City Creatures: Animal Encounters in the Chicago Wilderness

390 Pages·2015·18.14 MB·English

by  Gavin Van Horn (editor), Dave Aftandilian (editor)

City Creatures

City Creatures
Animal Encounters in the
Chicago Wilderness
Edited by Gavin Van Horn
and Dave Aftandilian
Assistant Editor for Art: Lisa Roberts
Assistant Editor for Poetry: James Ballowe
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
Gavin Van Horn is the director of Cultures of Conservation for the Center for Humans
and Nature, a nonprofit organization that focuses on and promotes conservation ethics.
He writes for, edits, and curates the City Creatures blog at www.humansandnature.org/blog.
Dave Aftandilian is associate professor of anthropology at Texas Christian University.
He is the editor of What Are the Animals to Us?: Approaches from Science, Religion,
Folklore, Literature, and Art.
Published in collaboration with
the Center for Humans and Nature
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2015 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Printed in China
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 19289- 5 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 28929- 8 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226289298.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Van Horn, Gavin, author, editor.
City creatures: animal encounters in the Chicago wilderness /
edited by Gavin Van Horn and Dave Aftandilian; assistant editor for art Lisa Roberts;
assistant editor for poetry James Ballowe.
pages: illustrations; cm
Essays, poems, and artwork about the wildlife that inhabits the city of Chicago.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-226-19289-5 (cloth: alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-226-28929-8 (e-book)
1. Urban animals—Illinois—Chicago. 2. Human-animal relationships—Illinois—Chicago.
3. Animals and civilization—Illinois—Chicago. I. Aftandilian, David, author, editor. II. Title.
QH541.5.C6V36 2015
591.75′60977311—dc23 2015001523
∞ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Acknowledgments · xi
Introducing City Creatures · Dave Aftandilian
and Gavin Van Horn · 1
1. Backyard Diversity
Up Not Out · Janice F. Meister · 14
Keeping Chickens · Terra Brockman · 15
Holding Backyard Chicken · Colleen Plumb · 23
Consumes mi dolor . . . mi muerte (You consume my pain . . . my death)
Alma Domínguez · 24
Looking Up · Melinda Pruett- Jones · 26
Fieldguide · Mark Crisanti · 33
Falling Apart · Tom Montgomery Fate · 34
Five Squirrels Froze · Susan Hahn · 43
The One That Hums · Kendra Langdon Juskus · 44
Mysterium Opossum · Lea F. Schweitz · 45
Raccoon · Amy Newman · 51
Fox · Cannon Dill and Brett Flanigan · 52
The Fox · Amy Newman · 54
A Eulogy for My Friends · Steve Sullivan · 55
Prayer for the Squirrel
Martha Modena Vertreace- Doody · 62
Murder · Maskull Lasserre · 63
Asha: jewel of the Nile · Xavier Nuez · 64
The Western Scarab · Ed Roberson · 65
Visits from a Messenger · Nora Moore Lloyd · 67
The Oracle of Wasps · Patricia Monaghan · 72
2. Neighborhood Associations
Chicago Wildlife · Johannes Plagemann · 76
Keegan’s Story · Martha Modena Vertreace- Doody · 77
Zoo Woods · Martha Modena Vertreace- Doody · 79
Hubbard Street Murals · Leslie Berish, Augustina Droze,
Ricki Hill, Chris Jones, Neil Shapiro, and the
Hubbard Street Mural Project Volunteers · 80
A Tale of Two Squirrels and One City · Joel S. Brown · 82
Noble Horse Stables · Brooke Collins · 89
Rooftop Beekeeping · Kyle Gati · 90
Pigeons · David Hernandez · 91
DH + BH · Camilo Cumpian · 93
Civitas Canis lupus familiaris · Michael S. Hogue · 94
Y ora pa onde chingaos · Alma Domínguez · 102
Aquí se hace tarde demasiado temprano · Alma Domínguez · 103
Wanting Was an Alley Cat · Susan Hahn · 104
Ferrets · ROA · 105
Kiskinwahamâtowin (Learning Together): Outdoor Classrooms and
Prairie Restoration at the American Indian Center of Chicago
