As cities grow further into wildlands and natural habitats, and as animals attempt to adapt to these urban environments, it is inevitable that people and wildlife will come into more contact.

My guest today, Jessica Wolff, works to help people and wildlife when these interactions occur. She is an Urban Wildlife Coordinator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. As an Urban Wildlife Coordinator, Jessica educates the public and fields calls from the public. These calls include questions about unexpected animals in people's yards and houses and reports of sick or injured wildlife in the city. And occasionally Jessica is dispatched to assess, capture, move, or otherwise help animals in distress.

Today we discuss the most common wildlife encounters that Jessica handles, ranging from coyotes, to bats, to raccoons, to fledgling birds. And this allowed us to get into some of the natural history and urban adaptations that these animals have..

Jessica also answers listener questions about bat boxes and fox burrows, and adds some insights into some of my own backyard wildlife.

I know that I'm coming away from this conversation with a better perspective on what it means to offer resources - intentionally or unintentionally - to wild animals.

You can find Jessica at jawolff93 on instagram, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife on Facebook or their website.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Links To Topics Discussed
The Accidental Ecosystem, People and Wildlife in American Cities, Dr. Peter Alagona. See my podcast episode with him, too.
BatCon International Bat House Resources
Bats and Insecticides from BatCon International
How do pesticides affect bats? – A brief review of recent publications, J. M. Oliveira, A. L. F. Destro, M. B. Freitas, L. L. Oliveira - from the Brazilian Journal of Biology
Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation
Nevada Department of Wildlife
PBS "Nature" Coywolf Infographic
Smithsonian Magazine article on "Coywolves" - Coyote and Wolf hybrids in Eastern North America

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

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