Animal Spotting

I like it! I like the idea anyway...haven't read the book because it hasn't yet been published:  "Animal London: a spotters' guide" (by Ianthe Ruthven, Random House UK, February 2012). This is about walking around London and looking at architecture, statuary, etc. to find the variety of animals depicted. It's always useful to look around you in London, especially upwards. Above the shopfronts (depressingly uniform) are often some lively architectural features, if not actually anthropomorphic or zoomorphic then amazing displays of craftsmanship and design. Just don't trip when you're looking up (in Camden, it's better because they've been replacing all the sidewalks (pavements) recently with evenly laid concrete tiles.

Once having learned about this idea of spotting animals in an urban setting, I tried it out in Durham. What I found was one lonely sign depicting a gull. Interesting though; this gull belonged to a group of volunteers who have organized what they call 'empty shops' – renting empty shop space as temporary galleries, exhibitions, and performances. Seeing as how up to 30% of high street shops are now vacant in some towns, this seems a good use of resources and a laudable thing to be doing in these recessionary times.

Meanwhile, I looked up spotter's guide (always singular) on the internet and was surprised to find it is a standard term for animal spotting. Lots of books, but mainly on spotting animals in the wild. One, however, told you how to do it in a zoo. Finally, I ran across an article in Time Out, the premier entertainment guide to London, which listed the wild animals one can see in London itself (including the Thames)*: badger, bats (16 species), Canada goose, common seal, damselflies, dragonflies, fallow deer, fox, grey heron, grey squirrels, Harris hawk, hedgehogs, mice, northern bottlenose whale, otter, pelican, peregrine falcon, ravens, rats, red deer, ring-necked parakeet, signal crayfish, sparrow, stag beetle, water vole. The emboldened ones I'm aware I've seen myself in London, but I must say, whoever made up this list isn't a bird-watcher! And what happened to butterflies?

* See the article for more detail on the animals and where to find them. They also ask for contributions to what you've seen. I'll do the same...