The Beasts Among Us
Cities are manmade worlds, but there are still plenty of animals who share our spaces. On purpose even!
Most of all are dogs and cats, of course. You’ll see plenty of dogs in yards, keeping an eye on their home turf.
Cats, meanwhile, have more mysterious agendas.
Other Animals
But there are other animals you’ll see besides cats and dogs.
In one neighborhood, built on the grounds of an old estate, you can still see fish ponds from the old mansion, and the neighbors have kept the ponds stocked with koi.
One person keeps chickens. Their house is in a pretty heavily urban neighborhood, which probably helps keep them safer from the foxes which roam on my block.
And then a couple of houses keep bees. Here you can see a fresh shipment in a box that has been set down next to two permanent hives.
In Memoriam
And occasionally you’ll see tributes to late pets.
In a clearing in the woods near my home, someone put these stones in honor of Bear, Griz and Beorn.
And on the door of a local hardware store is a painting of the cat named Cop Car who used to live there.
I woulda loved the hardware cat.
When I met him he was pretty old and tired, but I guess at one point he worked hard keeping the mice out of things like grass seed.
Sounds like a kindred spirit to me!
One of my neighbors has a beautiful koi pond in his back backyard. I don’t see too many dogs out on porches but loads of cats.
I’m not sure how the koi survive — there are a lot of herons and raccoons in the area and they’re not the most energetic fish. Maybe they’re not as dumb as they look.
The four pampered ones only go outside to lounge during perfect weather.