WILD SPACES

Dog’s Life A

With the success of many re-wilding projects taking place across Europe, talk has turned to the notion of reintroducing our own former top predator, the Grey Wolf. In this article Martina Caplice gives us a unique insight into another predatory canid, the American Coyote.

The prairie song dog Canis latrans, the coyote, can be heard singing to the endless sky anytime from dusk until dawn throughout North America. The coyote belongs to the family Canidae, the dog family, along with 36 other species such as the domestic dog, wolf, fox, jackal, dingo and dhole. Coyotes have 11 different vocal noises they use to communicate, as well as many different olfactory (odour) and visual signals (such as facial expressions, tail position, postures and gaits). The scientific name Canis latrans translates to mean “barking or roaring dog”, and they are known to be the most vocal of the North American mammals.

Along with many predators, these wild singers have been persecuted throughout the years. In order to make brutal methods of controlling them acceptable, propaganda instilling hatred and fear about these little song dogs was widely spread. Coyotes mainly feed on small rodents, but are opportunistic scavengers with a diet that varies greatly from plants and animals to the odd discarded boot. They have been seen to eat fish and will climb obstacles to obtain food. It is no wonder, then, that just like our native red fox, the coyote

A Beautiful young adult coyote out for a midday stroll in the sun, credit Martina Caplice

tends to thrive in the urban landscape. They rarely group hunt for larger prey such as deer or livestock, but receive a lot of blame for killing high numbers of both.

The coyote is an amazing creature, extremely adaptable, and despite being intensively controlled for more than two centuries, they have expanded into habitats far beyond their native range of open plains and grasslands. This is largely due to the intense control of apex predators such as wolves, where usually coyote numbers would be kept in check by competition; although, the fact that, when stressed, coyotes tend to reproduce at higher rates also contributes. Although they are true survivalists and have shown their ability to thrive in this human-dominated world, they still must run with one eye looking over their shoulders.

Luckily for the coyote, the value of this and other predators is beginning to be recognised and in some places, the coyote can breathe a sigh of relief and even earn its bed and board by allowing a fleeting moment in its life to be captured.

One such place is the American Prairie Reserve (APR), which is working towards creating the largest nature reserve in the continental United States. The reserve is creating wildlife corridors along which animals can migrate through the project area, creating opportunities for ranchers to gain financially from the wildlife on their ranches and the changing mindsets of the people working the land to view wildlife as assets. On the APR, the coyote is recognised for its role in the ecosystem and how it helps to regulate species at different trophic levels.

The APR collected wildlife data from Bushnell camera traps set up on ranches taking part in their Wild Sky programme. This programme offers ranchers incentives for managing their ranches with wildlife

 Four of five coyote pups that showed up following their mother on one of the APR Wild Sky ranches, credit Martina Caplice

 A curious coyote pup up close and personal with the Bushnell camera trap, credit Martina Caplice

friendly practices, as well as being carnivore compatible. The camera traps allow for the coyotes to be monitored as well as capturing moments in the life of the coyote – moments of puppy curiosity, family outings, night time excursions or strolls in the sun. The APR has a list of animals of importance, which includes bears, mountain lions, wolves, and big horn sheep. If any of the animals of importance are photographed, the ranchers receive benefits for having these animals present on their ranch.

It is wonderful to see these moments captured by the camera traps, to observe the wild as it should be, uninterrupted, and also to know that it is benefiting all parties involved, including the coyote, which has no idea it is even being captured. Being granted a snapshot into the world of the wild coyote is something truly magical. When one sees a coyote in person, it is often just a blur of red-silver that bolts away to disappear into sagebrush, or sometimes all we are privy to is the lone howling of a coyote announcing its presence to the night. It is truly heart-warming to see that in parts of the world, the propaganda and fear spread about predators is starting to subside, and we are beginning to live in harmony with these superb creatures again. Predators are an integral part of a balanced ecosystem. The acceptance of coyotes will hopefully lay the foundations for the acceptance of higher up predators such as bears, mountain lions and wolves. Perhaps once we learn more about truly coexisting with the coyote and other predators, we will have a greater understanding of our place in the wild.