Sometimes I think we just need to slow down, and recognize that the organisms around us are just trying to survive. We may be self-centered as a species (which aren’t?), but we also have the ability to look beyond ourselves and have empathy. As I write this I have Vaux’s Swifts roosting in my chimney and to be quite honest, they are only partially welcome (imagine chirping birds in your bedroom wall in the middle of the night). This is exactly the point, these birds aren’t thinking about me or my need to wake up at five. They are just finding their own space, particularly where we’ve taken up far too much.
A good number of the frustrations and annoyances we have with other species relate to their style of rearing young. Often, they’re just being excellent mothers (and parents). So, in honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I’d talk about a few species I know can be trying to us as neighbors on the Hill.
Raccoon (Procyon lotor) A female raccoon making a nest in your crawlspace or attic is an entirely unwelcome discovery. However, keep in mind that a mother raccoon is a single parent of two to five kits. Males play no part in raising young and for raccoons it’s not a simple wean them and kick them out situation.Once a mother raccoon has gotten her babies to the point of being mobile, she has months of teaching ahead of her. Raccoons are smart, social animals, and in order for youngsters to be successful, they need to know how to find food and shelter. In the city, they also need to know how to avoid confrontations with people and their pets. This takes a lot of coaching, and mom doesn’t get any peace until the fall, when the litter are finally large and experienced enough to make it on their own.
Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) A lot of us have similar feelings toward opossums as raccoons; except that raccoons are far more cute. Both species dig through our trash, eat pet food outside, and can cause a general ruckus. Yet, baby opossums crawling on the back of a mother are one of the most adorable things we can see in the city.
A female Virginia opossum can give birth to around 30 young, but being a marsupial, not a placental mammal this isn’t as alarming as it sounds (still it’s a lot). Usually only a fraction of those young survive, with milk production limited to 13 teats. Even though they soon graduate from her marsupial pouch after a couple months, baby opossums can’t seem to get away from the idea of clinging to mom. It is not uncommon to see a mom opossum practically buried in babies, who won’t leave her until they’re around 5 months of age. What makes this even more astounding is that Virginia opossums have short lifespans, of only a year or two. Such matronly devotion, which takes up such a significant portion of their lives, makes them top mothers in my book.
Barred Owls (Strix varia) For those of you who run through our local parks, you may have had encounters with these intense owls. Barred Owls are fiercely territorial and when they have chicks, female birds can be very aggressive. This isn’t always the case and while I’ve not heard specific tales about owls on the the Hill, it’s not uncommon to hear about aggressive owls swooping down on folks enjoying a stroll or run in a local greenspace. Maybe it’s just me, but getting my scalp cut up isn’t my first choice of how to start or finish a day.
The thing is, these owls are just doing their best to be good parents. A female Barred Owl invests around 60 days into incubating and raising young before they fledge (most of this time the male is bringing her food). Afterwards, she and her mate spend the next several months raising them to the point that they can catch their own food, and move off into other territories nearby. Until they are seen off though, both mom and dad have their hands full with screeching, hungry fluff balls that will follow them around with endless pits’ of stomachs. I’ve watched this process, and to be frank, it looks horribly exhausting.
Check out this live camera of a Barred Owl nest in Indiana. At the time of writing, one youngster was still yet to fledge and is sitting outside the nestbox.
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Opossums are a non-native invasive species in Washington State. Last time I checked, Washington State suggested using a pest control service to trap then euthanize them. If one is inclined to handle it himself/herself/itself, remember: they “play possum.”
opossums have naturalized and are found along the Pacific from Mexico into southern Canada. they belong here as much as all non-Native tribe humans.
John, Barred Owls are not technically native either (they appeared in our state essentially following logging operations that created habitat for them). And if we really want to get into it, Raccoons have expanded their range and numbers because of humans.
There are a lot of other ways to exclude opossums if we don’t want them in our area (https://wdfw.wa.gov/living/opossums.html). Our first move doesn’t need to be killing them. Besides, considering they are far from the worst non-native species we have, the likelihood we’d actually remove them from Washington is next to zero.
The point of this post was to consider creatures that are admirable for their maternal devotion. Non-native species are the norm in urban landscapes.
Happy Mother’s Day!
i love these posts. so many nature lovers choose city life for a bunch of legit reasons–but (speaking for myself anyway) feel the disconnect from nature very profoundly. capitol hill is a wonderful place to live as a human – i can obtain at least ten different kinds of vegan ice cream within a 20 minute walk of my apartment (the definition of a good life according to younger me). but i want to appreciate the nonhuman residents as well, and i seek out natural experiences in my daily walks as much as possible (noticing what’s flowering, identifying street trees, etc.) – these kinds of posts help me feel that i’m not alone in that. thank you!