Spring is baby season for our urban wildlife. “Wild Neighbors” is one of several articles to assist the public with knowledge about many misunderstood animals, and hopefully patience. This article is sponsored by Project Coyote.
Coyote pups are being born and sightings of both pups and parents will start to increase as the young emerge from their dens. Encounters between pets and coyotes may increase as coyote parents are more protective of their young and of their den sites. All wild animals are more active as they hunt and forage for food for their young. Dog and cat guardians should be especially vigilant over the coming months to protect their companion animals by walking dogs on leashes when recreating in open space areas and by keeping cats indoors.
Nationwide, coyote sightings have become more frequent in our expanding cities and suburbs. The patchwork of green space and open areas provided by residential development offers much “edge” habitat where the coyote can find plentiful sources of food, water, and shelter.
Unfortunately, lethal control is frequently the knee-jerk response to the appearance of coyotes in both rural and urban areas. Although killing allows public officials to argue they are “doing something,” scientific research shows that killing coyotes to reduce their populations is most often futile. When coyote populations are suppressed they quickly rebound, filling in the vacant niches. Nature abhors a vacuum.
Non-selective killing methods - like snaring - often remove individual coyotes that have no history of conflict. Dr. Stanley Gehrt, one of the nation’s foremost urban coyote researcher’s states: “Indiscriminate removal may exacerbate a conflict, if coyotes that have a healthy fear of people are replaced by new coyotes that have little or no fear of people. Therefore, removal should be discouraged…and management should focus on public education.”
Public outreach is imperative to ensure that all residents do what they can to prevent negative encounters. Fundamental to resolving negative encounters with wild animals is reducing wildlife attractants. Keep pets and other domestic animals indoors at night, feed your pet indoors, walk your dog on a leash, keep refuse containers inaccessible to animals, and keep other food sources like fallen fruit and bird seed off the ground; these are easy ways to reduce conflicts. Unless people take responsibility to remove attractants to discourage unwanted wildlife, negative encounters will occur and wild animals will be destroyed.
Coyotes are a vital component of healthy ecosystems and play an important ecological role in keeping rodent and small mammal populations in check. They are also efficient scavengers and offer many natural services we may not fully appreciate. In honor of the coyote’s resourcefulness, intelligence, and rightful place in the ecosystem, the Navajo called the species “God’s Dog.” Coyotes have much to offer us, not only by keeping ecosystems healthy, but by providing inspiring examples of ingenuity and adaptability in an ever-changing world.
Special thanks to Camilla H. Fox, the founding director of Project Coyote (ProjectCoyote.org), a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Larkspur, California, a wildlife consultant with the Animal Welfare Institute (awionline.org), and co-author of “Coyotes in Our Midst: Coexisting With an Adaptable and Resilient Carnivore.”
Comments
Thank you for the informative article. "Nature abhors a vaccuum", very profound and true. Why can't the rest of humanity get the big picture? I always look forward to the next article. Keep 'em coming!
Loved the article. I do have one area of disagreement. Unless you specifically don't want your land to be a wildlife habitat for raccoons and deer, don't remove fallen fruit or acorns. Removing fallen fruit won't do much to keep coyotes away but it will take an important food source away from raccoons, deer and squirrels that may live around your house. I have fifteen acres and I want the animals to eat my fallen apples and pears. That's one reason why I planted the trees. But all of the other advice is priceless.
P Herochik makes a good point. I do know people who DO remove natural food sources from their yards, however they throw it into the woods nearby. There is no sense in throwing this into a landfill. Our homes and the often useless landscaping we plant takes a great deal away from Nature.
Wise farmers and gardeners have created "false" crops next to their main crops, which they claim is best solution for wildlife issues.
Now THAT is being a wise earth Steward!
Coyotes, like other wildlife are being squeezed out of their habitats by man, then man has the nerve to eliminate them. If we would just learn to live with our wild creatures so many of the problems would even out. Take care of our animals, domestic and wild. They are a part of us. Thanks for the article.
Good info. I just learned a lot.
The problem that I have with this article is that in Florida the coyote is not native, and is encroaching on the animals that do live here. Gray and red fox also help control the rodent population, and are native. Now they have to fight against a larger predator, not only for food, but also for survival. The coyote in native out west, not here in Florida. If we are going to protect our wild animals, lets start with the ones that actually belong here.
Terrific article! Joy, when you say coyotes are not native to Florida, how far back are you considering? Numerous coyote fossils from prehistoric times have been found here. In recent times, coyotes expanded their range into Florida during the 1970's or 1980's. Mankind may have been responsible for freeing a few into Florida's forests, but most came in a natural expansion at least 30 years ago. Coyotes are fully integrated into our ecosystem. How many of us can say our families have lived here 30 years?
Katherine, your articles keep getting better and better, love them, keep em coming! Thank you!
Who are we anyway,as a race that we think we should decide what gets to live and what has to be exterminated, I'm sooo tired of the human race fooling with nature and disrupting the harmony only it keeps,and yes nature can be cruel I realize this ,but it maintains the balances, our province here in Canada just finished putting on a bounty, 20.00 for the coyote's feet, we already have farmer's screaming about the amount of gophers, so what do they do but put a bounty out, to appease a few!
@Joy
We are not native!
Katherine, your articles keep getting better and better, love them, keep em coming! Thank you!
Who are we anyway,as a race that we think we should decide what gets to live and what has to be exterminated, I'm sooo tired of the human race fooling with nature and disrupting the harmony only it keeps,and yes nature can be cruel I realize this ,but it maintains the balances, our province here in Canada just finished putting on a bounty, 20.00 for the coyote's feet, we already have farmer's screaming about the amount of gophers, so what do they do but put a bounty out, to appease a few!
Coyotes are not hunted solely because they are close to civilization. They have proven themselves to be dangerous to people and property. Thus their numbers must be controlled since they are thriving off of their natural diet as well as the food people are providing them with.
How many children and pets would you let die before you did something? not many I'd guess...
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