Coyote project offers insight
The coyote was known to researchers as No. 4.
As it turned out, he’ll be remembered as “Interstate Traveler.”
From a distance, the young male with the thick, tawny coat was distinguishable by a blue tag affixed to each ear.
The colored markings and a unique serial number, attached in February 2016 in West Allis by researchers with the Milwaukee County coyote project, were designed to allow the animal to be identified as it carried out its life.
The primary goal was for county residents to record observations of No. 4 and three other coyotes as part of a public education and citizen science effort.
The tags would allow study of individual animals and estimates of their home ranges, for example. Or, if one of the animals showed a tendency for approaching humans too closely or other concerning behavior, authorities could take action to remove the “problem coyote.”
But no one knew the individualized markings would highlight the coyote’s ability for long-range dispersal.
Sometime in 2016 or early 2017, No. 4 moved south across the Wisconsin-Illinois border.
And in February, the animal was seen on the grounds of O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
On March 1, U.S Department of Agriculture authorities reported they killed No. 4 on the airport property. The coyote was shot as part of routine, lethal control efforts at the airfield to prevent aircraft collisions with wildlife.
As the crow flies, it’s 82 miles from West Allis to O’Hare. The coyote likely traveled many times that distance in its southward journey.
Young male animals, including coyotes, are known to disperse to find new territories.
But the distance traveled by No. 4 was notable, said Julia Robson, assistant natural areas coordinator for the Milwaukee County Parks Department.
“We know they are capable of moving many miles, but this wasn’t something we expected to find from one of our suburban coyotes,” Robson said. “It shows another aspect that has allowed coyotes to successfully adapt to our human dominated environments.”
No. 4 was live-trapped, tagged and released along with three other coyotes as part of a joint project of the parks department, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
and researchers with the Urban Canid Project at the University of Wisconsin.
The work is designed to gain a better understanding of the animals’ territories and behaviors. It also includes a public education campaign designed to reduce conflicts between the area’s human population and the wild canids.
Coyotes are native to North America but originated in the southwest United States, according to the DNR. The animals are habitat generalists and inhabit a wide variety of land types ranging from wild to agricultural to urban.
This adaptability has allowed coyotes to successfully colonize cities and subdivisions.
Coyotes feed primarily on rodents but also prey on white-tailed deer, squirrels, rabbits, Canada geese and free-roaming cats.
If garbage or pet food is left out, coyotes also will take advantage of these food sources.
Coyotes are naturally skittish and secretive. In urban or suburban areas, the animals tend to be more nocturnal.
Many human residents never know coyotes are living nearby.
The species’ adaptability, along with the regional decline of larger predators, has facilitated a dramatic range expansion of coyotes over the last century. Coyotes are now found all across North America and have established themselves in every major city continent-wide.
The Milwaukee County coyote project was initiated at least partly in response to two incidents in 2015 in which coyotes killed pets in Wauwatosa and one case in January 2016 in which a Wauwatosa resident reported being followed to within 30 feet by a coyote.
The parks department obtained temporary funding to conduct the coyote trapping and monitoring effort.
It has yielded positive results, Robson said.
“One of the tagged animals showed up several times near homes in Wauwatosa,” Robson said. “But after pet food was removed from the yards and the residents started hazing (waving arms and yelling), the coyote stopped coming around.”
The coyote, also a young male, wears green-and-gold ear tags. It has since been seen in Wauwatosa and hasn’t caused problems.
Coyotes dig dens and bear pups in late winter and spring. From June to August, pups begin accompanying adults on foraging trips.
With human use of county parks at an annual high in summer, Robson said it’s especially important for people to not feed wildlife.
“One of the keys to preventing coyote problems is to not habituate the animals to humans,” Robson said. “If they don’t associate humans with food, the odds of conflicts are much reduced.”
It’s important, too, for residents to abide by leash ordinances when visiting public lands with their pets.
Although no funding was available to tag more coyotes this year, Robson encourages people to record coyote observations on the Milwaukee County Coyote Watch page of iNaturalist.org.
Not all local coyotes will turn out to be longdistance ramblers like No. 4. But all the observations will be helpful.
They may even discover a coyote that has moved to Milwaukee County from another state.
And from a larger perspective, citizen awareness and knowledge will help people live with fewer conflicts with coyotes, a valuable part of the ecosystem.
“Through a proactive process, we can address problems before they become a matter of human or pet safety,” Robson said. “We can coexist with urban coyotes. Not all are problem animals.”