Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Carnivores Next Door - Amy Briggs


Rating: **

In North America, accounts of raccoon and coyotes have always been present in suburban areas. Unfortunately, there have been recent accounts of larger carnivores that have managed to adapt to urban life. 

There has been studies in Ohio and Chicago observing and surveying animals in urban areas. They are saying that they have noticed a dramatic increase in larger animals, especially coyotes. Coyotes have been frequenting urban areas because they have learnt and adapted to search for easy food sources like garbage cans. A professor at Ohio University, Stan Gehrt,  believes that the next animals to start finding their way into urban cities might be wolves, mountain lions or bears. Once they get a taste of city garbage and how easy it is to acquire, they might want to stay and then we’ll have a real problem on our hands.  

Living in a town where I have to watch out for raccoons entering my garbage can, I would hate to have to watch out for new threats like larger animals. People could learn from this article to be more careful when having picnics or leaving their garbage can out. 

"The Carnivores Next Door." Briggs, Amy. News Watch. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. 
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/05/the-carnivores-next-door/

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