Eli Suzukovich III · 106
Owl · Brooks Blair Golden · 114
The Red Fox Who Toys with the Dead · Brenda Cárdenas · 115
Remaking Our Covenants of Life and Death on the Dunes Commons
J. Ronald Engel · 117
Nikki: (hiphop) dancing queen · Xavier Nuez · 125
Crickets · Jill Spealman · 126
The Boarding Stable · Joseph Kayne · 127
3. Animals on Display
Dolphins at Play · Gregory J. Auberry · 130
Train to the Zoo · Joan Gibb Engel · 131
Puma · Carlos Ernesto Uribe Cardozo · 138
Bridging the Divide: Pondering Humanity at the Zoo
Andrea Friederici Ross · 139
Bushman, Field Museum · Colleen Plumb · 146
Nature on Pause · Peggy Macnamara · 147
A Museum of Change in Illinois · James Ballowe · 155
Chicago Mammals, Field Museum · Colleen Plumb · 156
A Living Taxidermy · Rebecca Beachy · 157
Happy Birthday · Sonnet L. Schulz · 165
Six Sketches at the Field Museum · Benn Colker · 166
Playing for Life: Learning to Care about Nature at the
Hamill Family Play Zoo · David Becker · 168
Field Museum, Drawer of Bluebirds; Field Museum, Drawer of Cardinals;
Field Museum, Drawer of Meadowlarks · Terry Evans · 175
4. Connecting Threads
Flock · Ryan Hodgson- Rigsbee · 178
Migration: A Bird’s and Birder’s Eye View · Joel Greenberg · 179
Birds Spotted While Hiking Wooded Isle, Hyde Park, Illinois
Diana Sudyka · 187
The Song of Northerly Island · Wendy J. Paulson · 188
Wildlife Comes to Lake Shore Drive, Endangered Species
Michelle Kogan · 195
A Siege of Herons: Nycticorax nycticorax · James Ballowe · 196
Orchids and Their Animals · Stephen Packard · 198
Massasauga Rattlesnake · Blake Lenoir · 207
The Last Roundup: Observations on a Local Population of the
Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake · Stephan Swanson · 208
Snake 2 · Julie Meridian · 215
Butterfly Collection · Julie Meridian · 216
Letting the City Bug You: The Artistic and Ecological Virtues of
Urban Insect Collecting · Andrew S. Yang · 217
Untitled · Arthur Melville Pearson · 224
Being Unseen: The Gift of Oppiella nova · Liam Heneghan · 225
Soil: Alive with Life · Sharon Bladholm · 233
The Indomitable Water Bear · Alex Chitty · 235
Burnham Centennial Prairie, Lake Shore Drive
Martha Modena Vertreace- Doody · 236
Visitations · Elise Paschen · 238
Extinct Animal Series: Schomburgk’s Deer, Golden Toad, and
Pink- Headed Duck · Jiha Park · 240
5. Water Worlds
Stroll · Ryan Hodgson- Rigsbee · 242
Washed Up on the Shores of Lake Michigan · Curt Meine · 243
The Alewives · Todd Davis · 253
Alewives · Colleen Plumb · 254
The Fanciful Fairy Tale of Freezing Frogs · Jill Riddell · 255
Pescado Blanco en Río Chicago (White Fish in Chicago River)
René H. Arceo · 262
Heavy Water · Kim Laurel · 263
Canoeing through History: Wild Encounters on Bubbly Creek
Michael A. Bryson · 264
Riverwalk Gateway, the South Branch of the River
Ellen Lanyon · 272
Riverwalk Gateway · Ellen Lanyon · 273
The Fish in the Cage · Todd Davis · 274
Pond Reflection · Eleanor Spiess- Ferris · 275
Flood · Eleanor Spiess- Ferris · 276
Calumet: Requiem or Rebirth? · John Rogner · 277
Bubbly Creek · Ryan Hodgson- Rigsbee · 287
6. Coming Home to the City
Untitled · Molly Schafer · 290
Great Migrations: Immigrants to the Indiana Dunes, from
Grandparents to Great Blue Herons to People of Color and Conviction
Gary Paul Nabhan · 291
Desenredando Fronteras (Unraveling Borders)
Hector Duarte · 295
Eye and Cardinal · Tony Tasset · 296
“Hardy, Colorful, and Sometimes Annoyingly Loud”:
The Hyde Park Parakeets · Dave Aftandilian · 297
Flock of Pigeons · Jyoti Srivastava · 309
Endangered Species · Mary Cross · 310
Pigeon! · Andrew S. Yang and the Small Science
Collective · 312
Sheka’kwa and the Skunks of My Re- Rooting
Marynia Kolak · 313
Care Bare · Ryan Hodgson- Rigsbee · 320
Nature Calls · Ryan Hodgson- Rigsbee · 321
Above All · Kendra Langdon Juskus · 322
Untitled (I Promise to Forget You) · Steve Seeley · 323