Human-wildlife interaction in a city on the edge of the wild

Missoula, Montana Pop 75,000

Missoula is a relativity small, but rapidly expanding city in Western Montana surrounded by wild areas and home to an abundance of wildlife. Urban environments continue to grow across the world and it is important to understand the impact that cities may have on different species. With this photo story, I am exploring human-wildlife interaction in Missoula to gain insight into how humans and wildlife can better co exist in cities.

There are many aspects of the man-made environment that make it an appealing habitat for wildlife. Cities provide plenty of opportunities to dig a burrow or build a nest, they usually have an abundance of food even during dry periods, and some prey species may favor the urban environment because it shields them from larger predators who aren’t welcome. Mason Fidino is a quantitative ecologist with the Urban Wildlife Institute in Chicago, Illinois. He says that many animals are “synanthropic misanthropes”, meaning they love the city, but hate the people. Wild species do their best to take advantage of the opportunities that urban life has to offer, while avoiding humans as much as possible.

Human-wildlife interaction is often talked about in a negative context, like traffic collisions, attacks on humans or gardens being devoured. However, not all interaction is negative. There is research showing that urban wildlife can have a beneficial impact on the mental health of human residents. For residents of cities to be able to look out their window and view wildlife is a reminder that they are a part of a larger ecosystem and connected with nature. Wildlife scientists are currently working to understand how cities can be more intertwined with nature and the impact they are having on different species all around the world.

With my photos, I want to encapsulate the many different sides of human-wildlife interaction, positive, negative and neutral. Further, I want to show how wildlife are using the urban environment from their perspective. The main characters for my story are the wildlife species I capture, but also the people who are interacting with these species, like the wildlife technicians from Custom West Pest Control and everyday Missoulians.

Rattlesnake

John Stetka of Custom West Pest Control, grabs a ladder to place optical gels, a foul-smelling bird deterrent, around a house to ward off nesting pigeons.

Rock Pigeons patrol the roof of a home in the Upper Rattlesnake. They found the newly installed solar panels to be a great nesting site. Pest control evicted the pigeons from this site by simply installing a netting in between the roof and the panels.

A stop sign that has been used extensively as a “buck rub.” Bucks go through a yearly cycle of growing antlers, shedding the velvety fur on their antlers and eventually shedding their antlers. To aid in shedding the velvety coat off their antlers they will often rub them against thin trees or low-lying branches.

A wild turkey searches for food in the front lawn of a house in the Rattlesnake neighborhood. Their diet consists of acorns, nuts, seeds, fruits and insects.

Two male turkeys stand next to a pickup truck with matching colors to their facial features.

Farviews/Pattee Canyon

John Stetka steadies a ladder for Andy Knapp as he installs a metal sheet onto a wooden beam to prevent further damage from woodpeckers.

A homeowner shows wildlife technicians Andy Knapp (center) and John Stetka (right) where northern flickers have been doing damage, around the attic vents surrounding the house.

Riverfront

Canadian Geese graze in the lush grass of the softball field at McCormick Park.

A House Sparrow gathers nesting material outside of Allegiance baseball field. Nests are typically made from coarse dried vegetation and lined with finer materials like feathers, string and paper (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

A colony of cliff swallows nest under the Orange Street Bridge. Cliff swallows build their nests out of mud and fly around in intricate patterns as a group to catch insects. Depending on where nests are constructed, droppings can be a nuisance for humans. Cliff swallows are federally protected under the migratory bird act which makes it a crime to interfere with their nesting site once they have established themselves.

Captain John Mullan

Andy Knapp cleans out dryer vents filled with lint and/or bird nests at the Mullan Reserve apartments. The old vent covers are replaced with magnetized covers designed to keep birds out.

River Road

Left, John Stetka removes old fiberglass insulation from a home crawlspace infested with mice.

The homeowner was unaware of the mice until the odor on the floor above became overwhelming. Over 33 mice were nesting in the crawlspace insulation and using a bag of dog food in the garage as a food source.

Below, The fiberglass insulation is replaced with rigid foam insulation, which is more energy efficent, moisture resistant, and will keep mice out.

Bagged up insulation sits beneath cobwebs in the crawlspace with mice droppings littering the floor.

Rose Park

A metal outcropping on the side of a closed down business serves as a nesting sight for a group of House Sparrows. The house sparrow is found throughout North America and actually prefers to nest in man-made structures like the eaves of a building or streetlights instead of natural sites.

A hobo spider, identified by its light brown color and thin stripe down the center of the head, is an invasive species in Western Montana. It was introduced from Europe in the 1930s and has since become established in six states in the pacific northwest. From late summer to early fall male spiders will wander around looking for a mate and will commonly enter homes on the ground level through any cracks or crevasses that may exist. A bite from this spider is thought to be harmless to humans only causing mild pain and redness.

A lesser goldfinch calls out after striking the window of a home. Clear glass is essentially invisible to birds and experts estimate that an average of 600 million birds are killed each year in the US due to window strikes. This bird flew away moments later seemingly unharmed, just shaken up.