To our animal lodgers our homes are caves. In this extraordinary world, carpet beetles stalk our floors and clothes moths knit their own jumpers from fragments of wool; dustmites swirl in the hurricanes of vacuum cleaners and termites carve out a solid door. Even our beds shelter two million companions. In cities kites grab their own takeaways, while gulls and vultures recycle our rubbish. Stone martens disable car engines, skunks kerb crawl and monkeys mug people for food. In the man-made canyons of New York City the peregrine swoops dramatically on its pigeon prey.