Tag: David Baron

An Unwelcome Visitor

While we were out there discussing the ideas for the new raised gardens yesterday, this is what we saw in the neighbor’s backyard behind me…a very healthy coyote!

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And while I know coyotes can jump a fence, I hope it acts as a deterent to keep him from coming in my yard!

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The coyote population has really risen the last few years.  As with many wild animals living in suburban areas, there is friction.  So, while it really helps to keep the rabbit and rodent population under control, we have had instances of them attacking family pets.  Even one incident in my neighborhood, which thankfully the little terrier survived!   So we keep just a little closer watch over Daisy, and hope the coyote is too lazy to jump over my fence.

I read a great book recently about humans and animals trying to coexist, The Beast in the Garden: A Modern Parable of Man and Nature by Dave Baron.  Here’s an overview from Barnes and Nobles:

“When residents of Boulder, Colorado, suddenly began to see mountain lions in their backyards, it became clear that the cats had returned after decades of bounty hunting had driven them far from human settlement. In a riveting environmental tale that has received huge national attention, journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles one town’s tragic effort to coexist with its new neighbors. As thought-provoking as it is harrowing,The Beast in the Garden is a tale of nature corrupted, the clash between civilization and wildness, and the artificiality of the modern American landscape. It is, ultimately, a book about the future of our nation, where suburban sprawl and wildlife-protection laws are pushing people and wild animals into uncomfortable, sometimes deadly proximity.”
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