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The EasternCoyote:Documentingthe Habits...
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The Eastern Coyote:
Documentingthe Habits of One of Cape Cod's NewestResidents
by JonethenG. W*y, BostonCollege,Environmental
Studiesand Lynch SchoolofEducation
Tableof Contents:
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Stalkingtheclusiya
EastemcoyotesreaghCapeCod
Radiocollaringandtrackingcoyotcs
Tcmtaq/andkhylar
Iilamess_oJlhg-!9sealshcr
CoF,ote
andhumaniu&rastto$
A*cles_f[tdhglreading
tr(rywords: Eastemcoyotes,coyotes,Ca4iJ tratransvar., territoriality, home
ranges,subwbanwildlife, box traps,CapeCod
Stalkingthe elusive...
Mashpee,CapeCod: 8;30 PM, Sunday,February25,2WL The temperah$eis 33" F with wind gustsup to 40 MPH; hail is heavily and
steadilyprecipitating.For the pastz0 minutes,I've beenparted in my red 1997Toyota Tacoma- lights of - facing a golf coursedrat
borde* the back of an apartneilrtcomplex.Many peoplehavelooked out of their aparfinentwindows, apparentlywonderingwhat I am
doing in their parking lot with my drivey'sside window rolled dov*.nin suchmiserableweather.Bored at last by my lack of movement,the
humanresidentsalmost simultaneouslyclosetheir curtainsto sepsratcthemselvcsfrom the cold stormy night
I, however,am hot on the tail of my quarry andthe receiverthat I am using indicatesthat I m very close.Using binoculars,I scana
fairway that is coveredwith tluee inchesof slushysnow.Although it is blockedbehind heavyclouds,dre full moon illuminatesthe open,
snowylandscapeofthe golfcourse.
Materializing from the dark woods like ghosts,three lmge bodicsmagically emergeonto the back of the fainray. They gracefully lope
acrossthe golf course.Tho two animalsin front notice somethingatreadand chaseit at full ryced. The third animal, 100feet bchin4
pursuesthe action.
When the last mimal is out of sight, I drive to a trail thet leadsin
&e direction wheretlre animalsareheading.I grabmy receiver
md tack my quarryon foot The weatheris tuly miserable.
Golf-sizedchunksof hail blow into my face. The chaseleadsme
acrossa main road andback to the golf coursewhereI first
observedthe animals.I walk alongthe southedgeof the
fairway, very closeto the housesthat border it, stsying out of
sight of my zubjects.lnside, peoplewatch televisionin their
living rooms,completelyoblivious to me andto the mimals that
I am tacking. After tracking them for half a mile, I seefour
bodiesrurmingback and forth on the golf coursefairway and
rcalize what two of fre animalshad beenchasing:a memberof
their own group.All four animalsarewaggingtheir tails and
appoarto be having a greattime asthey take firms chasingone
mother. I am amazedto watch thesecreaturesfrolicking in such
nasly weather,seeminglyoblivious to the harstrclimate. Sinc€
the wind is in my favor, nonoof my subjoctsnoticesms
standingat the edgeof fairway; they ale too intent on releasing
excessenergy-After &eir gameof tag they casuallyre8eat
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Warchingthe animalswitl their exubermt enerelr,it is difficult
not to mthropomorphizethat they re excitedjust to be alive.
Tucking the receiverinto my jacket to protectit from the elements,I follow the animals' fiesh tacks
down a slushyneighMood steet, then onto anotherdirttrail coveredrrith fircsh,three-inchlong
facks. After jogging another150meters,I stop short -- only 12 feet away from my qrarry. The
biggesta"imal is wearing a radio collar. Anotber sensesme andtrots ow of sight The collared
mimal follows. However,the remainingtwo animalsdecideto investigate.Eachgoesinto the edge
of the woods and silently walks within eight feet of me. When they getbehind me, they walk onto
the rail and sniffthe air. It is at this point that they realizethat I am a human.They refreatinto the
woods and quietly but swiftly hightail it out of sight. I trudge a mile backto my car, nearly fiozen to
"Wow, what a
death.The fustthing that I reoordinto my notebooh with very numb fingers,is:
night!"
