Making A Place For Wildlife In Our Communities

The Jonah Center for Earth and Art invites the public to a presentation and conversation on human responses to wildlife in urban and suburban settings, led by Liv Baker, PhD, a fellow at Wesleyan University’s College of the Environment. The event will take place on Tuesday, February 24, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the deKoven House, 27 Washington Street, in Middletown. (This event was originally scheduled for Feb. 10 but postponed due to illness.)

Some wild animals inhabit and even thrive in our urban and suburban neighborhoods. We often enjoy them, so long as they keep their distance from our hostas, vegetable gardens, and patios. When they come too close, we perceive them as invading our space, and our wonder, affection, and empathy can quickly turn to annoyance, fear, and an impulse to kill them.

Can we adjust our perspective and become more compassionate and less violent in our approach to wildlife in our midst? Aren’t we the over-populated ones, after all? What if we (re)designed our communities—our buildings, our roads, our personal and communal behaviors—to include the needs and habits of the wildlife that already share our urban and suburban environments?

Liv Baker will challenge the current approach to wildlife management in two key ways: 1) by examining the scientific validity of common policies and practices, and 2) by using concepts of animal-welfare science to suggest a more compassionate, individual, and animal-based approach to mitigating wildlife-human conflicts.

This event is free, though voluntary contributions to the work of the Jonah Center are always welcomed. For more information on the Jonah Center for Earth and Art, visit www.thejonahcenter.org