The Other New Yorkers

Although New York epitomizes the urban, man-made environment, naturalists Gerald and Lee Durrell prove that the natural world surrounds the city dweller in a complex ecosystem. Using a variety of traps fashioned from household articles, the Durrells demonstrate that cockroaches, flour beetles, mice, spiders, and other creatures live side-by-side with man, even in Park Avenue high-rises. The couple moves outdoors to explore the plethora of animals, birds and insects that occupy the Jamaica Bay Bird Sanctuary and flourish amidst the crumbling structures of Ellis Island.