Urban Wildlife Escalation
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The Modern Urban Wildlife Escalation Phenomenon (Vol. 1, Art. 1, June, 2011)

Historically, human encroachment on wildlife habitat and loss of habitat have had a significant negative impact on many wildlife species in North America.  By the late 1800’s, many notable species were near extinction.

However, extensive conservation efforts have brought most of these species back to healthy levels.  In fact, in many areas we now have the opposite problem – an overabundance of many species.  We likely have more white-tailed deer in North America than ever before – perhaps 30 million.  Beaver have reoccupied nearly all their historic range. There are now at least 750,000 black bears in North America, with hunting seasons in 29 states.  Coyotes, native primarily to areas west of the Mississippi in pre-colonial times, have now expanded their range to all the contiguous 48 states.  For the most part wildlife management in the US has been a tremendous success story.

But now we have a new phenomenon emerging.  The process has now been largely reversed.  Many species of wildlife are invading and/or flourishing in urban/suburban areas in unprecedented ways.  Wildlife is now encroaching on human habitat, often to an alarming degree.  As much as we Americans love wildlife and enjoy having “Animal Planet” and “Discovery Channel” in our backyards, many species are quickly becoming a nuisance, or worse.

Many of our clients actually apologize (i.e., they feel bad) for asking us to remove problem critters.  Not only is there the perception that we are unfairly encroaching on wildlife habitats, but also that “the wildlife were here first.”  But the fact is many of our most common nuisance species are not native to Colorado Springs, including fox squirrels, red foxes, raccoons and resident Canada geese.  They were either introduced or extended their range here because human development has created safe, superior habitat.  They were not necessarily here first.

Similarly, the invasion/proliferation of native species is in full swing as well.  The densities of many species, including cottontail rabbits, raccoons, red foxes, mule deer, black bear, and even mountain lions, are higher inside portions of the city limits than outside.  The bottom line is that we have a growing urban wildlife dilemma on our hands and human-wildlife conflicts are going to continue to rise.  To reduce these conflicts, it is both appropriate and often necessary to manage wildlife and the damage they cause.   That’s where we can help.