Be On The Look Out: Young Wildlife in Urban Spaces

In this episode, host Rick Schwartz shares insights on wildlife behavior, specifically focusing on the young animals we tend to see out and about this time of year. Rick is always happy to encourage everyone to take the time to observe wildlife; as long as it is from a safe and respectable distance. After all, observations often lead to better understanding and appreciation of the wildlife and world around us.


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Podcast Music: Positive Carefree Folk Pop
Artist: Burgberg
Used with Full Music Standard Lic.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And as I'm walking up the slope, I could feel that feeling, you know, that that feeling we get when something is definitely staring at you, right off my left side. And I looked over and I didn't see anybody. And I looked again and then I looked carefully. And there in the scrub of the hillside was this coyote, ears up, looking at me, not aggressive, not threatening, but looking directly at me, watching me as I walked by. I'm Rick Schwartz, educator, public speaker, and all-around curious guy. Over the years, my curiosity and experiences, along with the many people I have worked with, revealed to me we all have a desire to feel connected to the natural world. You're listening to Animals, Nature, and You, a podcast that explores a connection between animals, nature, and humans. A podcast that celebrates learning more, following our curiosity, and reconnecting with the natural world. Welcome to another 10-minute Tuesday here on Animals, Nature, and You. And of course, I'm your host, Rick Schwartz, and of course, I am very excited you're here. Full disclosure, I had planned on doing a different episode. I was planning on diving into some of the fan mail. So if you're listening on a podcast player, that very first link in the episode description offers up a way for you to get in touch. You like back in the day, people would write letters to their shows. This is a way to do that fan mail version. If you don't do social media, I know a lot of people have taken breaks from social media or just have chosen to step away from altogether, which I fully respect, complete respect on that one. But uh, if you have done that, if you don't get a hold of me on social media, this is a way to get a hold of me. Some people have been leaving messages, questions, and we've been going back and forth via the fan mail. Others, I think they're great questions and I wanted to share in a podcast episode and answer them there. So I've gotten permission to do so. So that's what this episode is going to be. However, last night when I was out for a walk, or I shouldn't say night, it was evening right before and and after sunset. As I'm walking back up a hill that takes me back to where I live, and I do live near green spaces. I see wildlife quite often here in San Diego. I can feel something staring at me. You know that feeling, right? Where you just like, what? Someone's looking at me. I can tell. I don't see them, but I I can tell. And so off my left shoulder, I kind of glanced over and it's just open space, but there was nobody there. And I still got that sense though that something is there. So I I stopped and I looked. And the the hillside sloped that I was on sloped down and away from me, and then came back up the other side, probably about 20, 25 yards away, meters, whatever you want to call it, somewhere in there. And as I looked carefully in the scrub and all the plants that are there, there was a coyote staring back at me, standing there, just casually, relaxed body posture, ears forward and eyes forward, all right at me. And I I look at it. I I it was so beautiful. And I mean that in the sense that the coat was perfect. It looked like it was fresh out of I don't know, the groomers. I know coyotes don't have groomers, but having seen coyotes plenty in my life throughout the green spaces here in San Diego, I could tell by that coat and how good it looked that this is a young juvenile early adult that probably just recently left to s to strike out its own territory. And looking around, I could tell by watching its body posture and how it was facing me and looking at me, and it wasn't listening for anybody else or looking for anybody else. It was on its own. And I thought it was just gorgeous, it was a great moment. And I just watched for a while, took my phone out, took a couple pictures, and then I I went about my my evening. And then the next morning when I got up, I live in an apartment complex and I my windows face a courtyard, and there's there's no reason for this species to eat be in this courtyard. But there was a full-size egret sitting on top of an umbrella just looking around like I don't I'm not sure what I'm doing here. Egrets are usually near creeks, ponds, lakes, rivers, things like that. There is a creek about a mile south of here that is at this point very low in this time of year. So I'm guessing, and and again, looking at the plumage, looking at its body posture, guessing it's a youngster striking out on its own for the first time, exploring the habitats that are near where it lives, and it found itself here in this apartment complex. If you want, I have some pictures uh I posted last week on Instagram. This is when all of this happened, it was a week ago from when this episode comes out. And so there's a picture of the coyote there, and there's a picture of the e-crit. Then I