Wow! eBook
Wild Chicago: Animals, Reptiles, Insects, and Plants to Watch Out for at Home, at the Park, and in the Woods
Author(s): F. Lynne Bachleda (Author)
- Publisher: Clerisy Press
- Publication Date: 30 May 2013
- Language: English
- Print length: 240 pages
- ISBN-10: 1578605296
- ISBN-13: 9781578605293
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
Excerpts Wild Thang, I Think You Move Me
In nature, it s always good to expect the unexpected. Just ask former President Jimmy Carter. You may recall that he was attacked by a garden variety rabbit while vacationing in Plains, Georgia. While fishing from a canoe in a pond, he spotted a rabbit with a real attitude swimming furiously toward him. Though the rabbit s problem was never identified precisely, Carter later speculated that the highly agitated lagomorph was fleeing a predator.
Whatever the case, the rabbit was clearly troubled. It was hissing menacingly, its teeth flashing and nostrils flared and making straight for the President, a press account said. Fortunately for all, Carter deflected the frenzied beast with his canoe paddle before the Secret Service was forced to plug the bunny to save the prez. The moral of the story is: It s a jungle out there. En garde!
Preventing Cat BitesMany bites take place when a well-intentioned person tries to pick up or pet a stray cat. Any animal that is scared, perhaps starving, or feels cornered is likely to bite. When dealing with stray or feral kitties, be careful and wear gloves, or at minimum use a cloth or towel as a bite barrier.
People are frequently bitten or scratched when they try to stop a fight between cats, or try to comfort a cat that is scared. A person in the wrong place at the wrong time can be a victim of a cat s redirected aggression. The cat is not actually mad at the person, but because the cat has already been aroused and is angry or fearful, it may attack any person or thing that comes near it.
When a cat is cornered, forcing your attention on it will leave it no choice but to fight.
Cats that are declawed may be more apt to become biters because one of their prime defense mechanisms for protection and escape has been eliminated. This point is controversial, but still worthy of consideration. If you feel you must declaw a cat, perhaps you should consider more carefully having a cat as a pet.
Sometimes petting a cat on certain parts of its body will trigger an instinctive reaction to bite or scratch. One area, especially for unneutered males, is around the base of the tail. Another is the stomach. If your cat grabs or begins to bite your arm or hand while you are petting its stomach, do not immediately try to withdraw it as this will only excite the cat s instincts. Stop moving and wait for your cat to lose interest in this perceived threat.
Human Infants in a Home with Cats or DogsSadly, many people automatically assume that having an animal in the home is incompatible with bringing home a new baby, so they dispose of their pet by giving it away or taking it to a shelter where odds are good it will be killed. This is simply not necessary. With a small amount of effort, your animal can adapt quite well to the presence of the baby in the house, perhaps even coming to the baby s aid in times of need. Stories of how dogs and cats like to watch over young children are quite common. You should never, however, leave an infant (or a young child) alone with an animal, especially a dog. You may think the risk of danger is low, but the stakes are far too high for gambling.
All that said, most animals adjust with ease to the new arrival. Throughout this book, we try to give you every possible tool for success, but please do not misread this amount of topic coverage as an indicator of the likelihood of trouble. The longstanding human-animal bond is mutually rewarding and beneficial, and the odds are excellent that your creatures will adapt just fine.
How Can I Safely Capture a Bat in My Home?If a bat is present in your home and you cannot rule out the possibility of exposure, leave the bat alone and contact an animal control or public health agency for assistance. If professional help is unavailable, use precautions to capture the
From the Back Cover
In nature, it’s always good to expect the unexpected. Just ask former President Jimmy Carter. You may recall that he was attacked by a garden variety rabbit while vacationing in Plains, Georgia. While fishing from a canoe in a pond, he spotted a rabbit with a real attitude swimming furiously toward him. Though the rabbit’s problem was never identified precisely, Carter later speculated that the highly agitated lagomorph was fleeing a predator.
Whatever the case, the rabbit was clearly troubled. It was hissing menacingly, its teeth flashing and nostrils flared and making straight for the President,” a press account said. Fortunately for all, Carter deflected the frenzied beast with his canoe paddle before the Secret Service was forced to plug the bunny to save the prez. The moral of the story is: It’s a jungle out there. En garde!”
