Stan Gerht and friend
Even in the largest American cities, a historically maligned beast is thriving, despite scientists’ belief that these mammals intently avoid urban human populations.
This animal’s amazing ability to thrive in metropolitan areas has greatly surprised scientists, says Stanley Gehrt, an assistant professor of environmental and natural resources at Ohio State University. Gehrt is in the sixth year of a multi-year study of coyote behavior in urban Chicago.
Since the study began, Gehrt and his colleagues have found that urban coyote populations are much larger than expected; that they live longer than their rural cousins in these environments; and that they are more active at nighttime than coyotes living in rural areas.
Coyotes also do some good – they help control rapidly growing populations of Canada geese throughout North America.
In my neck of the woods [and high desert country] — Coyotes Rule!
And I’ve been to Chicago enough to know that these coyotes are doing a great job keeping the road runner population in check.
I’ve lived in the Chicago area for 32 years (minus four years down state at University) and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen or heard a coyote… Perhaps these are mute coyote’s?
But Steve makes a good point – I’ve never seen a Road Runner either!
I thought the coyotes were mostly found in the southern border states. Their main purpose in life being to help all those Mexican immigrants find their way to America.
But instead the ones in Chicago are going after the Canadians? Damn those coyotes !!!
Daniel S, I live in the boondocks. There is about five square miles of woods behind my house. Every hunting season they get about 11 deer out of it. Thus, if they kill 11 each year, there are PLENTY more in that little area. Yet, I never see even one anytime I go there. Animals can be stealth if they want to be.
That being said. I personally think the story is a joke or an urban folk tale in the making.
They can also control the stray cat population. I see signs posted in my neighbourhood once in awhile saying that their cat was eaten by a coyote.
They control stray cats in more ways that one. First, they control stray cats by eating them. Second, they coerce owners who care about their cats to keep them out of harm’s way, and therefore out of other people’s business.
I just moved from the countryside in Minnesota and we had a pack that would bed down in the corner of our property. We would leave them alone and they would leave our properly fenced animals alone (and they were afraid of our Siberian Huskies). They did eat some our stupid Guinea Fowl that didn’t go in the birdhouse at night and definitely ate quite a few squirrels, chipmunks, etc.
I actually thought the ecosystem was well balanced, it is only when my county put a bounty on the coyotes due to people being lazy, stupid, whatever, that things got a little out of control…
Old news.
Coyotes have been hanging around the New York area, in Central Park and in the Bronx for years.
http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/bronxbeat/1999/april/april12/coyote.html
In Westchester County, just north of the city, they have started a project to tag and track them.
JoAnn
Coyotes in the Midwest are nothing new. In 1981, I saw one in a lakefront park within the Michigan City, IN city limits. They were spotted near Indianapolis about the same time, according to my brother.
I’m less then 100 miles south east from Chicago. Several times I have seen coyotes in the fields. And once strolling down the highway into town. I think they may be more like wild dogs in that they have little fear of humans. I have not heard about any trouble between them and domesticated animals though.
We have coyotes here in the Tampa area. One got my sister’s cat a couple years ago. I saw one at night not too long ago crosiing from one yard to the next. Animal control here refuses to acknowledge the situation nevermind do anything about it.