Campus carnivores: Overlooked wildlife thriving in exotic tangles can change our perspective

Noah D. Charney, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, ME

We dream of pristine landscapes far off in the wild. We cast from our minds the degraded, invaded, disturbed, and unsightly places around us. But wild animals aren’t so judgmental. I discovered this in one abandoned corner of a university campus. If we get to know our local nature, we may shift our viewpoint, change how we manage our local environment, and bring our dreams closer to home.