Preventing Cat BitesMany bites take place when a well-intentioned person tries to pick up or pet a stray cat. Any animal that is scared, perhaps starving, or feels cornered is likely to bite. When dealing with stray or feral kitties, be careful and wear gloves, or at minimum use a cloth or towel as a bite barrier.
People are frequently bitten or scratched when they try to stop a fight between cats, or try to comfort a cat that is scared. A person in the wrong place at the wrong time can be a victim of a cat’s redirected aggression. The cat is not actually mad at the person, but because the cat has already been aroused and is angry or fearful, it may attack any person or thing that comes near it.
When a cat is cornered, forcing your attention on it will leave it no choice but to fight.
Cats that are declawed may be more apt to become biters because one of their prime defense mechanisms for protection and escape has been eliminated. This point is controversial, but still worthy of consideration. If you feel you must declaw a cat, perhaps you should consider more carefully having a cat as a pet.
Sometimes petting a cat on certain parts of its body will trigger an instinctive reaction to bite or scratch. One area, especially for unneutered males, is around the base of the tail. Another is the stomach. If your cat grabs or begins to bite your arm or hand while you are petting its stomach, do not immediately try to withdraw it as this will only excite the cat’s instincts. Stop moving and wait for your cat to lose interest in this perceived threat.
Human Infants in a Home with Cats or DogsSadly, many people automatically assume that having an animal in the home is incompatible with bringing home a new baby, so they dispose” of their pet by giving it away or taking it to a shelter where odds are good it will be killed. This is simply not necessary. With a small amount of effort, your animal can adapt quite well to the presence of the baby in the house, perhaps even coming to the baby’s aid in times of need. Stories of how dogs and cats like to watch over” young children are quite common. You should never, however, leave an infant (or a young child) alone with an animal, especially a dog. You may think the risk of danger is low, but the stakes are far too high for gambling.
All that said, most animals adjust with ease to the new arrival. Throughout this book, we try to give you every possible tool for success, but please do not misread this amount of topic coverage as an indicator of the likelihood of trouble. The longstanding human-animal bond is mutually rewarding and beneficial, and the odds are excellent that your creatures will adapt just fine.
How Can I Safely Capture a Bat in My Home?If a bat is present in your home and you cannot rule out the possibility of exposure, leave the bat alone and contact an animal control or public health agency for assistance. If professional help is unavailable, use precautions to capture the bat safely.
You will need:
Leather work gloves
Small box or coffee can
Piece of cardboard
Tape
When the bat lands, approach it slowly, while wearing the gloves, and place the box or coffee can over it. Slide the cardboard under the container to trap the bat inside. Tape the cardboard to the container securely and punch small air holes in the cardboard. Contact your health department or animal control authority to make arrangements for rabies testing.
If you see a bat in your home and you are sure no human or pet exposure has occurred, confine the bat to a room by closing all doors and windows leading out of the room except those to the outside. The bat will probably leave soon. If not, it can be caught as described, and released outdoors away from people and pets.
The answer is not to kill any bat you can. Many local populations of bats have been destroyed and many species are now endangered. This is a substantial loss to all, in part because bat studies have contributed to medical advances including the development of navigational aids for the blind.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
These two critters are so commonly found around human dwellings that they bear mentioning. Odds are good that if you have these nighttime ramblers poking about your environs, you’ll have no safety issues if you don’t engage or threaten them.
Of course, the opossum is the one that looks like the biggest rat you have ever seen. They’re roughly the size of house cats and top out at about 15 pounds. Opossums are primitive animals that date back to the dinosaur age, which is remarkable because they are notoriously dimwitted. But, hey, survival of the species is the bottom line, and they are great at it even if they also have a high mortality rate at all stages of life and only live for about three years. What makes us interested in them is that they have 50 sharp teeth, more than any other mammal. When they are threatened, sometimes they feign death by playing possum,” a proven defense even against the jaws of a Siberian husky inside a fenced yard.