Eastern coyotesrelch Cape Cod
The animalsthat I was tacking were easterncoyotes,Cwtis latrwts var. I was following them in a
typical suburbanareaon CapeCod and specifically, was radio tracking an adult male, 44Jb ccyote
namedKett (for conveniencein identifring andrcmemberingindividual ndmals, we nameow
coyotesbasedon cap0re eventsand/orlocal feahres, i.e., the Conrit Keteleer's). Kefi hasbeen
radio collaredfor 2.5 years.His group usesa chunk of CapeCod real e$ate from the
MastrpeelFalmouth
town line to the Bamstablellrdashpee
tonrnline that coversapproximately15
squaremiles.
The eastcmcoyote is belicvedto be a trybrid betweenthe westornayotn (Cods laff*ts'1 afr eitber the red/eastemtimber wolf [Cazis
ntfus (red), u C. lycaon (eastemtimber) as cumntly is proposedlor the gray wolf (Carir lapas). This canid is thougbt to havereached
nordrernNew Englandby the 1930'sand 1940's;it hasmoved steadilysouthwrd, now occupyingvirtually all suitablehabitatin the
Northeast.Most researphers
believe that coyotescolonizedCapeCod arormdthe late 1970's,most likely by swimming the caoaland/or
crossingdirectly over the two bridgesthat connectCapeCod to the mainland.Onetheory,however,&tteststhat thesecanidshavealways
inhabitedNew Englandand merely survivedat very low dsnsitiosin the early 1900s.Our datadoesnot supporttho latbr theory, aswo
havc found that gryotes gilsrally are ableto oolonizenew areasquickly.
I obtainedmy Masterof Sciencedegreefrom the University of Connecticutat Storrslast May (2000)ty documentingthe ecolory of
eastemooyoteson suburbanCapeCod. The CapeCod coyoteresrch team,which I am leading consistsof memb€rsfrom the University
of Connecticut,BostonCollege,Brnstable High School,andthe Hymnis Animal Hospital.Becauseof lhe bad pressthat coyoteshave
receivedin the pastfew yers, we havemadeit our missionto lern as much aboutthe eastgmcoyote aspossible.Thercfore,to gain
reputability, it was importaotthat we collectedsciontifically sounddatain ordorto accuratelydocumsntthe basicnatral history taits
displayedby casterncoyot€son CapeCod. The researchcrsbelievedthat it was importantto initiate 6is projcct for two main reasons:l)
therehavebeenfew ecologicalstudiesofeastern coydes; and 2) no shrdieshavebeenconduc0edin Massachusetts
or in suburbanareasof
the Northeast.
Radio collaring and tracking coyotes
In order to studycoyotebehaviorin the wild (or that of any other elusive animal species),
ressarchersmust first captureandradio collar them. Radio telernetryis a techniqueby which
a biologist is ableto monitor an animalby remotelytracking a radio signalemittedfrom a
fransmitter(radio collar) attachedto the animal.A researchercan fiack llre signal,andthe
animal'slocation,by nrning a specifically designedreceiverto the transmittey'sspecific
frequencyand scanningthe surroundingswith a directional antenna.The clo$erone is to the
transmitt€r,the strongerthe signalreception.By radio collaring animals,biologistscan
identify individuals and follow them at any time of the day. In our study,we tried to sample
locationpoints of radio trmsmitted coyoteswenly throughouta 24-hourperiod. We tracked
from midnight through4 AM almostasmuch aswe did from noon to 4 PM. This
unpredictableschedulemakcsthe life of a coyoteresearchervery demandingandtime
consuming,but provided key insightsinto our strdy subjects.
Cpaning the coyoteswas our first problembecausethe paddedleg-hold (or foothold) trap,
the typical methodusodto casure wild carids, becameillegal in Massachusstbin 196,
evenfor researchpurposes.Therefore,we testedthe feasibility ofusing box traps - the only
known, legal, aliemativecapturedevice - to capturecoyotes.Despitecapturingmuy
riaccoons,crows, opossums,domesticcatsanddogs,skunks,and a few foxes andgulls in
theselarge, 60-70poundtaps, we capturedelevenindividual coyotessixteentimes during
or two-and-one-halfyear snrdy.We believethat we arethe first goup to successfully
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documentcapnrringcoyotosin box traps.Sevenofthe elevencoyotesthat we trappedand
monitoredwere adults;the remainingfour werejuvenilcs.
