How Some Animals Thrive in Urban Life

As human populations increase drastically, city environments are becoming more and more normal. We are pushing animals out of their land to make room for our cities, which is changing wildlife worldwide.

Some populations of creatures have struggled to survive, some have gone extinct, but some have actually thrived.

Examples of wildlife creatures thriving in urban environments include but are not limited to:

• Mice


• Rats


• Raccoons


• Cats


• Dogs


• Many types of birds


• Skunks


• Foxes


• Bobcats


• Deer


• Alligators


 

In today's BLOG post we will be exploring how some of these creatures are hacking our urban landscapes to not only just survive but live better than they did in the wild!

Mice & Rats

Mice & rats love tight, dark environments. Our buildings & sewer complexes are perfectly designed for these creature's instincts. Excess waste also gets stored in sewers and tunnels which allows these creatures to thrive.

Unlike other small animals which have perished with human advances, mice & rats have integrated perfectly with our urban environments and in fact enjoying our presence.

Alligators

Yes, some alligators in Southeast USA are actually thriving because of human made environments. The American alligator was actually likely to become instinct when we made it possible for it to survive.

Deer

Some deer have struggled in urban environments, but in others they have learned to thrive. Scientists have reported that newer deer will look both ways when crossing the street!

Instead of blindly running along, it seems they know there could be danger, and so they're looking out for it. This is a good thing too because there will be less car accidents as a result of deer jumping in the road.

Birds

Many people leave food & water out for birds, making it easier for them to survive. They love our urban environments because it's filled with food waste & opportunity!

Cats & Dogs

Tamed cats & dogs gladly live alongside humanity, but stray cats & dogs also have learned to co-exist with humans.

Scientists believe that long ago wolves that were aggressive were killed off by humans, whereas "nicer" wolves that were able to forge connections with humans were able to feed off of human scraps. This is why wolves turned into dogs, but we are not able to tame raccoons.

Nicer dogs running around astray in city environments have learned that violence does no good, and to instead give a cute look for a bit of food.

Raccoons

Raccoons are perhaps the most interesting of all the wildlife animals that are thriving in urban environments- perhaps because they are the most intelligent!

Raccoon intelligence is not thoroughly researched, but recent experiments suggest that raccoons are significantly more intelligent than cats & dogs, almost as much as monkeys!

Unfortunately, we are not able to tame these smart cute creatures because they tend to be vicious (mean) and carry diseases. Attempts have been made, but tamed raccoons are not coming anytime soon.

Our cities are like an intelligence obstacle course. Urban raccoons are significantly more intelligent than wild raccoons, and they're only getting smarter. The more barriers we place to our waste, the more intelligent they become to get it!

Raccoons are quite persistent, and because we leave a lot of waste out in the open, they will do anything it takes to get it.

 

For more information on the effects of wildlife animals thriving in urban environments, click HERE (VIDEO).

We hope you enjoyed this read. What do you think?
Wildlife X Team International