How Did Life Arise? Three Turning Points in Early Evolution 19 October 2026 at 05:01

How Did Life Arise? Three Turning Points in Early Evolution

By: William J. Broad · Kenneth Chang and Carl Zimmer

19 October 2026 at 05:01

Where did it start? How did it grow complex? Why did it get big? Three moments in Earth’s early history when evolution suddenly, inexplicably turned up the dial.

‘When they listen to this song, they know food is coming’: Burrolandia, a donkey obsession 19 October 2026 at 02:00

‘When they listen to this song, they know food is coming’: Burrolandia, a donkey obsession

The Guardian

By: Sara Escobar in Mexico

19 October 2026 at 02:00

Twenty years ago, Germán Flores founded a refuge for donkeys that faced abandonment, exploitation or slaughter, in memory of Roberto, a working donkey from his childhood. Once synonymous with the country, Mexico’s donkey population has plummeted in recent years. Burrolandia was founded in response to these dwindling numbers to provide dignified living conditions to about 100 ‘burritos’ who have suffered exploitation and abuse around Mexico

Twenty years ago, Germán Flores decided to start preserving the Mexican donkey, an endangered species with about 300,000 remaining in the whole country. Flores was inspired to take care of donkeys after learning that the donkey population in Mexico had decreased by about 60% between 1994 and 2010.

It was a natural decision for him: the donkeys are part of the identity of his town, Otumba in Mexico State. But while the annual national donkey fair purports to celebrate the animal, around the country they are also routinely mistreated.

Flores carries a young donkey at his sanctuary

Florida fisher dragged into water and killed by 12ft alligator 17 October 2026 at 11:23

Florida fisher dragged into water and killed by 12ft alligator

The Guardian

By: Eric Berger

17 October 2026 at 11:23

Steve Hamilton was fishing in Winter Garden when he was attacked by gator, which was later killed

A man fishing at a pond in Florida was killed on Friday by an alligator that was almost 12ft long in a rare kind of animal attack, according to authorities and media reports.

Steve Hamilton, 71, was on the shoreline in the community of Winter Garden when the animal dragged him into the water, the Florida news outlet WOFL reported, citing local police and the state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission.

How the quirky puffin became a symbol of the climate crisis – and hope 17 October 2026 at 07:00

How the quirky puffin became a symbol of the climate crisis – and hope

The Guardian

By: Stephen Moss

17 October 2026 at 07:00

In an extract from his new book, the nature historian explains how technology could help the seabird survive

For centuries human beings have exploited puffins, harvesting them by the thousand on their breeding grounds for their food and feathers. Over time, though, this relationship has changed, so that today we have come to love them, celebrating their quirky character and comical appearance and giving them a central place in our affections – a journey described by the environmental historian Dr Rob Lambert as the shift “from use to delight”.

How ironic, then, that just as we have come to truly appreciate them, our own existence now threatens theirs. The climate crisis threatens almost all the world’s roughly 11,000 species of birds, but its consequences have particularly dire significance for seabirds, whose life cycle is so intimately connected to the timing and abundance of their food supplies.

Country diary: The challenge of making a thatched roof pine-marten proof | Tom Allan 17 October 2026 at 00:30

Country diary: The challenge of making a thatched roof pine-marten proof | Tom Allan

The Guardian

By: Tom Allan

17 October 2026 at 00:30

Glenisla, Angus: Damage by squirrels is common; the mustelid less so. Still, as a local told me, ‘you cannae blame them wanting somewhere to live’

That the thatch is thick with moss and crusted with the brittle fronds of lichen is not unusual for a roof of this age. What’s puzzling me is the hole in its centre. It is about 10in wide – a dark scoop, as if someone has taken a giant ladle to the roof.

When I climb the ladder for a closer look, I can see toothmarks on the reed. I also see that the hole does not go all the way through – the animal obviously gave up after an exploratory burrow.

The week in wildlife: a penguin posse, a little leopard cat and a chonky squirrel 16 October 2026 at 03:00

The week in wildlife: a penguin posse, a little leopard cat and a chonky squirrel

The Guardian

By: Joanna Ruck

16 October 2026 at 03:00

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Bring a bottle: Viennese dog owners told to rinse pets’ urine from trees 15 October 2026 at 09:50

Bring a bottle: Viennese dog owners told to rinse pets’ urine from trees

The Guardian

By: Deborah Cole in Berlin

15 October 2026 at 09:50

Official guidance says ammonia in animal urine should be watered down to stop it corroding bark

A neighbourhood in Vienna has introduced guidelines for dog walking, including the use of bottled tap water to rinse away urine and protect vulnerable trees.