Radio collsed coyoteshad large homerangesfor suburbarCape
Cod. The averagehome rangeof adult residentcoyotesin our shrdy
was I1.5 squaremiles,andvariedfrom 6 * l8 squaremiles.
lnterestingly,the coyotewith the smallesthomerangelived in
Hyannis,the most urbanpart of CapeCod. This femalecoyotewas
regulady documentedashaving taveled throughouther established
homerange,which abuttedthe CapeCod Mall uea. Oneadult
coyotewith no definablehomerangecoveredan areagreaterthan 50
squaremiles. The threeyoung coyotepupsand onejuvenile capured
during our shrdyhad smallerrangesthan adults,aswas oipected.ln
general,pupstaveled widrin part of their parents'homeranges.
Six ofthe elevencoyotescapurredduring the strdy are still alive.
Two pupswere hit andkilled by cars,one adult died of kidney
failure, and hrojuveniles dispersedoffthe study site. The adult
coyoteftat had the luge, undefinedhome rangehasrecentlypaired
with the femalecoyote from Hyannisand is now the breedingmale
for that group.
Although we had a relatively low samplesize of radio taggedcoyotes,we managedto locateeachone an averagieof 400 timss. Four of dre
adultshavebeenlocatedover 600 times each!The large amqurt of datarecoveryper animal gaveus a good perspectivefor how individual
coyot€smove through a fragmentodandhumandominatedlandscape.
Territory and behavior
CapeCod coyotesappearto be tsnitorial. Our dats indicatethat radio collaredcoyotesappearedto spatiatlyavoid reas usedby collared
coyotesin adjacentareas.This finding is consistentwith &e literaturedescribingcoyotenafirralhistory in various areasofthe United
States.In an averageterritory of approximatelyI I squaremiles on CapeCod"one coyots groupwill excludeother coyotesfrom occupying
thd areathroughmeanssuchashowling, scentmarking, anddirect encounters.
Many young coyoteswill dispersethrouglror along
&e edgesof theseterritories,moving on when they
encounterthe presetrceof a residentgroup,until they
can find a suitablearsawhereothsr coyotesdo not
live, This is preciselyhow coyotescolonizenew
areas,including CapeCod andthe Northeast.If a
tcnitory is vacant(i.e., not actively defendedby
residentcoyotes),dispersingcoyotesquickly move
into it within daysor weeks;lherefore,it is fruitless to
kill coyotesin a specific areasimply to get rid of the
coyotes.Sometimesit is necessaryto removespecific
admals if individual coyotesin an areaare
threateninghumansafetyor creatingproblemsfor
other wildlife populations.Coyoteterritories appearto
be relatively stablein our sirdy area,aswe have
documenteda high swvival rate of radio collarod
adults.Futurelong-termresearchis neededto
accuratelydocumentthe tcrritorial aspectofcoyote
behavior.
Many residentgroupson CapeCod consistof three
adult coyotes.A few groupsconsistof four adults.Coyotegoup6 app€arto consistof a breedingmale and femaleand an offspring or trro
of the previousyear that delay dispersalin order to help raisethe currentgenerationof pups.Although many sightingsaremadeof single
coyotes,other membersof that residentgroup arepobably closeto whers the observedcoyotewas spou€d,When individuals do get
separated,howling is a commodmethodfor membersof a groupto communicatsandsubsequentlyreconvenewi& one another.
Now that coyotesare seenregulariy in Massachusetb,I frequentlyreadin newspaperarticlesthat they appearto be "everywhere."All of
our collaredcoyot€smovedan av€rag€of l0+ miles a nidt, whicb, in a suburbansetting,involves eoyotestaveling throughmany
neighbotttoods.A singlo coyoteor a group of3-4 coyotescan be s€enin widely different areaswithin its respectivehomerangcduring tbe
courseofone night. Becausecoyotegroupsappearto be territorial, most likely the sameindividuals arerepeatedlysightedin a relatively
large(>10mi2) area.
