Coyote Ugly

Critters Becoming New Urban Pioneers

Stray dogs and feral cats in our cities may be supplanted by raccoons, foxes and coyotes if current trends continue. Even mountain lions and bears are unexpectedly showing up in urban landscapes. Evidence suggests that clashes between humans and other predators will increase and potentially intensify.

Ohio State University Biologist Stan Gehrt stated, “The coyote is the test case for other animals,” at an EcoSummit 2012 conference in Columbus, Ohio. “We’re finding that these animals are much more flexible than we gave them credit for, and they’re adjusting to our cities.” Coyotes, commonplace around many metropolitan areas, don’t seem to mind the density, with some packs each confining themselves to a one-third-square-mile territory.

Eradication efforts have sometimes faltered, partially because of public backlashes sympathetic to wild animals, plus a pattern in which new coyotes tend to quickly move into areas where other animals have been evicted. Gehrt poses the question, “Are we going to be able to adjust to them living with us or are we not going to be able to coexist?”

Source: The Christian Science Monitor