The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild

by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

From the bestselling author of Crow 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Animals, Science, Birds, Natural History, Ecology

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Lyanda Lynn Haupt is a naturalist, eco-philosopher, and speaker whose writing is at the forefront of the movement to connect people with nature in their everyday lives. Her newest book is Mozart's Starling: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

“Mozart’s Starling is a delightful, enlightening, breathless flight through the worlds of Carmen and Star, two European starlings who join their human counterparts in exploring life and music and nature, helping to shed light on the connection between humans and birds--those of us bound to terra firma, and those of us who are free to soar.”

Garth Stein
NYT bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain and A Sudden Light



Lyanda's recent book, Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness, was widely praised and is available in paperback.

“A completely charming and informative book on the pleasures of keeping one’s eyes open.” -David Sedaris

“With her sensitivity, careful eye and gift for language, Haupt tells her tale beautifully, using crow study to get at a range of ever-deepening concerns about nature and our place within it, immersing us in a heady hybrid of science, history, how-to and memoir.” -Erika Schickel, Los Angeles Times

Lyanda’s first book, Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds (Sasquatch, 2001), explores the relationship between humans, birds, and ecological understanding, and is a winner of the 2002 Washington State Book Award.

Reviews

[Sharman Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and informative and what we need. I have lived in the rural Southwest for over thirty years, first living here as a "back-to-the-lander" with a too-big garden and two home births and too many goats and too much goat cheese in the refrigerator. My husband and I believed ourselves on the cutting edge of social change, believing that a personal relationship with nature was an important part of the cultural conversation, ready to shape the future in the shape of an onion or adobe brick. None of that was bad. Some of it is still important. But today I know that the ecological health of the planet lies in green cities, not in populating the countryside. That's where a personal relationship to nature must also be forged and is being forged for most Americans (85% of whom live in cities).

[Rossdavidh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic idea is, that this is a bestiary for animals you actually see (or should be seeing evidence of) around you, if you live in a modern city, or at least in some modern cities in North America. Coyote, mole, raccoon, possum, squirrel, rat, black bear, cougar, starling, house sparrow, pigeon, chickadee, crow, hawk, owl. Also a few oddball choices thrown in towards the end, like chicken (not wild) or tree (not a beast). The author is of the opinion that we don't have to be as cut off from non-human life as we are, that our isolation is at least in part by choice, and that we could gain from knowing and noticing what kinds of lives other creatures around us are living.

Fortunately, she only rarely lets her zeal for this message get the better of her writing, and her prose is brisk, entertaining, and informative. She adds a decent quantity of drawings, of either the animals or their tracks, to help us learn what she is talking about. She is able to weave personal anecdote into the text in a way that shines light on, rather than distracts from, the information she's trying to communicate. It was an easy book to read.

She mentions several times that, while writing this book, she made it a point to spend enough time out of doors to see the animals she was writing about. I suppose the book has made me a tiny bit more likely to do the same.

[Valerie Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! We often think of the wild as some place apart from our day-to-day lives...we drive and hike long distances to go "into" the wild to see wild things, when the truth is we can find wild things in our backyards, walking down our sidewalks, living in our greenspaces, tucked in the eaves of our house--all we have to do is take a walk, look out the window, open our eyes. I loved the stories Haupt told of her encounters with urban wildlife, but also the way she interwove the science and the myth of these animals (and trees). I found myself appreciating my "wild" backyard quite a bit more than I ever have before, and wanting to seek out even more opportunities to interact with and observe the creatures with which we co-exist. A very good bestiary indeed...though I would have loved more illustrations!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd have probably given this book a higher rating if the writing were a little less ornate. I found the constant appearance of three or even four modifiers or descriptions per sentence made the prose a bit of a slog at times. That being said, I really loved the suggestions for urban tracking--I'd never have thought I'd be excited to look for coyote scat, but there you have it. And Haupt makes some excellent points about learning to live in greater harmony with nature, not just going green, but appreciating the green around us.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plant a garden (even a pot of thyme), keep a journal, -- I loved her concrete and pragmatic suggestions and her sense that even small things can make a difference.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm inspired to walk around the neighborhood and see who's out there today.

