Wild Neighbors:  The Humane Approach to Living with Wildlife
Edited by John Hadidian, Guy R. Hodge,  and John W. Grandy

Published in cooperation with The Humane Society of the United States, this book shows readers how to peacefully coexist with furry and feathered inhabitants of the urban landscape. Packed with detailed 'how-tos' for dealing with everything from bats in your attic to deer in your garden. The book also provides background info on more than 30 animals and 'fun facts' about each animal.
ISBN 1-55591-309-1   Grades 7 and up
7 x 10, 288 pages
100 b/w illustrations
$17.95   paperback
Here in the Rocky Mountain West, a goodly number of the booklovers I know, not to mention librarians and book dealers, live in rural and suburban communities. In this part of the world, this means we coexist with bubonic plague infested prairie dogs, black bears with a taste for cookie dough ice cream, not to mention skunks, mice, rats, and cougars (!) Although the chances that a mountain lion might invade one's house in search of good literature in which to sink its teeth are remote, dealing with rodents and other invasive mammals can be a real problem.

This book provides sane advice for living with and if necessary, warding off, mostly fur-bearing pests. There are useful construction diagrams for critter-proofing homes and sage advice about animal behavior. One of the best tips for home librarians is the caveat concerning the ubiquitous electronic devices that purport to ward off animals by means of broadcasting high-frequency soundwaves. According to the Humane Society experts, there is no scientific proof these devices work, even though they are advertised in almost all the catalogs that promote alternative pest control.

Patricia J. Wagner
The Bloomsbury Review

In a world of skyscrapers and one-acre lots, we need to experience the joy of wild things. Wild Neighbors offers ways to enjoy wildlife and to deal with the inevitable encounters in a humane fashion. Packed with detailed "how-to" solutions for dealing with everything from bats in your attic to deer in your garden, from coyotes in your backyard to raccoons in your chimney, Wild Neighbors is a unique, user-friendly guide providing fascinating background information on more than 30 species of animals. Richly illustrated with detailed instructional drawings and species portraits, this book is perfect for those people who are confronted with the problems caused by human-animal conflicts around homes and buildings, and who must find solutions without causing harm to their wild neighbors. Wild Neighbors is highly recommended for all personal and community library wildlife reference book collections.
                                                                                  Bookwatch

Americans have found that "wild" animals near home are as engrossing as TV. Many cities have encouraged the return of deer to suburbia, raccoons to downtowns. The bird-seed business skyrockets. Families have become gentler and more accepting of urban wildlife mischief. If you want to teach that tolerance is fun, try wild neighbors.

Wild Neighbors is the best guide so far to calming over-reaction. The chapter on each pesty neighbor has a summary of the problem and solutions (tolerance, exclusion, scare devices, repellents, habitat management, capture).
                                                                          Whole Earth magazine