As urban areas continue to expand, nearby wildlife must either adapt to the effects of urbanization or flee to natural spaces. The species impacted by urbanization typically fall into one of three categories: urban avoiders, urban adaptors, or urban exploiters. Coyotes (Canis latrans) are classified as urban adaptors due to their ability to live on the edge of cities while taking advantage of nearby anthropogenic resources. There are some benefits to having coyotes as our neighbors, such as seed dispersal and reducing unwanted prey populations. However, a major drawback of nearby coyote populations is the negative interactions between coyotes and human residents and/or their dogs. Confrontations are known to increase during the pup-rearing season. Yet, it had not been investigated if interactions also increased near coyote dens during this season.
In this study, Raymond and St. Clair aim to establish the denning patterns of urban-adjacent coyotes and determine how human-coyote conflict is influenced by proximity to dens. They hypothesized that coyotes would only den in human-free areas and would choose habitat features that increase security for their den sites. Raymond and St. Clair also predicted that human-coyote interactions would increase near den sites and during the pup-rearing season. Understanding how and where coyotes den could be valuable information for future educational initiatives and management techniques concerning coyote populations.
Coyotes did not avoid human presence
After several months of tracking coyotes in Edmonton, Raymond and St. Clair identified 120 coyote dens. They analyzed the den choices based on two metrics: location and habitat features. Coyotes avoided denning near major waterways and dense roadways, but they did not significantly avoid urban areas. Eighty-three (69%) of the known dens were within 100 meters of a building, and three were located within 10 meters of a building. They selected habitats characterized by steeper slopes, higher shrub cover, eastern exposure, and less herbaceous cover. Coyotes likely chose these den characteristics for increased security. These results suggest that coyotes are less selective with the general location of their dens, but search for specific security measures in the surrounding habitat. The lack of avoidance of human structures exhibits the ability of coyotes to adapt to new features in their habitat and take advantage of these emerging resources.
Increased reports of conflict near dens and during pup-rearing season
Raymond and St. Clair found that within naturalized areas, conflicts did not increase near dens, but were higher during the pup-rearing season. However, in dens that occurred in modified areas–habitats with less abundant natural cover–conflicts increased both during the pup-rearing season and near dens. This indicates that when the surrounding environment provides extra security, such as thick vegetation, coyotes are less territorial of the area adjacent to their dens.
Management of coyote populations
This study has shown that coyotes can be predictable in their denning habits, which allows us to learn to avoid similar areas. Using this valuable information, cities can educate their residents on the signs of coyote dens. The knowledge of coyote habits also can assist cities in altering their natural urban areas to be unappealing to coyotes. This could include thinning dense vegetation and taller fences on residential properties and securing food sources that may attract coyotes.
Read the study
Read more about the ongoing research of the Edmonton Urban Coyote Project!
Featured image: Canis latrans (Dario Taraborelli)
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