Theme; animals in the city

In the healthy city there are more than just streets and cars. In those cities we visited at the latest ecotrip, we found not only a lot of green areas but sometimes also animals. We all know old monuments of animals, risen to celibate their beautifulness and strengths, and I took some pictures of them too.

A goat at the school yard of a school in Tübingen, Germany. She haf five more friends just around the corner.

Sparrows on the shores of the lake Geneva, Lausanne, Switzerland. I think they liked people, as I could take this picture while sitting behind them. Cute.

Firebugs, Pyrrhocoris apterus, (order Hemiptera, true bugs) at a old piece of wood, in Breisach am Rhein, Germany. This place was not really in the city, but at the plateau with the Festspiele Breisach e.V in a small forest. One can think that more bugs, like dragonflies, beetles, ladybugs and butterflies should and would live in the city if it was a better place to live in.

Festplatz for the birds, next to Eberhardsbrücke, Tübingen in Germany. Here is food, shelter and sleeping room for birds. I guess, most for pigeons, but why not for bats and other creatures? Make more rooms for the animals to sleep in!

A bull bursts through bricks in Breisach am Rhein, Germany. Very popular to climb on even for adults (because the naked lady is on the top?!). Fascinating art that could be used more.

A horse close to the train station in Amersfoort, Netherlands. More than natural size and of course an eye-catcher.









 
Fishpond, Heidelsberg, Germany. Wolfbrunnen outside the city was a small city of it's own, with houses in the slops so huge height different apperared, and buildings was built in different levels, a church was at the top of the hill, the forest next by and the view were all to the valley. And they had this little farm, with a fishpond, hens, vegetables growing and nut trees.

Heidelsberg, a little lion statue. Just too show some of the importance of lions. We can see them a little bit here and there. Some lions look like nothing, when chinese people made them in present time and thought at dragons, a mysterious animal, but not so close to a proud lion.

Tübingen, pigeons on the roof. Pigeons are a common sight in in most cities in the world. They are acually very nice when they are in a large group, altrough the city council have a heck to get rid of their guano. But more to think, it is important for people to see (other) living things in the city. If we could have more green areas it would be more easy to clean (nature does it), and than means that we should have more birds and animals in the city -a so called positive feedback.

Geneva, Switzerland, (a lot of) pigeons on a green square.

Instead of climbing- and playground things in plastic to the kids, here is the ecological solution! Save the old trees and let the kids play with the animals in Lausanne, Switzerland..

A swan and ducks in Geneva, Switzerland. The shore side of Geneva is made of stones and asphalt, but a little edge and shallow water level makes this to a place for animals, even doe they have problems with duck pest it's not a bigger problem than people should shower after they bath in the lake.

Also in Geneva, a tree with animals.

Paris is too dirty for cats, so they have to stay inside to be lazy.

Geneva; statue, horse, eagle and man.

Spiders at the bridges in Tübingen, Germany, Luzern, Switzerland and in Paris, France. Briges makes a perfect habitat for them; under the ceiling and other constructions it is dry even when raining, and the river underneath and the electric lights in the ceiling attrac insects but put other predators away- spiders have the benefit with it's strong and light net, they don't mind the light of electric lights and are here the only predator- paradise for spiders and it means thousands of them.

Freiburg, Germany, hens close to the residential area. "Don't feed them, don't even go close"- oooops. I saw the sign to late. Here is the close-up.









 

Amersfoort, Netherlands. Not in the middle of the city, but in the middle of an industry area and next to the highway, we found both sheep and fallow deers. (click to zoom)

In Lausanne, next to the old city part; sheep!

So this is the same as streets with green or streets within green. How far away must we go, out of our world view to say "wow"? Dogs and cats- no, they are like humans, just that they poop all over the streets. What about all the worms, and micro organisms in the soil? Bees and other pollinators? All the dead animals in our stores. We forget it, because it's there always. Things that are too small or not interesting enough, we don't care about it. But what would happen if we let animals come closer? "But we can't have lions, horses or sheep on the streets!!"- no, but we can have statues, to celibate them (maybe as a result of an investigation for a wildlife project or restoration of a habitat or a protection of an area), we can use sheep as lawnmowers, and we can watch butterflies and bees when they pollinate beautiful flowers. Does it sound bad?

For the bees. Französisches Viertel, Tübingen in Germany