"A Streak of Wild in the City"

In the everyday hustle and bussle of our city-dwelling lives, it's sometimes nice to be reminded that wild critters are out and about--indeed, actually flourishing--only a stone's throw away.

Recently near dusk, an ambulance went tearing down Grenough Boulevard, its lights and sirens blazing. I heard some yapping from what sounded like a bunch of small dogs. I thought to myself that they must belong to people over in the adjacent condo complex, Charles River Towers since our condo association has strict rules about keeping dogs and other pets on the premises.

A few days later, a memo appeared in our building. It mentioned that the noise was actually coming from coyotes! It seems that a pack of them are living on an adjacent track of land just to the south of our property, on what was once the old Army Arsenal complex. That land, once terribly polluted by the burning of depleted uranium, has been cleaned up nicely. After years of public hearings and tests, it's slated to become a public park in the near future. At present, though, the land is overgrown with weeds and vegetation. There are some rusty old abandoned buildings still standing.

It's fun to hear the howling of wild critters. Perhaps they mistake the ambulance for some kindred spirit, or perhaps even an "über coyote". I feel sorry for any neighbors who have small dogs or cats who they let loose, for those pets could easily fall prey to these extremely intelligent and opportunistic animals.

And, after all, it is a dog-eat-dog (or coyote-eat-dog) world out there.