Animals like raccoons and opossums thrive in human spaces not because they’re pests, but because they’re adaptable problem-solvers.

Snakes are shy, mostly harmless animals wrongly feared as aggressive threats, yet they play a critical role in controlling pests and maintaining ecological balance.

Carnivores like foxes, bobcats, and hawks are intelligent and ecologically vital predators whose misunderstood behavior helps keep wildlife populations in balance.

Rodents are often dismissed as nuisances, but they are critical to ecosystems as seed dispersers, prey animals, and soil engineers.

Scavengers such as vultures and coyotes perform essential work by preventing disease, recycling nutrients, and keeping our environment clean.

Uncover the truth about bats—gentle, insect-eating, night-flying mammals that play a vital role in ecosystems and are far more helpful than harmful.

Think all bugs are bad? Discover why the tiny creatures in your garden might be the unsung heroes of a healthy planet.

Cause: Sport hunting, predator control, retaliation.

Effect: Some species are locally extirpated. Unregulated or illegal killing disrupts ecosystems.

Cause: Rodenticides, herbicides, insecticides.

Effect: Non-target animals suffer secondary poisoning, like hawks, owls, foxes, and bobcats eating poisoned prey. Insects that birds and amphibians rely on are also harmed.

Cause: Urban development, agriculture, deforestation, road building.

Effect: Animals lose access to food, shelter, and breeding grounds. Populations become isolated, which reduces genetic diversity and resilience.

Cause: Roads cutting through wildlife habitats.

Effect: Millions of animals are killed annually by vehicles. Some species suffer major population declines in road-dense areas.

Cause: Free-roaming domestic cats and dogs.

Effect: Cats alone kill an estimated 2–4 billion birds and 12+ billion small mammals annually in the U.S. They also spread disease to wildlife.

Cause: Greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.

Effect: Alters habitats and food availability, disrupts migration and breeding cycles, increases disease and extreme weather events.

Cause: Unsecured garbage, intentional feeding, compost, pet food.

Effect: Wildlife become dependent, lose fear of people, and are more likely to be hit by cars, harmed, or euthanized as “nuisance” animals.

Cause: Cultural myths, exaggerated media, lack of education.

Effect: Snakes, bats, coyotes, and others are killed out of fear or misunderstanding, even when they pose no threat and serve important ecological roles.