Too Close for Comfort A Project Wild Activity

About a mile from your school…

So what happens when people build next to natural areas…

In Colorado, people who are caught feeding large animals have to pay a $50 fine.

Here's one reason why. According to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, a family just outside of Denver started feeding foxes and deer in their yard.

Soon mountain lions showed up to catch their favorite food--deer. Then cats and dogs began to disappear from people's yards.

The mountain lion had to be trapped and killed to make the neighborhood safe again.

Sometimes wildlife seems to want to say, “Don’t get too close!”

When crowding occurs, many animals react with bizarre or aggressive behavior.

Animals may display their discomfort by: fleeing, grinding their teeth, coiling, hissing, stomping their feet, snarling, or coughing or acting sick.

If animals feel threatened by people or other animals, they might: flee fool fight

flee… flee…

fool… fool…

or fight! or fight!

Some birds are so disturbed by the presence of people that they become stressed and will lay fewer eggs, abandon their nests, or leave young birds to fend for themselves.

Adapted from Horned Lizard (Southern American Desert) This is one of the grossest creatures around. When the Horned Lizard gets really scared, it shoots blood out of its eyes by increasing the blood pressure in its sinuses until they explode. Ouch. The blood doesn't hurt the lizard's enemy but it really freaks them out, so the Horned Lizard has time to escape.

Adapted from Skunk (North America, Europe) Everybody knows skunks use their gross smell to scare away enemies but not too many peeps know how they do it. A skunk has two glands just behind its tail that make the foul-smelling spray. The smelly stuff is shot out of two tubes near its tail. It can aim the spray by twisting the tubes in all directions. The skunk's spray can shoot more than 10 feet. If you get hit in the face with the stinky stuff, it can cause temporary blindness and vomiting. How gross is that? Spotted skunks get funky before they spray. Before spraying their enemy, they do a handstand and wave their back feet around as a warning... or, maybe they're just showing off!

Fulmar (Europe, North America) If there were awards for the most disgusting animal, the Fulmar would probably win big. The Fulmar looks like a seagull and its name means "foul-gull." These icky birds defend themselves by projectile vomiting at their would-be attackers. They can hurl up to five feet at other birds that attack them. The puke isn't just disgusting, it's also acidic, so it can eat through the weatherproof coating on the enemy bird's feathers. Eeeewww! Adapted from

Tarantula (U.S.A., South America) Most people know they shouldn't touch a wild Tarantula but it's probably not a good idea to get too close to them either. When a Tarantula feels threatened it uses its feet to grab hairs from its back and then throws them at its opponent. They are barbed, kind of like fishhooks, so they're hard to get rid of and they really sting when they get in the attacker's eyes. Ouch. Tarantulas need this kind of protection because they're pretty vulnerable. If a Tarantula falls it'll shatter and die. Adapted from

Mimic Octopus (Ocean near Indonesia) The Mimic Octopus is the real master of disguise. It can shape-shift into scarier creatures so predators don't eat it. The Mimic Octopus can change its color and shape to imitate a venomous Lionfish, a Mantis Shrimp, a mass of deadly Sea Snakes or a bunch of other sea animals. Adapted from

If some animals are too crowded, they may develop skin diseases like mange.

What happens when animals don’t have enough space?

Think about it...  Describe negative results of crowding for humans.  Describe negative results of crowding for animals.

What can we do about it?