Animal Trails
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:55 amCBS ran this good story about the wildlife bridge that will eventually cross the 101 freeway near Los Angeles. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/california- ... s-angeles/
It seems that a mountain lion, called P22, who once lived in the Santa Monica Mountains and somehow made it across the 405 and the 101 into Griffith Park, partly inspired this project. About one lion per year attempts to cross the 101 or the 405, and dies. Only P22 has made it. As we know, many creatures are hit and killed on roads. I read that about 100 people die too, each year, from hitting animals.
The wildlife bridge is a small step towards possibly slowing the extinction of the wild beasts. It somewhat enlarges the free range large predators like P22. In Griffith Park, P22 has a limited range, limited by freeways, only 8 square miles and no female to mate with. The normal range for his kind is 250 to 500 miles.
I wonder if there will be a trail across the bridge.
I live in the heart of a city. I am one of the few residents who has planted trees in the small spaces allotted to unpaved soil in front of houses in the city. The trees drop leaves on the sidewalk and street. As you know, many people think of fallen leaves as litter. I think of the leaves as a small extension of the biotic world, a minor attempt to reclaim what has been lost, something like a wildlife bridge. One of my neighbors rakes the leaves on the sidewalk and street in front of my house. I don't know why, for sure. What I would love to see, and do see sometimes in my imagination, is my neighbor coming out one day with a sledge hammer and removing the pavement, even a little at a time.
Meanwhile, I have plans to remove my driveway. I plan to replace it with bushes, another tree, fallen leaves and a trace of a trail. A scraggly coyote visits sometimes. Maybe, in a small way, I can increase his range, I can make his passage into the canyon behind my home somewhat more like it once was.
Wilderness need not be a place apart.
It seems that a mountain lion, called P22, who once lived in the Santa Monica Mountains and somehow made it across the 405 and the 101 into Griffith Park, partly inspired this project. About one lion per year attempts to cross the 101 or the 405, and dies. Only P22 has made it. As we know, many creatures are hit and killed on roads. I read that about 100 people die too, each year, from hitting animals.
The wildlife bridge is a small step towards possibly slowing the extinction of the wild beasts. It somewhat enlarges the free range large predators like P22. In Griffith Park, P22 has a limited range, limited by freeways, only 8 square miles and no female to mate with. The normal range for his kind is 250 to 500 miles.
I wonder if there will be a trail across the bridge.
I live in the heart of a city. I am one of the few residents who has planted trees in the small spaces allotted to unpaved soil in front of houses in the city. The trees drop leaves on the sidewalk and street. As you know, many people think of fallen leaves as litter. I think of the leaves as a small extension of the biotic world, a minor attempt to reclaim what has been lost, something like a wildlife bridge. One of my neighbors rakes the leaves on the sidewalk and street in front of my house. I don't know why, for sure. What I would love to see, and do see sometimes in my imagination, is my neighbor coming out one day with a sledge hammer and removing the pavement, even a little at a time.
Meanwhile, I have plans to remove my driveway. I plan to replace it with bushes, another tree, fallen leaves and a trace of a trail. A scraggly coyote visits sometimes. Maybe, in a small way, I can increase his range, I can make his passage into the canyon behind my home somewhat more like it once was.
Wilderness need not be a place apart.
