Page 42 - 2006 DT 12 Issues

City Slicker portedly stalking children. At the time, urban coyotes live in packs of five to six
Gehrt was a research biologist with the adults establishing territories of about
o longer just a romantic icon Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation in five to ten miles, considerably smaller
of the wide open West, coyotes Dundee, Ill. What was to be a one-year than their rural cousins. The population
Nhave succumbed to the lure of project to gather information on coyote density is, therefore, three to six times
the big city. A loathsome menace to live- populations in metropolitan Chicago greater in urban areas. Solitary hunters,
stock, they have now become the much has been renewed each year by Cook however, can cover as much as 50 square
maligned predators of pet poodles. Even County, partly because coyotes really miles in one night.
so, there is much to be admired about are wily. • Coyotes living in urban Chi-
this loveable pest. Catching coyotes is no easy task, cago are longer lived, having a 60
Always the ultimate opportunist, because these animals quickly learn how percent chance of surviving for one
the coyote has flourished in the face of to avoid traps. The few that managed to year versus their rural counterparts with
unprecedented urban sprawl, adapting stumble into them were fitted with radio only a 30 percent chance of living for
superbly to the disappearance of his collars and then released. What research- another year.
traditional habitats. On almost any urban ers found was that they had grossly • Most coyotes in this setting pose
golf course around underestimated the little threat to humans, except when fed
Las Vegas, you may coyote population. by people, even if unintentionally.
see a lone male in the Rather than a few “. . . Most coyotes aren’t thrilled
early morning trotting small packs dis- about being seen by people.” Gehrt says.
by on his way to snag persed throughout “Urban coyotes are more active at night
a meal, sometimes Photo courtesy of Stan Gehrt the city, the animals than their rural counterparts, so humans
right off the patio of were everywhere. don’t see a lot of their activity. In many
an adjacent home. “We couldn’t cases, coyotes are probably doing us
Walk your dog in a find an area in favors that we don’t realize—they eat
desert park and the Chicago where a lot of rodents and other animals that
odds are, even if you Stan Gerht holds a female coyote there weren’t coy- people don’t want around.”
don’t see a coyote captured in the Chicago metro area. otes,” Gehrt said. To further explain coyote behavior,
ranging through the “They’ve learned to Gehrt will turn his attention next to
brush, a coyote is watching you. exploit all parts of their landscape.” a genetic study of the coyote’s social
Since the early 20 Century, coy- With more than 200 coyotes now systems to determine if members of a
th
otes have been slowly moving east, tagged, Gehrt estimates their numbers pack are closely related.
ultimately colonizing such unlikely somewhere between several hundred As we learn more about the “trick-
places as Cape Cod and New York City. and a couple of thousand living in ster” of Native American lore, the coyote
Eastern suburbs, where urban sprawl Chicago. They live in parks, among may finally be given his due. No longer
is interspersed with woodlands and apartment buildings and in industrial just a lowly pest of the range, he has
cleared areas, are especially appealing parks, basically wherever they want to. become an urban dweller—a city slicker,
to this mid-sized canine. Deer and small Some of the study’s major findings and the wiliest phantom of the night. ❏
mammals are easy prey and pet food left show that
outside is easy pickin’s. • Coyotes help control Canada
Stanley Gehrt, assistant professor geese by raiding eggs from the nests, Acknowledge Fellow

of environmental and natural resources carrying them away and burying them Volunteers
at Ohio State University, is in his sixth for eating later. The annual growth of
year of a multi-year study of coyote be- the goose population, considered pests now a Friend who make’s a
havior in the greater Chicago area. The by most, has been reduced from about difference? Let us know! The
study was commissioned in 2000 by the 10 to 20 percent to an average of 1 to 2 Kboard of Friends is actively
Cook County Animal Control agency percent. seeking nominations for the following
in response to numerous complaints • Large packs are prevalent to annual awards:
about coyotes taking small pets and re- defend territory. Roughly half of all • Willow Spring: Awarded to

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