Neubau, an up-and-coming, densely populated district dotted with cafes and galleries, rolled out the Schönes Gassi (nice dog walk) campaign this week.

‘Like selling wolves from Yellowstone’: how protected US sharks are being sold off to foreign aquariums 15 October 2026 at 05:00

‘Like selling wolves from Yellowstone’: how protected US sharks are being sold off to foreign aquariums

The Guardian

By: Maya Yang in Delaware Bay

15 October 2026 at 05:00

While anglers cannot take endangered sand tiger sharks, a loophole lets private firms catch the fish to sell abroad, profiting from Delaware Bay’s conservation success

Shortly after 12.45pm, what remains of a 300-metre line goes taut. Somewhere beneath the murky green surface of Delaware Bay, on the eastern US coast, a sand tiger shark has taken the bait of a mackerel chunk. Marine researchers at the University of Delaware haul the line towards a small boat as the shark’s grey-brown outline emerges.

It is a large animal: 225cm (7ft) long with a 90cm girth. Its mouth hangs open, revealing rows of jagged teeth. The researchers work quickly, measuring the shark, recording its sex, and taking blood and muscle samples. A tag is then fastened beneath its dorsal fin, through its thick sandpapery skin.

Country diary: Thrilled by Darwin, and the wonder of worms | Lev Parikian 15 October 2026 at 00:30

Country diary: Thrilled by Darwin, and the wonder of worms | Lev Parikian

The Guardian

By: Lev Parikian

15 October 2026 at 00:30

Downe, Kent: It’s hard not to feel the earth move by a visit to the great man’s house. He truly valued these creatures of the dirt

The garden beds are moistened by steady rain, but the ground is still unyielding. A blackbird hops across bare soil. A dart, a jab, and up it comes – a wriggling tube of pink flesh. A simple catch. But when I rummage in the dirt, my only reward is loam under the fingernails. Perhaps I should have brought a bassoon.

I’ve come to Down House. Here, Charles Darwin changed the world. And here he wrote his last book, its title usually shortened for convenience: Earthworms.

From black soldier flies to mealworms: farming insects for food, fodder and fertiliser in Uganda 14 October 2026 at 06:00

From black soldier flies to mealworms: farming insects for food, fodder and fertiliser in Uganda

The Guardian

By: Umberto Diecinove

14 October 2026 at 06:00

Cultivating the nutritious bugs means families can raise livestock and enrich their own food, while lowering pressures on the land

A few minutes’ walk from his home in the Kyaka II refugee settlement, Kanane Bikanyale feeds black soldier fly larvae to chickens in a coop above a fishpond. The larvae disappear in a scrum of chickens. Nearby, more larvae grow in modified jerrycans, while adult flies are kept in netted boxes.

Bikanyale kept chickens before he fled to Uganda from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). But the cost of conventional feed and shortages of ingredients made them increasingly difficult to raise – a widespread pressure for millions of smallholder farmers whose margins are tight.

Kanane Bikanyale tends to his black soldier fly larvae in a rearing unit in the Kyaka II refugee camp in Uganda

Is the modern economic system broken? These urban beekeepers think so – and this is their solution 14 October 2026 at 05:00

Is the modern economic system broken? These urban beekeepers think so – and this is their solution

The Guardian

By: Zoe Williams

14 October 2026 at 05:00

At Bybi in Copenhagen, a dedicated group of staff and volunteers have built a community for all centred on the production of honey – much of which is given away for nothing. Could it be replicated elsewhere?

The bees at Bybi, a collective of beekeepers in Copenhagen, live on the roof. Their home is a complex of Victorian buildings, right in the centre of the city, that looks like an idealised vision of the modern social enterprise, ennobled by the architecture of the past. It’s a place of cottage industry in concert with nature, where the marginalised are brought in from the fringes and corporations stand waiting to help, where jobs happen but a lot of the work is done by volunteers, and where – this bit is important – a lot of time is spent discussing ideas.

Oliver Maxwell, Bybi’s 48-year-old founder, encourages me to examine the buildings more closely. They were once a prison, a workhouse and a hospital; their functions today – a homeless shelter, a young offender institution and, until recently, a job centre – are not so different. Denmark’s Victorian transformation, from “agricultural backwater to industrialised agriculture”, was reflected in how they treated people, Maxwell says.

