There’s plenty of wildlife in the city too. I’ve had my home invaded by a bunny, a ground squirrel, a bat, scorpions, snakes, mice, all sorts of bugs, a hummingbird, etc.

I live in Phoenix. There’s even a small population of feral lovebirds that have escaped captivity as pets and thrived here. There’s a watch group that tracks them.

When I lived in Alabama, we had a opossum walk right into our place after a tornado. We had the back door open for air circulation because the power was out. It just strolled right in and made itself at home. I’m guessing it’s (tree) home had been destroyed and it was looking for shelter. We set it up a place on the back porch, left it some food and water. It stayed a few days, recovering, then went on its way.

Animals are getting pushed out of their normal habitats. More and more, the ones that can exist alongside humans will do so to survive.

There was a recent study done on urban foxes. Ones who have lost their natural habitat, moved into cities and started scrounging in alleys for trash. Their snouts are shortening noticeably.

If you see another baby bear, stay still, listen and look carefully to locate the mother then slowly and quietly back away. Just make sure you’re not between that mother and her cub. That phrase "going mama bear on someone" exists for a reason. If she sees you, look down and around, act uninterested, don’t look at the cub. Back away like you don’t know they’re there.

I miss frogs and proper squirrels. These ground squirrels are scrubby and kinda lackluster. When I was a kid, I used to dream a out having a pet squirrel that could braid my hair.