URBAN NATURE WRITER TO JUDGE BLANCHAN/DOUBLEDAY COMPETITION: Lisa Couturier grew up in Boston, worked 15 years in New York City, and now lives inside the D.C. Beltway. You might find it odd that this denizen of the country's most densely-populated urban corridor is a nature writer. She doesn't. “Stories of animals, rivers, and landscapes are also about people,” Couturier said in a talk May 21 at The Literary Connection in Cheyenne, Wyo. Her observations of animal-human intersections are featured in her book, “The Hopes of Snakes: And Other Tales from the Urban Landscape.” Although most of her neighbors in Bethesda, Maryland, seem to be too busy to notice wildlife, Couturier makes it her business. She ruminates on the differences between the dining habits of local vultures and eagles. “Vultures are like us – they eat what’s been around for a few days – and eagles kill and eat,” she said. After sighting a coyote in the area, she noted: “The eastern coyote is returning – they’re inching their way to the White House.” Couturier writes in her suburban studio. Her PC shares space with hundreds of animal artifacts: antlers, nests, and a falcon pellet in a glass box. Her other studio is the outdoors, where she spends a lot of time along the Potomac River and the Rock Creek Park system. To be continued....

- posted by Michael Shay @ 11:29 AM