Wildlife photographer of the year 2026 winners – in pictures 14 October 2026 at 03:41

Wildlife photographer of the year 2026 winners – in pictures

The Guardian

By: Matt Fidler

14 October 2026 at 03:41

A selection of the winning images from this year’s competition across topics ranging from underwater to urban wildlife, and photojournalism to mammal behaviour. The overall winner is Federico Veronesi of Italy for his powerful image of an elephant carrying a dead calf

The winning photographs will be showcased at the Natural History Museum in London from 16 October 2026 until July 2027

Scale back on hake and coley, seafood charity tells shoppers 14 October 2026 at 03:00

Scale back on hake and coley, seafood charity tells shoppers

The Guardian

By: Zoe Wood

14 October 2026 at 03:00

Declining stocks and increased fishing pressure have led to lower sustainability ratings for two popular cod alternatives

UK shoppers have previously been urged to avoid UK-caught cod and to buy European hake or coley instead – but now these fish are in trouble, too.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), an environmental charity, publishes its Good Fish Guide to help consumers and businesses make sustainable seafood choices. It uses a traffic-light system to rate seafood according to the health of fish stocks and environmental impact.

Pollinating insects flock to plants gardeners might think of as ‘weeds’ 14 October 2026 at 03:00

Pollinating insects flock to plants gardeners might think of as ‘weeds’

The Guardian

By: Patrick Barkham

14 October 2026 at 03:00

Citizen scientists on UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme recorded insect visits to flowers during 10-minute surveys

Ubiquitous urban plants often derided as “weeds” are the most attractive to pollinating insects.

The autumn blooms of common ivy, rich in pollen and nectar, are the most visited by insects including bees and butterflies, according to an eight-year study.

‘Shocking and sobering’: UK bird populations fall to lowest level on record 13 October 2026 at 11:08

‘Shocking and sobering’: UK bird populations fall to lowest level on record

The Guardian

By: Matthew Pearce

13 October 2026 at 11:08

Nearly half of species are in decline, with farmland birds and seabirds the worst hit, conservation bodies say

Wild bird populations in the UK have fallen to their lowest level since records began, figures show, with nearly half of species in decline.

Figures produced by leading nature conservation bodies for the government show that average populations across 132 native breeding species fell by 19% between 1970 and 2025, with farmland birds and seabirds the worst hit in recent years.

Scientists deploy a 24-armed secret weapon to save California’s kelp forests 13 October 2026 at 08:00

Scientists deploy a 24-armed secret weapon to save California’s kelp forests

The Guardian

By: Ben Tracy of Climate Central

13 October 2026 at 08:00

Team works to restore the sunflower sea star as 95% of these key underwater ecosystems have been decimated along the Pacific coast in past decade

Off the coast of Monterey, California, a team of researchers is gearing up for its first dive of the day into the cold and choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean.

On the back deck of the boat, Ashley Kidd, a co-founder of the non-profit Sunflower Star Laboratory, gave the divers their final command: “Dive No 1 … stars in the water.”

Trill seekers: can scientists use AI and tutors to help birds remember lost songs? 13 October 2026 at 05:00

Trill seekers: can scientists use AI and tutors to help birds remember lost songs?

The Guardian

By: Rebecca Ratcliffe

13 October 2026 at 05:00

When populations fall, fledglings can struggle to learn the right notes to attract mates. But research on how birds communicate offers hope for species’ survival

Listening to birdsong is one of life’s great joys, but when researchers heard a particular tune emerging from a tree in a Buenos Aires park, they were especially jubilant. This arrangement was among those chirped by the local rufous-collared sparrows in the 1960s, but had since disappeared from the area.

That was until scientists created a computer-generated rendition, curious to find out if birds might consider it realistic enough to imitate. Less than three months later, a local avian resident began to copy parts of the song.

The pest I’ll never forget: the relentless pigeon who stared and stared and ruined my spring 13 October 2026 at 02:00

The pest I’ll never forget: the relentless pigeon who stared and stared and ruined my spring

The Guardian

By: Morwenna Ferrier

13 October 2026 at 02:00

A living room encounter with a toast-loving pigeon proved a big mistake. It led to weeks of drawn curtains and crawling around on the floor to avoid its eerie and unerring gaze

The pigeon landed on the windowsill. It was shortly after dawn during the spring holidays, but I was 11 and had been up for a while eating toast and watching TV. It pecked at the window and I turned to see this bird pressed up against the glass. It was beautiful, with two dark wing bars and a navy-tipped tail. I was immediately taken with him. It wasn’t until later that I realised he wasn’t just looking inside, he was looking directly at me.