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A young male coyote in our shrdydisplayeda dramaticexampleof a longdistancs movement.In a 25-hornspanhe traveledoffof his natal
rangethenback to his family's homerange(about 15mi2). Although his movementwas atypical,in the courseof one nighg {tis individual
baveledwell over 20 miles md movedthroughfive to$ns - Barnstable,Mashpee,Falmouth,Boume, Sandwich,andback to Mashpee.
Coyotesaremostly active at night. All long distance
movementsduring our shrdyworo documentedduring
noctumalhours.However,cryotas wore occasionally
sightedduring dsylight hoursthrougbouttlre year. During
the puprearing period of April - June,breedingfemale
coyotestend to be activeduring the day aswell asnight
Becausepupsarevulnerableto cold andpredators,mother
coyot€smust hunt in intervals,rcgularly reurning to
provision andprotecttheir pups.Every spring,I read
newspaperarticlesdescribingthe strange,bold demeanor
of certaincoyotes.Most poopledo not realizethat this is
completelynaturalbehaviordisplayedby coyotss,
especiallyfemales,during pup-raisingseason.Becausethe
needto provision a den sit€ at regiularhtervals forcesthsm
to be more visible during diumal hours,coyot€smay app€arto aotboldly aroundhumansduring tbe puprearing period. Thereis, howevor,
a di{Terencebetweenacting boldly andbeing a threat I would bet that ths majority of complaintscmre from neighbortoodsthat have
activecoyoteden sitesnearby.
lVariness of the researcher
All of the coyotesthat I havefollowed avoid me when possibleand seemto disappear
itrto thin air when they becomeawareof my presence.At the beginningof the shrdy,I
suspoctedthat coyot€swould assooiatemy scentwith a free meal (i.e., via baiting and
conditioningthem to tap sites) andwould rapidly becomeaccustomedto my scent
andbecomecomfortablearoundme. However,becauseI tap, hmdle, collar, andEack
the coyotes,the oppositeefilectseemsto haveoccurred"They seemto rsalize that I
follow them disproportionatelymore than the averagehumandoes.
For example,one day I was on a golf courseapproximately300 metersfrom a coyote
who was lying down on a largerock at the edgoof a marsh.This canid was out in the
openftut nearhush) andwas casuallywdching asgolfers andgolf cartsfiaveled
within 15-20metersof him. Tlre momentths wind shifteddirectionsandmy scent
blew towardsthe coyote"it immediatelystoodup and startedbarking at me. It
continuedto bark for more thaq fifteen minutes.Bewildered,the maintenanceworkers
askedme why that coyotewas barlcingdirectly at me whenthey were so closeto it I
replied that this coyote (andprobablymost collaredgroupsin our shrdy)must
recognizemy scentand associateit with d4ngeraboveandbeyondthe nonnal human
scent.
It makessensethat the coyotessre wtry of me becauseI am probablythe oaly human
thd occasionallydistubs them whils they arebeddedduring the day. In addition, I
find their densmd trrps as I parol the woodedareas.Interostiagly,the incident on the golf courseoccurredduring the denningseason.The
radio collaredfemalecoyot€ was in the woodsat the den sits, andthe coyote that barkedat me seemedto be guardingand scanningthe
uea for danger.The barking coyotswas uncollaredbut had beensightedseveraltimes with the collaredfemale;he appearedto be the
breedingmale of ftat group.All of my encount€rswith coyotes,including disturbing denningsiteswith multiple adultspresenghaveended
in &c samsway; thc coyotosquickly hightailcd it in the oppositcdircction ftom me.
Coyoteand human interactions
Deqpit€the adult coyote's apparentability to trrivo in a highly fragmentedand suburbanseting zuchas CapeCod,tberewas oneer<ccption
to this trend: the denningseason.All den sites(including Hyannis)were found in areasof coyotehomerangeswith a low housingdensity
round the immediateareaof the den site. Woodedareaswithin coyotehomeranges,therefore,seemto be eqpeciallyimportantduring late
qpringandearly summerto protect and hide pupsof the year. Fufire eiforb shouldcontinueto preservcwoodedareason CapeCod andin
similu suburbanareasto buffer the distancesbetweenpotentialor activecoyoteden sitesand humanhousesin an attemptto minimize
potentialhuman-coyoteconflicb.
