"UBER-URBAN COYOTES"

A series of essays.....





Photo Courtesy Living Green Magazine: Coyote In Chicago

.....as seen through my eyes!



By: Jacqueline E. Hughes


Whenever I leave the house, especially this time of year in Florida, I carry my trusty umbrella with me. I reason that it will either protect me from the rain or deter precipitation for the duration of my outside activities. I am now discovering that another weapon must be added to my arsenal....a golf club or walking stick.....and, for a very good reason!

Fortunately, I do play golf and I own several 'walking sticks' for climbing up in the Great Smoky Mountains. So, I am good to go. Well, on second thought, my sturdy umbrella might be just enough to fend off an approaching coyote thus saving my other arm for waving wildly in the air out of unmitigated fear!

Yes, the coyote population is alive and strong and has been increasing within the 'urban jungles' more than ever lately.



Coyote In An Urban Setting

To better realize what is happening within the coyote population, you must get to know more about the coyote himself. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, coyotes are medium-sized mammals in the same family as dogs, wolves and foxes. Coyotes are highly adaptable and smart. They may live in wooded or other habitats in your neighborhood. They are opportunistic and generalist feeders who are most active at dawn and dusk but can be seen almost anytime during the day or night. They have strong family bonds and pairs typically mate for life.

Whether we like it or not, the coyote has become our neighbor no matter where we live. Experts say that in Cook County Illinois, home of The Windy City, coyotes inhabit virtually every available territory in the county, so most of us have a coyote neighbor, even if we haven't seen it yet. That's comforting....!

With more and more coyotes willing to mate and survive within the cemented urban jungle of the inner city, they are making the city their home and quickly learning to adapt right alongside the human inhabitants. One of the worst things we can do is feed them, and we do this inadvertently by leaving food outside for our own  pets. Stanley D. Gehrt is an assistant professor of environmental and natural resources at Ohio State University and is carrying on a multi-year study of coyote behavior in urban Chicago. Even though his research is concentrated in Chicago, the results likely apply to most major metropolitan areas in North America, he explains.

This study was originally slated to last for only one year! It has been going on now for almost fifteen years.

Stanley Gehrt Holds Female Captured in Chicago Metro Area
Photo Courtesy of Stanley Gehrt

"We couldn't find an area in Chicago where there weren't coyotes," Gehrt said. "They've learned to exploit all parts of their landscape. Nine million people live in the greater Chicago area and we didn't think very many coyotes could thrive in such a highly urbanized area. We also thought that the few animals that were causing problems were probably used to living around people."

Today, Gehrt and his team estimate that anywhere from several hundred upwards to two-thousand coyotes live among the parks, apartment and commercial buildings and industrial parks within the greater Chicago area.

Courtesy: Chicago Magazine ~ Coyote On Metro Tracks

Gehrt and his colleagues have placed GPS tracker collars on several of the coyotes in the Windy City and have found that even under cover of darkness, urban coyotes still have to dodge people and vehicles.....and the GPS data reveal they do it deftly. Chicago coyotes have learned to negotiate roads, sidewalks, and railroads usually without being seen or hit, despite tremendous traffic volume.

My husband has recently returned from Michigan after visiting with our children and grandchildren who live in the southwest corner of the state and just across Lake Michigan from the Chicago area. When he takes these 'solo' trips up to see the kids, I am usually entertained by several cute stories about what they did and where they visited during their long weekend together upon his return. This particular story, however, still finds me with sweaty palms and shaking with fear of the unknown....

Our son-in-law, Matt, has been nicknamed "The Great White Hunter" and for good reason.  Given his prolific prowess with rifle, bow and arrow, and fishing in the deep blue depths of the chilly Lake Michigan waters, in one season alone, Matt could provide a small town with enough food to last the entire winter. Hunting and fishing are definitely his great passions in life.

In addition, Matt is a good father and loves his three children, Lydia and the twins, Brendan and Kerrington, very much!

"Did you see it? Did you see it? It walked past me not more than thirty seconds ago!" exclaimed our son-in-law as he came flying out of the sliding glass door and into the backyard nearly out of breath with excitement and a healthy dose of fear in his eyes.

"It came through your neighbor's side yard right between the two houses and walked right down the side of the driveway! At first I thought it was a neighborhood dog or something and then I got a closer look at it and knew...."


Matt and Lydia

Matt had been watching Lydia, his seven-year-old daughter, ride her scooter around the long, wide driveway of the house which sits in a highly populated subdivision in Portage, Michigan. He had been sitting on the front porch as the afternoon sun poured down all around them on this glorious spring day. He looked up just in time to see what he initially believed to be a dog walking out from the side yard of our oldest daughter's house.

"It was too long and narrow to be a dog," Matt said. "Its fur was natty and matted down. Instinct told me it was a coyote! It walked not more than a foot away from Lydia, crossed the street and then ran into the backyard of the neighbor's house across the road. I don't know exactly where it's at right now!"

The four adults stood on the back patio wide-eyed and awestruck. Even the "Great White Hunter" was capable of being totally blown-away by the sight of a wild animal walking between himself and his daughter in such an inhabited environment in broad daylight!

Dan told me this had all transpired in the matter a few short moments and Matt's impressive figure remained silhouetted in the doorway when suddenly a mother's instinct or her 'voice of reason' loudly kicked into gear and inquired, "So, Matt.....where is Lydia right now??"

Dan said you never saw so many adults fly through the house and out into the front yard as swiftly as they did at that moment!

Lydia was still standing alone at the end of the driveway, scooter in hand, with her eyes drifting off into the shadowy yard of the people who live across the street. I believe she knew it wasn't a dog.

Among the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago and the busy Lake Shore Drive to the open spaces and woods that still surround the greater Orlando, Florida area to a large and densely populated subdivision in Portage, Michigan.....these versatile carnivores, native to Middle America, roam wild and free. The coyotes are "pushing their ecological envelope," said Stan Gehrt. "The coyotes have altered their natural behavior to accommodate living in close quarters with people."



Florida Wildlife Officials
Attempt to Increase Awareness

From here on out I think it's going to be extremely difficult to just let small children (grandchildren?) out to play in the yard without supervision. I know that I would certainly rather be safe than sorry.

If coyotes have altered their natural behavior to accommodate living in close proximity with people like in Chicago as Stanley Gehrt claims, shall we assume that Matt's coyote has, as well? Or not....?!  No matter how we look at this, now or in the future, I think it's highly important to learn to never underestimate the basic instincts of the coyote.

Photo: CBS Chicago Files ~ Coyote Wedged in Bumper

Copyright © 2015 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved