Urban Coyotes

They lurk among us - in wrecking yards, parks, ravines and dilapidated garages - but they are so cunning, you will probably never know they are there.  In recent decades, Coyotes have moved from their traditional wilderness territories into suburban and even downtown locations in cities across North America, from LA to New York, from Vancouver to St. Johns.

They have been spotted in and around New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington D.C., Calgary, Toronto, Hamilton, Vancouver and Ottawa, but the most remarkable development is that their lifestyle remains largely unchanged.  Coyotes are renowned as one of nature's most adaptable creatures.  They are extremely intelligent and learn quickly.  Where once red foxes roamed, coyotes now swagger. The debut of Coyotes in North American cities can be traced back to 1990.  They appeared in disparate urban areas almost simultaneously.

They are built like Collies, but with light grey or tan coats and black tips on their bushy tails, and their average weight is 9 to 15 kgs (20 to 33 lbs). Urban Coyotes are not exactly discernible diners, with a typical menu including, rodents, rabbit, snake, poultry, deer, foxes, carrion, birds, frogs, grass, grasshoppers and garbage.

Recent additions are small dogs, cats, (their kibble), doughnut, sandwiches, fruits and vegetables. Coyotes are also not snobby about their mate choices.  They have been known to breed with wolves and domestic dogs, producing from 6 to 10 pups, sometimes twice a year. Their maternal capabilities are greater than either wolves of foxes.

With a top speed of almost 65 km/h and the ability to scale fences 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) high, they are hardly confined to a limited area.

In the Cook County Coyote Project, 250 Coyotes were ear-tagged, and 180 were fitted with radio collars in and around Chicago.  To their astonishment, researchers found urban Coyotes roamed over home territories of 80 to 95 square kilometres in the course of a few days, and they were extremely stealthy about it.  There were no places in the Chicago area where there were no Coyotes.

You wouldn't know they were there unless you had radio collars on them scientists observed.  It was estimated there are actually thousands in Chicago.  In the Ottawa area, the NCC has confirmed there is a permanent Coyote population in Gatineau Park, north of the city and in the Green belt, which surrounds the city in a southern arc.

The many ravines in Toronto are now home to resident Coyotes, and the recent movement to create green spaces within our eastern Canadian cities has established an ideal environment for a creature who would rather remain unseen. Their main staple is Mice, Rats. Rabbits, garbage and carrion. Urban Coyotes are smaller than their country cousins, as they don't have to pack up to run down larger game – and they prefer to stay small and out of sight. They have effectively replaced foxes in urban areas, as they are smarter, larger, and more adaptable.

Chicken farmers will tell you that they would rather have Coyotes as neighbours than Foxes. A Fox will kill several chickens, and then bury them for later consumption, while a Coyote will only kill one, and run off with it. When Coyotes are killed off in a rural area, the chicken mortality rate rises dramatically. Chicken farmers have little sympathy for organized Coyote kills.

The big question is why coyotes turned into city dwellers in the first place. One theory holds that when hunting and trapping of Coyotes dropped off in the 1990s, their populations exploded and they were forced to expand into metropolitan areas. Others speculate that as cities grew and amalgamated vast rural areas, tendrils of urbanization stretched out, and this provided corridors connecting the city to traditional coyote territory. The female Coyote at right was photographed in mid-May near Hamilton in 2011, and was obviously nursing a litter born about the first of May.

In rural Eastern Canada where Brush Wolf populations are predominant, smaller pure Coyotes are marginalized (much like the Red Fox) or forced into urban areas where they are safe from predation.

It was found that urban Coyotes actually live longer than their country cousins, as there is little trapping, hunting or natural predation by larger carnivores in cities. A prime example of their fecundancy is the remarkable rise in numbers of Newfoundland Brush Wolves. Within 20 years of a few coming ashore from the Winter pack ice, they now number well over 10.000. They have successfully filled the niche left vacant by the extinct Newfoundland wolf. As time passes, they will get larger and pack up to take advantage of the numerous adult moose on the island.

The chances of a Coyote making it into its second year are 30% in the country, and about 60% in the city. A Coyote in captivity has been known to live for 18 years. In the wild, they are lucky to live to the ripe old age of 6. There are an estimated 20 million Coyotes and Brush Wolves in Canada. Their present extent covers every Province and Territory, all of which was accomplished by their own efforts. The yapping sound of Coyotes has become increasingly familiar with all Eastern Canadians over the past twenty years, and is now commonplace, even near large cities, where once it was a uniquely western phenomenon.

In rural eastern Ontario, Brush Wolves are larger, have bigger heads and shorter noses. They have obviously bred with Red and/or Grey wolves, and reflect those physical characteristics. The underlying driving force in the new eastern wolf phenomenon is the greater adaptability and smarts of the Western Coyote. Uniquely, only folks in Lanark County, in eastern Ontario, refer to them as Brush Wolves. The Americans call them “Coydogs” and Maritimers call them Coyotes.

Whatever they are called, they have undoubtedly already changed the destiny of both Wolves and Coyotes in North America forever. Will they form distinct sub-races, or will they be forever considered as one new Eastern Coyote? Past experience tells us that they will likely settle down to be recognized as several localized sub-races, similar to how the Florida Cottontail rabbit has become established as several distinct sub-races in the north-eastern US and Eastern Canada.

With our different climates and geographical conditions in various parts of Eastern Canada, the animals therein have and will continue to adapt to increase their chances of survival. Already, our local Cottontail rabbits are beginning to show varying hair colours in winter and summer. As those who adapt obtain better survival rates, their numbers will dominate and replace those who fail to adapt.

As long as our winters remain white, our cottontail rabbits and brush wolves will have a better chance at survival if they too become white during that season. In open grasslands and prairies, rabbits and brush wolves will become tan in summer, and those in forests and greener pastures will turn darker. One of the wonders of nature is the continual evolution of every form of life on this planet, in a never ending struggle to improve their chances of survival, and to gain an edge over their competitors.

To appreciate just what amazing changes have occurred during the past 100 years in the distribution and physiology of several mammalian creatures of North America, we merely have to remember that before 1900, an Eastern breed of Coyote was unimaginable. Who would have thought that a Florida species of rabbit would venture north, and begin to vary its coat in winter, and who would have thought that the American Grey squirrel would come to Canada, get larger and become black? This is such an oddity to Americans that many American tourists have been seen taking photos of these unique “Canadian black squirrels” since they are not found in the United States.

For those skeptics who doubt these changes are possible, stay tuned, as greater changes are no doubt coming in many of our fellow creatures in this, our mutual home. Lets hope we have the wisdom and foresight to appreciate these changes, respect, conserve and learn from them. Otherwise, as Chief Seattle said-

“If all the beasts were gone, mankind would die from a great loneliness of spirit.”

Regards,

Hal MacGregor.