Urban Wildlife

I have addressed the issue of stray dogs and dog packs in rural areas, but more and more dog packs are turning up in urban areas.  The Economic Collapse Blog lists St. Louis as one of its top twelve “hellhole cities”, citing, as one example, the number of wild dog packs roaming the north side of the city, from a KMOX piece done back in October of 2011.

St. Louis has been in decline most if not all my life.  A century ago, this was the “Fourth City” of America behind New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.  In the last fifty years, it has deteriorated and dissolved into a crime-ridden chaos of poverty and pestilence.  I drove into the downtown area in the mid-1970s for an interview and left hoping that I would not be offered the job.  It did not look to be worth the trouble.  Despite the Union Station area, the new Cardinals’ stadium, and other attempts to improve the city, it remains an abyss in terms of economic development.  Other parts of the St. Louis area, such as Chesterfield, appear to have prospered, but the city itself, along with some of the older suburbs are simply places to be avoided if at all possible. 

Feral animals are on the increase everywhere.  As counties and municipalities face ever-tighter budgets, money for animal control will be diverted to more critical concerns such as police and fire protection.  Animals will go where there is food and shelter. 

My preferred method of keeping copperheads and even black snakes away from the house is to make sure I do not provide food and shelter for rodents such as mice and rats.  My cats hunt along the edges of our lawn and further reduce the rodent population in the weedier and brushier transition areas, thereby further discouraging the snake population.  If I see snakes, I kill them.  If I don’t see them near the house, I am happier and so are the reptiles. 

The same approach would apply to feral animals.  Feral cats will be found were there is a food source, preferably smaller rodents with the occasional bird, along with places where they can hole up for sleep, protection, and raising litters.  The abandoned buildings of a blighted urban district offer an excellent ecological niche for wild felines.    

Feral dogs will often be drawn to piles of garbage and carrion.  No doubt the dogs will opportunistically feed on rats, cats, and other dogs.  They can get out of the weather and raise pups in the failing man-made structures of cities lost to decay and desolation.     

Growing urban populations of feral animals would likely become disease vectors for domestic pets as well as humans, potentially.  This is aside from the threat of direct attacks by dog packs on pets and humans – the smaller and weaker humans in particular, that might come in contact with them.    

I do not expect much to be done in the way of controlling these animal populations in places like St. Louis.  If you live or work in an urban area, this is yet another reason to stay alert and pay attention to your surroundings. 

Of course, where there is the threat of attack from packs of wild or feral animals with four legs or two, it is always wise to go armed if possible.