just finished breakfast and getting ready to head out for the day, and a friend of mine sends me a text and then calls me. And they they found a baby bird and they weren't sure what to do with it. Is there anybody they can take it to? What should we do? And I could tell in the picture that this was a freshly fledged bird, meaning that it was still a youngster hanging out with its parents, probably. Feathers were enough in place that it was obviously big enough that it tried its first or second flight and it was exhausted, and that's why it allowed them to approach and was probably sitting on the ground. This happens often when a baby bird fledges for the first time, it is exhausting. They're using so many muscles they've never used before. And so they just sit and wait. And mom and dad are usually in the area bringing them food to bring their energy back up so they can try again and eventually become better at flying. The point of all this, and the reason I bring this all up, is not to go, look at all the cool wildlife that's around. I'm not, I'm not snow white, and I don't sing a happy song and all the animals show up. The point being this time of year. So we are at the end of June when this is being recorded, the beginning of July when it comes out. In the northern hemisphere, this time of year, many young animals that were born or hatched earlier this this year are now striking out for the very first time on their own. Oh, and the other thing too, then at lunch, I'm scrolling through Instagram and Kelly Ripa on her program live with Kelly and Mark, she had footage that she filmed of two juvenile owls. And I could definitely tell they're juvenile, still had some fluff. And they were on a house and they were doing the owl head thing where they pivot and roll around because that's how they get a better view of what they're looking at. They're trying to understand what they're looking at. And she was saying that they were looking at her and the dog and Mark as well. And so it again, it was a reminder to me that within two days, really less than 24 hours, because the coyote was in the evening and the other animals all in the same day, that this time of year we see behavior from animals. We can cross paths with animals. They are a little, it seems bold, like their behavior is bold. These owls are hunting the dog, or the eager that is in the middle of a courtyard of an apartment. Like, why are these animals being so bold? Or the coyote on that hillside watching people go by on the road. It is more often than not. Also, this time of year, you'll hear about sometimes hawks or other owls in Central Park or other parks grabbing people's hats or swooping down at them with their dog. These are inexperienced juvenile animals who don't quite understand the rules yet, and that the a dog is too big for them or a person's hat is not food. But they're so hungry and they aren't quite up to speed yet of adult bird of prey behavior or egret behavior or coyote, which normally an adult would be like, I see people, I'm going the other way, because especially walking or riding on the road, because that's not a food source. But a youngster is trying to figure things out still. They're gonna sit there and watch. They're gonna do you have food because you smell like an area that has also trash cans, which has food, or the picnic that was left behind at the park. So the whole point of this episode is to bring up that I want you to be aware. I want you to be aware that wildlife that we share space with in urban, suburban, and even rural areas have youngsters right now that are starting to be separated from mom and dad or just mom on purpose. It's part of the growth cycle and they're trying to figure things out. And sometimes it feels like they're being a little more bold than usual, and we can feel like, oh, what's going on? Something's wrong with them, or I should call someone to help them. Here's my advice to you take time to observe. Find safe and appropriate distance and just observe. You'll be amazed at what you get to learn. Now, often, like the coyote, they'll just observe right back, maybe they're eventually walking away. But this can be true for raccoons, skunks, squirrels, other bird species, you name it, anything that we live in the same space with, if you happen to come across them, I'd be willing to bet if you just sit and observe, you get to learn something new. Now, of course, if the animal is truly injured, that's when you call for some services. I'll have links down below in the show notes. Along with my website, there'll be information on how you can reach out to people to find assistance for injured wildlife. But if it doesn't look injured, I would recommend you just leave it alone. Let it be there. Parents are going to be there to feed it, or it'll figure its own way through the process of growing up, becoming an adult of its species. So that's it. That's today's 10 Minute Tuesday. I want to remind you, if you haven't already, please hit subscribe or follow. We have new 10 Minute Tuesdays every Tuesday. It's in the name. And then every Thursday, we have an awesome interview with an awesome person doing awesome things. And of course, if you have any questions or comments, you can hit that fan mail link if you're watching or for your YouTube. You can also leave a comment on the video. And go to my website, zoologyrick.com, or just find me Zoology Rick on most social media. So with that, we're gonna wrap it up. Have a good one, everybody.