Pigeons are not that common in Somerset, and since we lived on the top floor of a house in a quiet village, our view was mostly sky, so we had come to really value sightings of them. We were having a run of beautiful mornings, and I enjoyed watching its peculiar rituals through the sash windows. The way he moved across the sill, his small dark doll’s eyes, his slightly unnatural head tilt, the way he seemed to know where he was. We certainly didn’t see pigeons as pests. Nor did we see them as threats.

Country diary: The story of birds starts with their feathers 13 October 2026 at 00:30

Country diary: The story of birds starts with their feathers

The Guardian

By: Mary Montague

13 October 2026 at 00:30

River Lagan, Belfast: Right now you can see winter in the black-headed gull plumage, and spring in the mallards’. Yet feathers are also vital to how birds even came to exist

On my walk along the towpath, I pick up a small grey feather. It’s a flight feather, probably from the wing of a feral pigeon. I stroke it absently as I watch the birds that are swimming on the river’s surface. Steeped in autumn sunshine, the different species are also feathered with other seasons. Summer is in the fuzzy down of a late-hatched moorhen chick. Winter gleams in the white heads of the “black-headed” gulls. And, while a mallard’s emerald-green head is, as yet, tatty as old velvet, his crisply curled drake’s tails herald the coming spring.

If the story of birds is told in their plumage, then moult – the shedding and regrowth of feathers – is the turn of a page. The moorhen chick reminds me that the first chapter is about keeping warm. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, almost tucking the pigeon feather in as well. While our hair and birds’ feathers are both made of keratin, they differ in how they grow. In essence, hair extends as a single linear thread, whereas down feathers emerge frothing in all directions. As a fledgling matures, its outer feathers then lengthen, with a central shaft supporting branches that can flatten out and zip together to make a smooth surface.

After two tragic incidents in months does safety at English zoos need a rethink? 12 October 2026 at 14:31

After two tragic incidents in months does safety at English zoos need a rethink?

The Guardian

By: Hannah Al-Othman North of England correspondent and George Francis Lee

12 October 2026 at 14:31

Even though a man was mauled to death by a tiger and three-year-old was attacked in crocodile enclosure, experts say public protection is robust

On a busy Saturday afternoon at a zoo in Yorkshire, visitors looked on in horror as a man climbed into a tiger habitat, minutes after posing for a photograph beside it.

Eyewitnesses said he scaled a metre-high viewing barrier, before dropping into the enclosure below, overpowering a woman who tried to pull him back.

The pet I’ll never forget: Pumpkin, the rescue cat turned social media star 12 October 2026 at 06:00

The pet I’ll never forget: Pumpkin, the rescue cat turned social media star

The Guardian

By: Chris Seelbach · as told to Faisa Mohamed

12 October 2026 at 06:00

Struggling to breathe, so big she could barely walk, Pumpkin practically begged for help when we met. Before long I was taking her home

Pumpkin arrived at our animal shelter in March, after her owner passed away. As CEO and president of SPCA Cincinnati, I expect something heartbreaking when my team asks me to see an animal – perhaps they have been neglected or abused. Pumpkin was neither. She was dirty and had some fleas but that was not our concern. She was severely obese.

At 25lb (11.3kg), Pumpkin could barely move. Her legs were bowed from the weight and she walked with a waddle. Examining her wasn’t easy. Her breathing became so laboured that she turned blue.

Man dies after jumping into tiger enclosure at Yorkshire zoo 10 October 2026 at 13:13

Man dies after jumping into tiger enclosure at Yorkshire zoo

The Guardian

By: Nadeem Badshah

10 October 2026 at 13:13

Police say man was pronounced dead at the scene after being attacked by tiger

A man has died after being attacked by a tiger after jumping into its enclosure at a zoo in Yorkshire, police have said.

Emergency services were contacted shortly after 1.30pm on Saturday when the man entered the enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, and was set upon by the tiger.

Country diary: The house martins are gone for another year. But they’re not forgotten | Ed Douglas 10 October 2026 at 00:30

Country diary: The house martins are gone for another year. But they’re not forgotten | Ed Douglas

The Guardian

By: Ed Douglas

10 October 2026 at 00:30

Lockerbrook, Derbyshire: Last week they were here, now they are not. Yet the details of their epic migration are still a mystery to us

The sudden absence of something, even though you know it’s coming, can dent the heart a little. The Japanese, inevitably, have a phrase for it: mono no aware, the pathos of things – and by things, in this case, I mean house martins.