Many peopletoday live in neighborhoodswherethey feel
removedfr,omnature.However,a predatorlike the coyote
b'ringsthc dramaof naturedirectly to people'sbackyards.
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Sightingsmay occur at any seasonand in many locationg
consideringAe coyote's largehome rangeand its ability to roam. It is up to us to protoctour pctsby loaving them insido,espcciallyat
nighg md to secureour garbagein order to avoid potential encounters.Personally,I arn amazedthat there arenot more human.coyote
conflicts, consideringthat coyotesareyear-roundresidentsof tteir home rangesand &at peo'plecontinueto leavetheir pets andgarbage
qrtside.
The coyoteis hereto stey frotrr both a biological and social strndpoint.They areneady imposible to er@rminatefor severalreasons.
Researchshowsthat new ooyot€swould repopulstean emptyterrittry almostas soonas it was available.Public opinion decriesthe random
exterminationof wild animals,including coyotes.In addition,many peoplevaluc andrelish observingthe elusivecoyotc or, at least"are
satisfiedin knowing that it is surviving in an increasinglyhumandominaed world.
I look forwar{ along with my researchteam,to continueto track this incredibly interestingpredatorwell into th fuhtre. I am cunently in a
Ph.D. programat BostonCollege.We arecontinuingour curent researchon CapeCod coyotes,which hnsdevelopedinto a long-term
study andwill alsoexpandfrom tbe CapeCod study site to investigatcthe eoologaandbehaviorof ooyotesin the Bostonarea.
Articles for further reading:
And€ft, W.F. 19E5.Behavioralecolory ofcoyotesin southTexas.Wildlife. Mmographs,49:145.
Hlrrison, D.J. end J. R. Gilbert 19E5.Denningecolory andmovomsntsof coyotesin Maine during pup rering. Jotrnal of Ma-malory
6:112-719.
Harrison, D.J., J.A" Hlrrison, and M, O'Donoghue. 1991.Prcdispcrsalmovcmentsof coyotc pupsin castcmMaine. Joumalof
Munmalogy 72:756-763.
Harrison, D. J. 1992.Dspersal characteristicsofjwenile coyotesin Maine. Journalof Wildlife Manageurent56:128-138.
Parker, GR f 995. Easterncoyote:the story of its zuccess.Nimbus Publishing,Halifaq Nova Scotia.254 p.
Person,D.K. 19E8.Home 1nnge,activity, habitatu$e,and fmd habis of easterncoyotesin the Champlainvalley region of Vermqrt, M.Sc.
Thesis,University of Vermont, Bwlington. 103p.
Person,D.trCrnd D.H. Hirth. 1991.Home rangeand habitatuseof coyotesin a farm region of Vermont.Joumalof Wildlife Mmagement
55:433-441.
Way, J. G. 1996.Baselinedataon the interactionsof a populationof u'hite-tail€d d€€r,easterncoyote,ard red fox inhabiting a barrier
beachecosystemon CapeCo{ Massachuscte.Honors Thesis,Univenity of Massachurctts,Amherst 35 p.
Way, J. G.. Am. Ecology of CapeCod coyotes.M.Sc. Thesis,University of Connecticut,Storrs. 107p.
Articles currontly under review:
Way et al. Box trappingcoyotesin Massachusetts.
Wildlife SocietyBulletin.
Way et d, Homerange,tenitoriality and sociality of CapeCod coyotes.CanadianJoumalof Zoology.
lYay et al. Movementand activity panemsof CapeCod coyotes.Joumalof Mammalogl.
Way et al. Denningbehaviorof CapeCod coyotes.American Midlmd Naturalist.
Way et d. Injuries sustainedto coyot€scaptrred in boxtraps. Wildlife SocietyBulletin.
All phorographrby J.G. Way,(O2{X}1.
Photographrcennotbe reprcducedwlfhoutpcrmirrfrn of photognpher
HomelCaleodarlCommiteaslePublicetionellr&mbershiplLh*slStreM4Irlhqdry&Co-nmeritslSCB
http://www.massscb.
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