Kieran Lindsey

Dr. Kieran Lindsey loves looking for wild things in all the wrong places…so she became an urban wildlife biologist. Her quest to entice others to share this passion led to flirtations with (gasp!) the media as a columnist for the Houston Chronicle newspaper, as writer-producer-host of KUNM-FM’s Wild Things, as co-producer of an Emmy-winning wildlife documentary, and at her Next-Door Nature blog. Kieran also has way too much fun as the official Animal-Vehicle Biologist for NPR’s Car Talk, and she isn’t ashamed to admit it. Read her blog at www.nextdoornature.org. Contact her at klindsey@giemedia.com.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

These nocturnal rodent lookalikes have a bit of a public relations problem.

Non-Stick

PMPs aspire to keep their customers’ properties free of flying insects. Aircraft experts aspire to keep their airplanes free of bug guts. Here’s a look at the science behind removing bug remains from “the friendly skies.”

Free-Tail Funnel Cloud

Each summer at Bracken Cave in Texas, the world’s largest urban bat colony takes to the sky.

Strangers in the Night

Field crickets become abundant around structures in late summer and fall. Their eggs are laid in the fall...so guess what they’re up to now?

The Jet Set

Chimney swifts are a protected species even if they’re in customers’…uh…chimneys. Installing a chimney cap as a way to exclude these birds (and other wildlife) is a seasonal — and preventive — service PMPs may want to consider.

[Next Door Nature] Social Network

When you think about it, Facebook isn’t just an online community. It’s a kind of virtual hive. As a result, Mark Zuckerberg likely owes more to wasps than he ever may have realized.

[Urban Wildlife Control Issue] Urban Development

Why do raccoons thrive in our cities? In part because they can turn a garbage can or Dumpster into a convenience store.

[Ant Biology] Sorority Girls Gone Mild... And Wild

Ants are totally social, didyaknow?

[Summertime Fun] Sparks

What is it about fireflies’ blinking butts that takes you back to childhood?

[Next-door Nature] Leftovers

Urban wildlife are adept exploiters of the humans with whom they live. And easy access to consistently plentiful human-produced food waste is a primary reason for the success of many wild species in urban and suburban habitats.