pesticide in cities than they do at many farms and orchards. And some of the animals that move to cities leave behind many of the country animals who eat them."
As the reader moves through each chapter, the format remains the same: an opening paragraph describes the creatures themselves, further information unique to each is presented on attractively bordered pages, often accompanied by special information boxes with particularly interesting tidbits.
"In 1936, a pair of peregrine falcons swooped into downtown Montreal, Quebec. They landed on a building ledge 20 stories above a busy street. People set trays of sand and gravel on the ledge, and the falcons began nesting and raising their chicks in the trays. Every year for 16 years, the same female returned to the same building. In all, she laid 50 eggs and raised 22 chicks, setting a breeding record in Canada."
That's the kind of stuff young scientists want to know, and share. This welcome and inviting book is filled with pertinent and remarkable facts that will keep them moving from chapter to chapter, and learning as they go.
Douglas Penhale's realistic illustrations provide visuals that are often endearing and 'aww'-inspiring.
After finishing reading it myself, I know more about the cottontails and red squirrels I see every day in my backyard.
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