DEFEND-A-BULL Blog: Reclusive coyotes adapt to city life

It's not surprising that here in London and other areas with all our conservation's and woodlands within the city. The over population of deer that has year after year become more densely populated that they brave their safe havens for crossing busy streets and eating from neighbours yards and making pests of themselves as well as a safety hazard.

Nature has a way of couping with problems that man can't and although the city has taken drastic measures, it definitely wasn't enough or the proper route.

We have had several different kinds of sightings that are very unnatural for us to see here. We've had the cougar warnings to a mix of wolf-dog. The conservation department says these dogs are much more vicious than a wolf themselves and their prey are your pets.

While shy of humans, owners of pets have gotten harmed by trying to protect their pets and these animals are bold because a leashed dog with a human is just as tempting to them as much as a pet alone.

They are saying that smaller pets are at higher risk, but although I'm not near a wooded area myself, I watch carefully when Shasta and I go out at night. She'd be completely defenseless with her muzzle on more so than a small pet.

This is an article from the London Free Press about the cougars.

Reclusive coyotes adapt to city life
By DEBORA VAN BRENK, SUN MEDIA

They're stealthy, secretive and, yes, wily.

They're coyotes, and their numbers in London are likely growing, with reported sighting on the rise as the dog-sized animal adapts to city life.

Anyone who sees the reclusive creature should consider it more a bonus than a bane, says one London naturalist.

And a local mammalogist who specializes in coyotes says in a city setting they are more pest control than pest.

But coyotes are also carnivores with sharp teeth.

And while not considered a threat to humans, people living near wooded areas they inhabit, such as the Westminster Ponds, are urged not to leave meat lying around outside and to keep an eye -- and a short leash -- on small pets.

"Don't turn them loose at night because that's prime when (pets) are going to run into problems with them," Jack Miller, a biology professor at the University of Western Ontario, said yesterday.

Steve Sauder of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority said his group has received several reports lately of coyote sightings in London.

People are often surprised by that, he said, but "we do have wildlife in the city."

The authority will lead a meeting tomorrow to update the Westminster Ponds/Pond Mills Master Plan, particularly about improvements to its trails and entrances.

It's one of the city's largest environmentally sensitive oases, with 300 hectares of woodlot, ponds and meadows.

Sauder expects to hear some buzz there, too, about coyotes.

Callers have reported some sightings and "hearing some (coyote) calls at night . . . What we need to monitor beyond that is, are these actually creating a problem?"

If there are concerns coyotes are encroaching onto private property, or are a threat to people or leashed pets, "then we'll have to address those," Sauder said.

Coyotes, once a western phenomenon, have become more citified, said Millar, a mammalogist who has researched coyote populations.

"They're sort of following the steps of the raccoon and they've learned to adapt to city conditions," he says. "I think it's a trend" that they're starting to like city life.

Urban coyotes, for example, have learned to be quieter than country counterparts.

He said the animals, usually smaller than a medium-sized dogs, are solitary hunters that don't travel in packs.

They prefer to avoid human contact, but there have been some reports of small pets attacked or disappearing, the blame pinned on coyotes. In one case, a mutilated fawn was found on a lawn near a woodlot.

But Millar said an attack on a deer would be unlikely. "They're not really designed for taking down large prey."

Their food consists mostly of small rodents such as mice and voles that kill trees by girdling them.

"They do serve as a form of pest control," Millar said.

On balance, "if you add it all up, they're probably a bonus" to the environment, he said.

Millar is a featured mammal expert in a six-part series of talks at the Central Library on Nature in the City.

The series starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. and continues weekly until Feb. 19. (Millar's mammal talk is Feb. 12.)

The update on the Westminster Ponds/Pond Mills environmentally sensitive areas is tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Fish and Game Club on Southdale Road.

URBAN COYOTES

- Most active at dusk, night and dawn.

- Do not form packs, like wolves, but may move in small groups of siblings.

- Aren't considered major rabies carriers.

- Smart and adaptable.