Spring and summer, when the days are long and the evenings inviting, are great times to discover the variety of wildlife that lives alongside us in cities, towns and suburbs. In cemeteries, city parks, airport runways, drainage canals, undeveloped lots, playgrounds and backyards, many species of wildlife have moved into the city, or perhaps never left, adapting to life around people. We're often surprised when we meet wildlife in an urban setting, but the number and variety of animals living under our very noses is surprising, and delightful.
Early morning and evening are the best times to see city-dwelling wildlife and knowing where to look is essential. A park with bluegrass turf lawns but few other plants is unlikely to host much wildlife, but parks and open space with more variety of landscaping—native grasses and shrubs, trees, wildflowers—are home to all kinds of songbirds and small mammals. And wildlife can show up in surprising places.
Land humans consider waste or worthless—junkyards, abandoned lots, waste dumps, rough areas around industrial sites—is often exploited by wildlife. Junk cars, broken concrete pipe and abandoned sheds offer holes for mice, nest sites for songbirds, burrow concealment for skunks (entering such places might be unsafe, so observe from a distance). Jackrabbits like to hide under shrubs on dry, overgrown lots. And show a prairie dog an open field, highway median or untended strip next to a ball diamond and it'll move right in, with lots of family in tow. These 'dog communities act like a supermarket for hungry predators. Ferruginous and other hawks, coyotes, and owls arrive looking for a meal while bullsnakes and burrowing owls set up housekeeping in abandoned burrows. Power poles along roads and streets are great places to watch for raptors, from robin-sized kestrels to red-tailed hawks. Willow Creek Park in Lamar has become the unlikely summer home of Mississippi kites, a raptor species that is rare in Colorado.
At night you just might see bats hunting above streetlights; they're attracted by the insects that are attracted by the light. It may surprise us that bats are not uncommon city dwellers; at dusk they stir from their daytime roosts in attics and buildings, under eaves or other dark, secluded spots in the city. Sometimes you can hear the high-pitched squeaking overhead as the bats echolocate in search of food. Watch for them in your neighborhood and even in your backyard.