The Urban Bestiary Encountering the Everyday Wild [Hardcover]

From the bestselling author ofCrow Planet,a compelling journey into the secret lives of the wild animals at our back door.

In THE URBAN BESTIARY, acclaimed nature writer Lyanda Lynn Haupt journeys into the heart of the everyday wild, where coyotes, raccoons, chickens, hawks, and humans live in closer proximity than ever before. Haupt's observations bring compelling new questions to light: Whose home is this? Where does the wild end and the city begin? And what difference does it make to us as humans living our everyday lives? In this wholly original blend of science, story, myth, and memoir, Haupt draws us into the secret world of the wild creatures that dwell among us in our urban neighborhoods, whether we are aware of them or not. With beautiful illustrations and practical sidebars on everything from animal tracking to opossum removal, THE URBAN BESTIARY is a lyrical book that awakens wonder, delight, and respect for the urban wild, and our place within it.

Lyanda Lynn Haupt has created and directed educational programs for Seattle Audubon, worked in raptor rehabilitation inVermont, and is a seabird researcher for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the remote tropical Pacific. She is the author ofCrow Planet,Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent,andRare Encounters with Ordinary Birds(winner of the 2002 Washington State Book Award). Her writing has appeared inImage,Open Spaces,Wild Earth,Conservation Biology Journal,Birdwatcher's Digest, and thePrairie Naturalist. Winner of the 2010 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award, she lives inWest Seattlewith her husband and daughter. It is part of her book's persuasive charm that, for a little while at least, [Haupt] is able to direct our gaze to the chickadees outside the window and to make us forget, for a momel£Q