Group+2+Ecopuppet


 * //Setting//**: New urban park located in a former forested area.

Research- from Parker, T. and Nilon, C. (2008). Gray squirrel density, habitat suitability, and behavior in urban parks. //Urban Ecosyst//. 11:243–25.

- Increased density, increased intraspecific aggression, and a reduced fear of humans have been suggested as the more observable and frequently described characteristics of wildlife species undergoing synurbization, the process of becoming urbanized Once upon a time, in a faraway land full of buildings, there lived a squirrel named Nancy and a black bear named Ruben. Both enjoyed taking long walks on the streets while chatting about the good old days.
 * //Narrator://**

On a sunny Friday afternoon, Nancy and Ruben decided to meet at the corner of Pine and Berry Road. They couldn’t wait to catch up and speak about their new lives and exciting adventures.

//Ruben and Nancy enter the scene….//


 * //Ruben//**: Hiya Nancy! How ya doin’ on this hot sunny day?


 * //Nancy//**: Hi Ruben….I’ve been great! You know how much I love sunny days! There are always so many humans taking walks outside and leaving all of their delicious snacks out for me to eat.


 * //Ruben//**: Snacks?? What kind of snacks? Nancy, you know I LOOOOOVE snacks.


 * //Nancy//**: Well it’s been a good day for that Ruben. For breakfast I found half of my favourite sour cream and glaze doughnut from Timmies in the garbage can in the Promenade park. …. Later during the day I found this human eating a hot dog while talking on the phone. As soon as he put that thing down, I ran so fast and grabbed that hot dog as quick as I could. Hahahaha, you should have seen the look on his face when he finished talking on the phone and couldn’t find his food.


 * //Ruben//**: Wow, that's pretty aggressive of you Nancy!


 * //Nancy//**: Well it's a squirrel-eat- squirrel world out there! With all the food left behind by the humans there are squirrels everywhere, so you can't be afraid, you have to go for it! And I'm not always thinking in the now you know, I've got to plan ahead for the hard times! But its great I found some pipes that work really well for storing food! Don't need to worry about finding a space to dig a hole!


 * //Ruben//**: But you've got those sharp nails perfect for digging...


 * //Nancy//**: Ya well, they still come in handy, I've gotten into a few scraps with some greedy squirrels lately, they seem to be everywhere and a girl's gotta defend herself!


 * //Ruben//**: Fair enough, and you're right I have seen so many of your kind around, so I guess you have to do what you have to do!


 * //Nancy//**: That's right! What about you? What do you think of this new way of life?

It’s been really tough for me. I spoke to my friend Grizzles the other day. He’s been livin’ in that forest on the other side of the bridge, and he says that he’s gained a ton of weight with all those berries and fish from the river. He invited me over, but I can’t cross that bridge. I explained to him how different I looked and he couldn’t believe it. I hardly consider myself to be a black bear anymore with this new grey fur.
 * //Ruben//**: Oh, well I definitely miss the good old days in the forest … I’d have berries for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nowadays I can’t find a berry anywhere, the only berry I see around here is that street sign.


 * //Nancy://** But Ruben…. That grey fur has helped you camouflage yourself with the streets. No human can ever spot you. Some of these humans even think I’ve gone a little crazy because they always think I’m talking to myself when I’m with you.


 * //Ruben//**: You’re right Nancy, it does help me survive…. But I miss being big and strong like my friends. Without any protein, I’m as skinny as a bee. I haven’t even been going to my weight watchers meeting, all of those fat raccoons started getting jealous with my successful weight loss.


 * //Nancy//**: Well it sounds like you could use a good meal, and it looks like we're in luck. A bunch of high school kids just left their garbage from lunch on the bench over there. You wait here and I'll see if I can scrounge up something good for us!!