Last week I had stood in the same spot, looking across the same valley. The weather then was much the same as it was today, low‑angled sunlight through patchy cloud lighting up the yellowing birch leaves and bronzing moors on the north-eastern slopes of Kinder Scout. It had picked out the spread wings of a buzzard a little below my eyeline, along with a haze of large insects, which in fact, I quickly realised, were house martins.

Nature boys and girls – here’s your chance to get published in the Guardian 1 October 2026 at 05:20

Nature boys and girls – here’s your chance to get published in the Guardian

The Guardian

By: Guardian community team

1 October 2026 at 05:20

Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children, about their autumn encounters with nature

Once again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14.

The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with nature – whether it’s a hedge full of berries, a beetle on the move, or a nervous deer.

Week in wildlife: a friendly seal, a furious goldcrest and ‘the swanfather’ 9 October 2026 at 03:00

Week in wildlife: a friendly seal, a furious goldcrest and ‘the swanfather’

The Guardian

By: Joanna Ruck

9 October 2026 at 03:00

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Country diary: A passing osprey needs to eat – but the local terns won’t let it | Claire Stares 9 October 2026 at 00:30

Country diary: A passing osprey needs to eat – but the local terns won’t let it | Claire Stares

The Guardian

By: Claire Stares

9 October 2026 at 00:30

Chichester harbour, Hampshire: I witness a battle of wills as this magnificent raptor attempts to fuel up on sea bass, before it heads south on migration

The autumnal sunlight gilded the sea as our boat drifted off Fowley Island, a small, uninhabited tidal saltmarsh between Thorney Island and Hayling Island. A colony of grey seals lay sprawled along the intertidal mudflats, their size and prominent, sloping Roman noses making them easily distinguishable from the more lithe, cat-faced common seals that also inhabit the harbour.

Two sub-adults were tumbling and splashing in the shallows, play-fighting with the exuberance of puppies. They mouthed and nipped at each other’s heads and necks, lunging and rolling over one another before disappearing beneath the waves, only to pop up again in a spray of water and resume their boisterous tussle. These playful interactions are a form of social bonding, but they also serve as a rehearsal for future dominance contests.

Scientists discover 180,000 giant tortoises on one Seychelles island 8 October 2026 at 16:20

Scientists discover 180,000 giant tortoises on one Seychelles island

The Guardian

By: South West News Service

8 October 2026 at 16:20

Free-roaming Aldabra population far exceeds human population of Seychelles after decades-long recovery programme

A survey of the world’s largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has discovered that the once endangered species is thriving.

A population of Aldabra giant tortoises lives on an island in Seychelles called Aldabra Atoll.

Can hope save the planet? An endangered parrot that is beating the odds can help us find out | Helen Pilcher 8 October 2026 at 11:05

Can hope save the planet? An endangered parrot that is beating the odds can help us find out | Helen Pilcher

The Guardian

By: Helen Pilcher

8 October 2026 at 11:05

A new global biodiversity report strikes an encouraging note. But we cannot rest on our laurels – and resilience is key

The new Living Planet Report is out. Published every two years, it assesses the health of the natural world and, historically, it’s made for gloomy reading.

Take 2024’s report, which showed global wildlife populations had plummeted by 73% in 50 years and that ecosystems were being pushed toward collapse.

Monkeys as service animals? The ‘bizarre’, tortured history of humans and primates 8 October 2026 at 08:00

Monkeys as service animals? The ‘bizarre’, tortured history of humans and primates

The Guardian

By: Matthew Cantor

8 October 2026 at 08:00

Ape Sh*t, a new zine by writer and designer Carrie McLaren, looks at the ways monkeys and apes have communicated to humans that they’re individuals too

Zines have always lent themselves to weird and wonderful topics, from sci-fi reflections to punk fanzines to radical political tracts. The underground, often homemade publications have offered readers and writers a way to throw themselves into niche topics since long before the internet.

For Carrie McLaren, a veteran zine maker, the latest topic of choice is admittedly “bizarre”, disturbing and darkly funny: the tortured relationship between humans and monkeys.

