Blog

Wildlife in Durango is a unique feature that almost any tourist will find fascinating, and I say so after being astonished my first time in town. The purpose of my blog is to share some details from my interviewees that I thought was quite fascinating but couldn’t fit into my story.

The coordinator of outdoor pursuits on FLC campus, Brett Davis said “Deer living in town is not healthy.” A society of processed, chemical-filled food affects the animals in this area who find an easy meal in backyards and trash cans. People in America eat this contaminated, nutrient-deprived food due to lack of knowledge. My argument is that we should not let our lack of concern effect the creatures around us who have no capability to change the circumstances.

“It's unsporting when wildlife live in town because during hunting season they don't know they are supposed to run from hunters and are an easy kill” Ann Butler, a local resident said. “These deer are half wild, half civilized” said Brett Davis. “They don’t run from humans and look healthier out in the wild.” This human-wildlife relationship is usually damaging to their instinctive nature because they lose the ability to defend themselves.

Ann Butler also added that local body shops benefit from the unaware wildlife who become victims of roadkill. The animals lose their life and people stimulate the local economy with new purchases. I thought it was interesting how wildlife could indirectly affect business. For quite some time, I wondered if the moral obligation to respect wildlife was acted upon in this town.

“We don’t tell people about this, but when people or cops illegally kill animals, we have a spot to place dead carcasses to decay, but the location is disclosed” said Joe Lewandowski. This does not mean that Durango is a moral breaking population, but simply means that not all people share a common respect for animals. For the most part, people speak praises for the friendly creatures and I myself enjoy the company.