Have you been noticing wild animals populating the urban landscape? Perhaps a grizzly bear approaching a Dumpster, an owl spreading its wings under a bridge entrance, or a lone wolf staring out at you from a concrete pillar? Realistic, life-size paste-ups have been appearing on industrial surfaces from Capitol Hill and downtown to SoDo, out to West Seattle and beyond. Seen most prominently on the exterior wall of the Bridge Motel (a huge owl opening its wings oversaw this recent happening), these mostly black-and-white creatures are crafted by No Touching Ground. You can see a slideshow of his work at Flickr.com, under the name Lorenzo de Medici. (NTG has shown this year at both Zeitgeist Coffee and Elliott Bay Cafe.) Often affixed to cement highway supports in lonely corners of the city, NTG’s pieces bring a sense of presence to blighted areas. Though it might be tempting to call his work whimsical, the animals—grizzly bears, eagles, owls, wolves, and moose—are almost all predators. Depicted in natural poses, they might be looking for a meal. For the most part, the work is street-level, best viewed on foot or bike. Similar to encountering a live animal on a hiking trail, you might get the sense that it saw you coming. These are strangely confrontational beasts; with a staring eye, appearing out of nowhere, there is a bit of threat inherent here. Sometimes the work adopts a more playful stance, as when a pair of paper two-tone wolves are set walking across a field of graffiti, or installed on the already visually busy surface outside the Alibi Room. Here, the work calls itself out more self-consciously as art, yet somehow retains an untamed sense of surprise. Found on various urban structures around town, www.flickr.com/photos/67892602@N00.