My Backyard Jungle

For James Barilla and his family, the dream of transforming their Columbia, South Carolina backyard into a haven for wildlife evoked images of kids catching grasshoppers by day and fireflies at night, of digging up potatoes and picking strawberries. When they signed up with the National Wildlife Federation to certify their yard as a wildlife habitat, it felt like pushing back, in however small a way, against the tide of bad news about vanishing species, changing climate, dying coral reefs. Then the animals started to arrive, and Barilla soon discovered the complexities of merging human with animal habitats. What are the limits of coexistence, he wondered? To find out, Barilla set out across continents to explore cities where populations of bears, monkeys, marmosets and honeybees live alongside human residents. Backyard Jungle brings these unique stories together, making Barilla's yard the centrepiece of a meditation on the struggles between animals and people coexisting in an increasingly urban world. Witty, original and insightful, the book invites readers to envision the world as other species might see it, and to imagine new possibilities for animals and humans living together.