Tents, night-vision goggles, bear tracking kits – and even books: America’s first nature library opens 7 October 2026 at 07:00

Tents, night-vision goggles, bear tracking kits – and even books: America’s first nature library opens

The Guardian

By: Donna Ferguson. Photographs by Kevin Mohatt

7 October 2026 at 07:00

As well as books, the new facility in Colorado offers hundreds of kits to connect people with the natural world. We asked five of the first visitors what they thought of it

Mark Fink knows exactly why he opened the first public nature library in the US. “There are a lot of barriers for people to access nature here. We want people to learn about the birds and the plants in their own back yard and to appreciate that you don’t need a three-day camping trip in the mountains to experience nature.”

The library offers people in Colorado’s Adams county the opportunity to borrow books and equipment to help them to engage with the natural world – for free.

Wanted: children to rear harvest mice at home for wild release in Devon 7 October 2026 at 01:00

Wanted: children to rear harvest mice at home for wild release in Devon

The Guardian

By: Patrick Barkham

7 October 2026 at 01:00

Teenagers Eva Wishart and Emily Smith launch project to breed and release 250 of the tiny animals by September

Children in Devon are being invited to become “citizen captive breeders”, rearing harvest mice at home for release into the wild to help revive endangered nature.

Wild Pets, a new conservation project launched by two 14-year-old friends, is seeking 20 Devon-based children to rear hundreds of mice after the duo’s own successful restoration efforts.

Beautiful butterflies get more attention from the public – and from scientists 7 October 2026 at 01:00

Beautiful butterflies get more attention from the public – and from scientists

The Guardian

By: Kate Ravilious

7 October 2026 at 01:00

Research has shown that colourful and patterned species are the subject of more studies, and receive more conservation funding

Large and beautiful butterflies attract far more attention than species that are smaller and dull. Now a new study has shown that this bias towards beauty results in the boring butterflies being overlooked in conservation programmes.

To understand the link between beauty and conservation, researchers surveyed more than 21,000 people from more than 100 countries, asking them to look at photos of European butterflies and rate their beauty on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their first impression. The results, which are published in Current Biology, reveal that larger more colourful and patterned butterflies, like the yellow swallowtail, were consistently rated more attractive than the smaller, less conspicuous brownish species, such as the alpine grayling. That bias also extended into scientific research, with more studies on attractive species, and more funding and resource going into conservation of showier species.

The pest I’ll never forget: the cockroaches I still dream about 6 October 2026 at 02:00

The pest I’ll never forget: the cockroaches I still dream about

The Guardian

By: Anna Moore

6 October 2026 at 02:00

My student house in Manchester had several thousand other occupants. Despite pest controllers regularly dousing the property, the glossy, greasy, relentless insects marched onwards, endlessly reproducing

‘You do know about the cockroaches?” I’ve forgotten most things people said to me in the 80s, but never that. It was said by one of the occupants of the student house in Longsight, Manchester, that I had signed up to live in the following year. When the landlord had shown me and my future housemates the property, the tenants had been out. He told us they were third years doing their finals and must not be disturbed under any circumstances. (What can I say? We were gullible back then.) Days before summer term ended though, I’d knocked on the door to show a friend where I’d be living. Instead, I learned that the house was infested.

The weird thing is, we moved in anyway. In truth, although I understood this was very bad news, I didn’t quite realise what a cockroach was. There was no internet, so I would have had to go to a library to know what I know now: their march, their canter, their crunch if you step on one. Their soft, sweet, sour smell (uric acid which they store in their fat, apparently). Sometimes, in the back of a shop, or a restaurant loo, I catch that scent and I know what it is.

Welcome to the Jungle 5 October 2026 at 07:26

Welcome to the Jungle

MetaFilter

By: chavenet

5 October 2026 at 07:26

Infinite Jungle: Click or tap the scene, or press Enter / Return, to show or hide the menu. Double-tap on touchscreens to show it. The menu fades away after 3 seconds unused, except while Settings or Help is open. ? opens this guide with commands expanded, even with the menu hidden. Tap any command to use it; arrow buttons move the view one step. The sound button stays in the top right. Drag to travel; scroll or pinch with two fingers to zoom.

Tell us: have foxes caused friction among neighbours where you live? 5 October 2026 at 11:34

Tell us: have foxes caused friction among neighbours where you live?

The Guardian

By: Guardian community team

5 October 2026 at 11:34

If your local fox population has caused differences of opinion among neighbours, please get in touch

Have foxes in your area caused friction between you and your neighbours? If so, we want to hear from you.

Some people like to leave food out for foxes, while others take measures to try and deter them from coming near their homes – and this can be a point of tension between those living nearby one another.