I drew this coyote from a photo I took at the Tucson Desert Museum. This animal was sitting in the coyote enclosure on a rock, grinning like a fool. Later on I heard coyotes celebrating a kill outside my boyfriend's family's house in the Catalina Foothills. That high pitched doggy laughter was the eeriest sound I have ever heard.
This experience cemented my admiration for these amazing animals. I became interested in coyotes in high school after reading Canadian author Thomas King. Thomas King writes hilarious and enchanting novels about First Nation communities in Western Canada, and he is particularly talented at capturing the trickster spirit of Coyote. I absolutely loved the concept of a character that was neither good nor evil, and that was somehow immune to both the natural laws of our universe and the ethical laws of human society.
But what about the biology of these animals? American author Barbara Kingsolver introduced me to coyote biology in her novel, 'Prodigal Summer.' I found it incredible that although coyotes have been hated and hunted by humans as much as wolves, their numbers have only multiplied over the years. How, I wondered, has this persecuted beast persisted and even thrived? They are truly biological tricksters.
To find out more, I decided to interview a coyote biologist, Dr. Stanley Gehrt from Ohio State University, for the Groks Science Radio Show. Dr. Gehrt is the lead researcher on the Cook County Coyote Project, where he studies the urban coyotes living in Illinois. Here are a few things I learned from him:
(1) Coyotes understand traffic. Coyotes started moving into large Midwestern and Eastern cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. about 20 years ago. Their territories include densely populated places like the Loop in Chicago. I actually saw one on the University of Chicago campus! These street-savvy tricksters understand traffic - if you look to the side of the road during your morning commute, you might see a coyote observing the passing cars. Scientists have compared packs of coyotes living in a rural setting to packs living in, say, downtown Chicago, and have found that the rates of traffic-related death are almost indistinguishable.
(2) Coyotes regulate the population of urban "vermin." There are quite a few benefits to having coyotes as neighbors. They'll happily dine on our garbage, but they also eat mice and rats, rabbits, goose eggs, and even deer. In this way, coyotes regulate the population of these pests, which promotes greater biodiversity within the urban environment. In addition, geese, rodents, and deer are kind of nasty in that they can spread diseases (deer and Lyme disease) and generate a lot of waste (goose poop). So, oddly enough, coyotes help keep our cities clean.
(3) Coyotes have a rich family life. The alpha male and female mate once a year, and raise a litter in the spring/early summer. Other "subordinate" members of their pack are actually offspring from previous years. These older siblings help the alpha pair raise the family. Built in babysitting!
(4) Coyotes thrive under human persecution. Coyotes have a lot of tricks to survive being hunted by humans. When their population density decreases, female coyotes reach sexual maturity at an earlier age and coyote litters increase in size. Coyotes are also very intelligent, and can inform other coyotes of traps within their territory.
So watch out, city dwellers! These canines are here to stay.
PS. I drew all these pictures.
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