The Aberdeen Bestiary

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This just solidifies my resolve to live somewhere that I can connect more easily with wilderness. Despite the fact that many of the urban creatures she catalogs do inhabit Brooklyn, it is still so incredibly difficult to find the space and time and opportunity to interact with nature in this city. I decided to read this now, in the midst of the most cooped-up, horrible winter, hoping to find vicarious solace in reading Haupt's descriptions of her interactions with the natural world around her home in Seattle. It did console me a little, reminding me that life can be different "out there" in other parts of the country. But it also made me a bit sad and jealous and antsy, wanting to not waste any more time living in a way that so does not suit me.

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of personal essays about animals one might see in one’s neighborhood (with a little emphasis on the Pacific Northwest). The essays are both informative and entertaining, some more one than the other. Easy to skim when you’re not too interested in a particular animal. A 3.5.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved, loved, loved this book! It took me awhile to read it because my library stack is so big, but I finally got it back from the library and read it. Lyanda, the writer and human, is a beautiful soul and that comes forth in her writing. She lives in West Seattle - not far from me - so the creatures she writes about are around me too, but I don't notice them the way she does. She makes herself available and sees a lot of critters and writes about them beautifully. Her last 2 chapters are on trees and humans. Even if read no other part, do read that last chapter -- but I hope you'll read the whole wonderful book!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a wholesome and lovely read. The author clearly loves animals and her enthusiasm is infectious as she writes about all of our neighborhood creatures.

One of my favorite points she makes is that, as a general rule, folks tend to know more about gorillas or giraffes or zebras than they do the regular grey squirrel in their backyard-- she hopes to remedy that with her Urban Bestiary's focus on the creatures we experience every day but tend to lose as we take them for granted. A beautiful push for awareness and extending compassion.

[Bea Bezmalinovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the Reader Harder Challenge (nature writing). I like the book and agree with the general premise that people need to be more aware and respectful of our wild neighbors. Lyanda Haupt includes wonderful tidbits about the species with whom we coexist closely in urban and suburban settings.

[chats · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved a lot of this book about how to recognize and more greatly appreciate the urban wildlife in our midst. Much of the writing is incredibly beautiful! I wish that it had drawn more heavily on indigenous teachings - not just myths about animals, but what we can learn from Native peoples coexisting with the creatures who call us neighbors. Also, I’ve noticed a trend that every book about wildlife seems to have to have a Moral About Humans in it, which this book did a lot. Sometimes a squirrel is just a squirrel.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book uneven, almost as if it were written for two or three different audiences. The overall theme is that we humans have created an environment that attracts certain animals who have adapted to the concrete, the buildings, the way people live, and those animals are not going away. Now we need to adapt to them and maybe find ways to enjoy them. The book starts slowly and I found it a bit confusing. But soon come the wonderful chapters on the urban beasts: coyote, mole, opossum, squirrel, raccoon. The author talks about why we dislike – even hate – some animals, and how to manage living with them. She encourages urban tracking – learning to see the animals in our cities – and sprinkles sidebars and pages showing animal tracks and other information about how to live with urban beasts. (You can easily skip over these.)

Since I am a birder, I was looking forward to the bird chapters, but I found the generic chapter on birds nearly unreadable – slow and general, almost like a lecture for a freshman biology class. But the chapter on starlings, sparrows and pigeons was lively and interesting. Although not as good as some others, I also liked the chapters on Chickadees, Crows, and Hawks and Owls. The book ends with chapters on Chickens (I read about three paragraphs and skipped the rest; if you are an urban chicken fancier, you might like it), Trees (ditto) and humans (ditto).