However, the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals describes this vivid alternative opossum behavior: More often, it tries to bluff its attacker by hissing, screeching, salivating, opening its mouth wide to show all of its 50 teeth, and sometimes excreting a greenish substance.” It can also emit smelly stuff from its anal glands. So, if you find a possum in your garage ransacking your pet food (they eat just about anything, which is why they continue to thrive), don’t get in there and start whacking away with the broom, trying to corner or to capture it. The very fine book, Living with Wildlife: How to Enjoy, Cope with, and Protect North America’s Wild Creatures Around Your Home and Theirs, recommends that you use bright lights, make loud noises by banging pans, rustling paper, opening/closing doors, or playing radios; and/or squirting water to frighten them away.” After the opossum leaves, take better care to store your edibles more securely. Another potential troubling situation might arise with a female who is trying to defend her young, so fully assess any situation to the best of your ability.
Raccoons, of course, are the masked bandits who are quite, quite clever, as well as exceptionally dexterous. They can grow to more than three feet in length and weigh up to almost 50 pounds. Television ads that show them entering a house by turning the doorknob and then opening the refrigerator to raid for snacks before flopping on the sofa are not that far-fetched. According to Living with Wildlife, if you find a raccoon in your house, close the doors to other rooms and open all the windows and doors you can to give the raccoon an easy exit. Don’t try to lure it out with food, as this will reinforce the food association that might prompt the raccoon to return.
Alarmed and anxious raccoons can cause extensive damage. If the animal doesn’t leave in a reasonable amount of time, then call the local wildlife authorities. Don’t try to handle the animal yourself. Raccoons are strong, and they have sharp teeth and claws. Warning signs of an aggressive raccoon include growling, snarling, hissing, a lowered head with flattened ears, bared teeth, and bushed-out neck and shoulder fur. (You probably could’ve guessed that, right?)
Raccoons are formidable, and most predators know that to engage one can mean a losing fight to the death. A raccoon, for example, can dispatch a single dog, which is probably why coon hunters use packs of dogs in their pursuit. Raccoons, however, are not normally aggressive animals unless they are cornered, mating, or with young. They do carry a roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, in their dung. While not harmful to the raccoon, this organism is potentially very injurious to other mammals, including humans. For this reason, and also because the raccoon is a rabies carrier, it is unwise to entice these admittedly charming creatures with food.
Thwarting Opossums and Raccoons
Do not leave pet food or trash outdoors at night.
Pick fruit and garden crops when they are ripe, and do not leave rotten fruit or crops on the ground.
Eliminate brush piles, dilapidated buildings, and holes under concrete slabs.
Raccoons, opossums, and skunks (!) will easily enter a house through the pet door, so secure them at night.
For more solutions to various scenarios involving these backyard buddies, consult Living with Wildlife: How to Enjoy, Cope with, and Protect North America’s Wild Creatures Around Your Home and Theirs by the California Center for Wildlife with Diana Landau and Shelley Stump.
Opossum (Virginia opossum)
The opossum can bite if cornered.
Up to 40 inches in length, including a 1020 inch prehensile, hairless tail. Weighs up to 14 pounds.
About the size of a house cat, the opossum has silvery grizzled” hairs covering black hairs below. Its pinkish nose is long and pointed.
This marsupial, unique to North America, has no comparable cousin.
Omnivorous, the opossum eats insects, small mammals, bird eggs, grain, fruit, and carrion.
Opossum litters, produced two or three times a year, are comprised of tiny young with up to 14 memberseach about the size of a honeybee.
Opossums are found in suburban areas, farmlands, and forests, usually near water.
They are generally not aggressive but will defend themselves if cornered. They are nocturnal and solitary, and they are often killed on the highway as they attempt to feed on carrion.
Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor)
The raccoon can bite if cornered. Because the animal can be a carrier of rabies, the bite is potentially fatal.
It is common throughout the lower 48 states, with the exception pockets of the Rockies and pockets of the southwestern U.S.
Up to 37 inches in length, including a tail of 8 to 16 inches.
The raccoon is distinguished by its black mask and black-ringed tail on a grayish-brown body. It has a pointed snout.
The raccoon’s omnivorous diet includes grain, nuts, berries, rodents, insects, crayfish, bird eggs, and carrion.
One litter per year of usually four young is delivered in the spring.
The raccoon is highly adapted in suburban areas, and is also found near water in forests, bottomlands, and in rocky outcroppings.
Nocturnal, curious, and extremely dexterous, the raccoon is not aggressive but will fight ferociously if cornered or to defend itself.
