Tiny Animal Street Signs Remind Us to Share Our Roads With Nature

Residents of Lithuania may have noticed a series of strange—and decidedly miniature—street signs popping up across the capital city of Vilnius lately. But while these shrunken signs may look similar to ordinary traffic notifications, they are, in fact, something entirely different.

#TinyRoadSign is a project of the Vilnius-based marketing and communications firm Clinic212. Rather than notify passing drivers of a pedestrian crosswalk or oncoming roadwork, the micro-signs are intended to remind Vilnians of their shared civic responsibility to the city’s other residents: It’s animals.

From pigeons:

To cats:

Ducks:

And even hedgehogs:

While the signs are, at face value, a lighthearted way to bring a little whimsey into the lives of passers-by, there’s also a real purpose to Clinic212’s art installation. It serves to remind us that the cities in which we live aren’t solely ours. Instead, we share with any number of other living creatures—creatures with which we must all find a way to coexist, two-legged and four-legged alike.

[via bored panda, all images courtesy of clinic212]