In spite of my trouble with the style of parts of the book, I think this is an important book and an important topic.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the writing was a little rambling and the level of knowledge expected of the reader a bit uncertain, I still really appreciate the effect of the book. The author is a trained "eco-philosophist" and has made a wonderful practice of observing the natural world all around her home in Oregon. Yes, this obviously invites hippie, Portlandia-esque, earth-mother comparisons, but whatever - she presents just as much science as she does philosophy about human interaction with the "urban wild". And the result is that I'm ordering my first field guides to North American birds and trees so I can also become more observant and (hopefully) a more harmonious piece of the urban wild puzzle.

[Rift Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. I very much enjoy Haupt's way of writing, mixing in personal stories with interesting facts.

As a vegan, I was disappointed that she included chickens. There is a lot of unseen cruelty in the backyard chicken fad. For each and every backyard hen, there is a male chick who was killed mercilessly because he has no economic value. sad, please don't keep chickens!

[Judy Cloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book very much. It gave me lots of information about the animals living in our urban environment. The writing was entertaining and thought-provoking. I learned a great deal about animals I had taken for granted like the opossum and the mole for instance.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for $5 at JP's Papercuts even after telling the staff that I wasn't allowed to buy anything. A little deeper than "Unseen City" (by Nathanael Johnson) but still relatable and lovely. I learned quite a bit about birds and rodentia and have been trying to pay more attention.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a fun summer read

[Cindy Dyson Eitelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing and lovely tales of the animals and birds that live with us in our cities and suburbs; often told tongue-in-cheek: the four reasons why we hate rat tails. We do hate them, and there are reasons for it, and when you read this you'll understand why.

This turned out to be a a mixture of personal observations, science, history and even an occasional folktale. Delightful. On house sparrows gathering nesting materials in her chicken coop:

Finally, one male house sparrow selected the very biggest and longest--a primary wing feather. Such a prize! The feather was longer than he was but weighed nothing; he picked it up horizontally in his bill and attempted to make off with it, flying straight into the hogwire fence. Hogwire is characterized by vertical wire rectangles, two by four inches each, a good sparrow-sized opening but not a sparrow-with-long-feather-size opening. I was stunned to observe what happened next: the sparrow dropped to the ground, put his feather down, walked through the fence, then reached his head in, grabbed the tip of the feather, and pulled it through. This was problem-solving, the sort of thing we expect from primates and maybe the higher avian orders, such as corvids and parrots. Certainly not from a plain, hated little sparrow.
From Brian, a fish and wildlife officer:

If you move to bear country, there will be bears. If you don't want them to raid your birdfeeder, then take it down. If you don't want them to get into your garbage, then chain it up. Brian gets frequent callbacks:
"I did what you said, I put a bungee cord on the can, and bears still got into it."
"Bungee cord? You need a chain with a lock. It's a bear."
"But I--"
"It's a bear."

On a recent trip to the Texas hill country, I cringed to see all the Future Home Of... signs on narrow roads in the undeveloped wilderness. How many car-deer collisions will it take before the deer are driven away? How many raccoons will be relocated or shot because the new homeowners get their garage can dumped out on the ground? How many foxes will survive after people strew rat poison inside their garages?

I wish they would all read a copy of this book. Understanding the wild creatures might lead to tolerance, to co-existence. When I first moved to the suburbs I had the delightful experience of cleaning up all of the contents of my garbage can spilled in the street, but I learned to keep the garbage cans in the garage until trash day. I learned to keep the bird seed in rat-proof metal bins. And when a barred owl dive-bombs your head during a morning jog, look around to see where its nest might be--and take a detour next time. Let the critters live--or go back to your condo in Houston. Please.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humans are not the only animals in modern American cities. The author observes the animal life, with six chapters on furry mammals and six on birds. These chapters treat how these animals live, what they eat, how they raise their young, and how they interact, those that do, with people. She also includes a chapter on trees and one on humans.

I live in a semi-rural area hundreds of miles south of the author, but our critter population is similar to hers. I learned a good amount about these animals, and especially found the chapters on birds interesting. My favorite chapter was "Starling, House Sparrow, and Pigeon," which are all introduced species thought to crowd out native species. We have lots of sparrows and doves (no pigeons; they are strictly city birds), and recently starlings have started appearing at our feeders.

