Wildlife in NYC
 

No, not clubbing - deer. A pair of deer were found in the loading area of a major store in Brooklyn and no one can figure out how they got there - since there is no open space nearby. After being tested for health by animal control they will be released in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

So far we haven't had any bear - you have to go to New Jersey for them - but wild animals seem to be turning up in the city more and more often.

Wow, maybe they feel like they're missing the action, tired of the wild or maybe the ecology of their habitat is changing making them uncomfortable...

We have seen a wild turkey near the Staten Island Ferry. I guess he listened to the advice here and just saw it from the boat.

The deer actually migrated to a Target store in the Bronx. In days past deer would migrate to where the feeding was good. Nowadays - they are looking for sales.

Wow! it is so strange to see animals out of their habitat.

Now,.... I will swear on a stack of bibles that I saw wolf trot down the middle of my street about 2 years ago.
I opened the front door right as he was jogging by at a good clip! He looked right at me! I whistled and he made a sharp left turn into a side yard of a neighbor up the street.
NO One saw him on the street so of course noone believes me.

I went up to my computer and googled wolves and coyotes - he was no coyote!!!

More wildlife - Parrots have been living around Brooklyn College for a few decades. Seems someone probably had a pair as pets and they literally flew the coop. Now there are a whole bunch of them. They've somehow accommodated to the winter.

More wildlife - Parrots have been living around Brooklyn College for a few decades

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Those are just the assistant professors hoping to given tenure.

There are also parrots in the belfries at Green-wood Cemetery.

>>Wow! it is so strange to see animals out of their habitat.<<

To the contrary, deer, fox, raccoons, wolves and coyotes are common in many urban and suburban areas.

Is it only news if it happens in NYC?

>>There are also parrots in the belfries at Green-wood Cemetery>>

Can somebody tell me why Green-Wood is hyphenated?

Since the Bronx is the only part of NYC attached to the rest of the United States, one wonders how they arrived at the various islands.

It is a well-known fact that is very hard for the deer and fox to secure E-Z Passes to transverse the waterways by the tunnels and bridges.

Of course there are the hyenas and vultures of Wall Street and the sharks that circle the court houses. There used to be chicken hawks but they became extinct when Times Square was cleaned up.

Of course, Oxgirl, parrots may be indigenous to your town.

annesherrod, it was probably a coyote. I wasn't there so I'm only suggesting because coyotes are not than uncommon in large cities. They go where the food is and dumpsters outside restaurants are a buffet and also no shortage of mice and rats.

But he looked like a wolf!!! I swear!!

But, you and everyone are probably correct!
He had the same face and tail as a wolf!!! so there!..:)

Well, being in the Bronx makes at least a little sense - the report I saw said Brooklyn.

Coyotes and wolves look a lot alike - but wolves are MUCH bigger. And typically won;t go anywhere near people. How big was it? (A wolf is the size of a very large dog.) Are you sure it wasn't a feral dog?

As to how the animals got to the various islands - Long Island is actually a terminal morraine from the last ice age (10,000 years ago). And I would suggest that the animals reached all of the islands before there was much - if any - water separating them from the mainland.

Of the nine most densely populated cities in the US, nine of them are either NYC or in the NYC metropolitan area.

So for a fox or deer to be seen in these areas, they must wait for a school crossing guard or look both ways before crossing. And even though Manhattan has the spectacular Central Park, most parks are concrete and the deer would have to know how to play a tough brand of b-ball to survive adn know the phrase, "We got winners."

Now Robert Moses wanted to have a continuous swath of parks through Queens, which would provided a safe haven for many types of animals but things like the Van Wyk, Grand Central and the LIE just made it impracticable for animals, especially at rush hour.

Each borough has a zoo, so we are aware of animals. The one on Staten Island has a fine collection of rattlesnales right near the cafeteria. But many were brought there.

nytraveler - This animal was very large. He had a big head and a tail of a wolf - I only know because I researched both as soon as i shut the door.
He was def wild - maybe feral - but I live in a fairly big city in the midwest and we dont get deers or any similar creatures in this part of the city.

I do love seeing the hawks that nest in nearby buildings now!