I was a little put off about how she said that almost everyone finds opossums repulsive, and also rats. I don't know that this is true; I've always thought opossums were cute, and like to see them in my area. I also find rats cute, as long as they aren't in my house (and pet rats are adorable), and respect their intelligence. She mentioned that some people don't like pigeons, and I've seen them compared to rats in other books, but I find them beautiful, with their varied and often brightly iridescent feathers.

The author tended to get literary, with less specific and more poetic prose about "the wild," which I don't care for, but she did it less in the bird chapters. The chapter about trees was unnecessary and, in my opinion, silly; she presents the opinion of some woman who believes that trees communicate explicitly with individual humans, using human concepts. She talks about how impossible this is, but seems to half believe it and wish that it was true. This almost brought my rating down to three stars, definitely down to three and a half. I rounded up because of all the good information in the rest of the book.

The chapter on humans focuses on how we can minimize our disproportionate effect on the earth, but it seemed more like ways to ease our conscience about it. Sure, if everyone stopped using clothes dryers (and air conditioners, which she did not mention), it might help a little, but more massive means are needed as well as a change in consciousness about it. Books like this one can help change consciousness at least about the other sentient beings we share the earth with.

[Zoom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's about the ordinary creatures we share our urban and suburban neighbourhoods with, including squirrels, crows, coyote, rats, raccoons, starlings, pigeons, sparrows, chickadees, hawks, trees and humans. Each one gets a chapter, full of interesting background, context and tidbits of information.

Haupt is a non-judgemental observer of nature. She addresses so many interesting aspects of nature, including the stigma some of these creatures have, and the tension between native and non-native invasive species. She talks about our human reactions when we witness predator-prey encounters. I remember as a kid watching documentaries and being so conflicted - I wanted the hungry predator and her young to eat, but at the same time I wanted the poor innocent hunted prey to live.

Woven throughout the book are excellent tips for living with and observing nature. The last chapter of the book, on humans, is especially good for this. I'm going to become an amateur phenologist, starting today!

Haupt writes in an engaging, conversational tone and she provides exactly the right amount of information. She has a great sense of humour and I know I'd really like her in person. If I could go for a walk with anybody, I'd pick her. I'm going to read all her other books, starting with Crow Planet.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 4 out of 5]

After over a decade in NYC and then in another apartment without much outdoor space, moving to one where we had backyard access and where I could just sit and watch nature was a bit of a revelation. Even if that space is literally just a patch of square in the city limits, but right on the edge of the suburbs, it's been pretty amazing and cool. Just to sit and watch the flitting birds and the playing squirrels and to be very surprised by some rustling at night that turned out to be a skunk who visited regularly ... it's pretty neat. And I'd like to be more schooled in it and pay more attention to the other beasties that share our space.

This books is helpful as a starting point. Most of it was really interesting and informative and I definitely learned things I didn't know about some of the creatures she highlights. It's also pretty inspiring. I doubt I'll ever be as observational and philosophical about these things as Haupt, but even to move a little bit in that direction would be nice.

[Bryony Angell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful, accessible, at times dream-like

Haupt's book is a pleasure read for urbanites wishing they were in the woods. She proves you needn't go far to find wildlife, birds, mammals and insects close at hand. She offers history of contact between humans and said species, current state and even suggestions for fostering more of the wildness at your doorstep. Haupt weaves personal anecdotes easily into her text which is the dream-like aspect of the title of this review. Her storytelling evokes shadows and hidden glens while imparting the natural history of the starling's introduction to the Americas or the social complexity of crows. This book is a broader look at the topics she writes about in her other titles. I might recommend reading this first of her several books, in order to understand her distinct voice in writing about human and animal inter-connectedness.

[Ryan Fohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

So happy to learn more about the animals that live around me. They are my noisy neighbors and we have to learn to live together. The writing was a pleasing blend of animal facts, personal anecdote, and poetry. (Also several literary references, quotes, and etymologies) The whole book shares a convincing philosophy of acceptance toward nature. It goes a little to far into woo woo with the tree chapter. You can’t use reiki (literal hand waving) to prove that trees can speak to humans! A very strange anecdote to include, which made me start to question the validity of everything else in the book. I think naturalists are generally optimistic people who want to find confirmation of their philosophy in the natural world. Each scientific discipline seems to attract a certain type of personality. Ultimately I feel like I learned enough to better observe and live with the creatures around me.

What I learned: “Observe” comes from the Latin for “to watch” and “to serve.”
Deer antlers are a living organ, and are the single instance of organ regeneration in mammals. “Humility” reminds us that we are connected to the earth from the Latin “humus.” Almost all names for the raccoon are related to their hand use. The Marabou stork is a fucking ugly bird. There are no cardinals in the Pacific Northwest. You can touch baby birds, adult birds will not “smell human.” Pigeons are not sky rats, they are urban doves. Hummingbirds are Western Hemisphere birds. The owl skull leaves no room for ocular muscles so the owl must move its neck to look at things.

[Athos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this very much. Increased my appreciation for all urban animals and birds. Makes city life a bit more lively knowing we are still sharing this impoverished ecosystem with some hardy, resourceful, and misunderstood wildlife.

I agree with her point that that the best thing humans can do for wild animals and their dwindling habitats is to live in cities, taking up smaller footprints. And even in the city, coexisting intelligently and sympathetically is more exciting and balanced than separating ourselves from the wild.

Goals after reading this book: see an opossum again (funniest chapter in the book was about the misunderstood opossum), spot an owl, learn to identify the shyer, less well known birds in the city.
AND, she had a whole chapter about trees! ha

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars. This was an interesting read told in Haupt's lovely style. I think it would be better read in bits and pieces -- a chapter here, a chapter there -- than all at once (like I had to do to get it back to the library) if the goal is to pleasure read it (rather than reading for scholastic or more devoted interest). There's a lot of cool information in there, but read straight through, it'll feel a little more textbooky; also, she has some really interesting takes on issues, but since some of them are repetitive as she introduces each new species, spacing it out over time would help draw attention to the specifics for each species rather than the parts that were touched on before.

[Ty · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘For so long we have mistaken human intelligence for all intelligence, limiting our understanding of the wild, nonhumans, and ourselves. The next step in the evolution of our own natural intelligence might be for us - as individuals, naturalists, scientists, just folks going along our day with creature of all kinds in our path - to allow the depth of animal minds and cognition to exist apart from a human yardstick, to recognize a plethora of intelligences that possess richness and value apart from how much or how little they resemble our own.’
-pg 235

[cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book - a delightful combination of field guide, personal essay, nature writing, with just a dash of mythology occasionally thrown in. She gives chapters to many of the critters and birds that we might likely encounter in our own neighborhoods and I particularly enjoyed the chapters on opossums and squirrels. Well worth a read, as was her book Crow Planet which led me to her work.

[TL Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read other of the author's books, and this one was very similar to those. In fact, you will find the same stories shared in multiple books of hers. That part always annoys me a little - reading the same story of the same bird multiple times makes a book feel stale and retread to me. However, overall, I enjoy her looks at nature in an urban environment and how she provides information that the average person can use and enjoy.

[Lynn Pribus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It dealt with various urban wildlife from coyotes to bears to squirrels to humans.
While we are more suburban/rural than urban we have many of the creatures she discusses. Squirrels and birds are regular bird feeder visitors and the bears and raccoons would be except I faithfully take them in at night. We also secure our trash can with sturdy bungee cords.

We also have deer who, the past two years (after many years of ignoring the) have taken to eating our tiger lilies before they can bloom. And the occasional opossum, ground hog, snakes and skinks. Once spotted a fawn, still wet, just outside our bedroom window. Mom had moved it into the adjacent woods within a half hour.

Actually, the wildlife is one of the joys of our home. Our lot drops down quite steeply into a state park area and sitting on our screen porch, as I am now, is almost like being in a tree house in the tree tops.