7/16/2007

More coyote news.

"[San Francisco] officials and wildlife researchers estimate that about five to eight coyotes live in [the city]. These include at least two in Golden Gate Park and one on Bernal Hill. There have also been sightings in McLaren Park, Lake Merced and the Presidio.

Wildlife experts believe that human activity drove coyotes out of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, as more people began settling in the western portions of the city. But coyotes were spotted in the Presidio about seven years ago.

Researchers believe that coyotes, which can travel up to 45 miles in a day, returned to the city by traveling up the shoreline from undeveloped parts of San Mateo County along Ocean Beach. Researchers tracked the movements of a coyote in the Presidio with an electronic device and said it traveled to the Daly City area and back in one day.

The San Francisco sightings come as coyotes, which tend to hunt in the evening and early morning, have successfully adapted to human habitation and spread into undeveloped areas adjacent to cities and suburbs.

When Europeans settled America in the 17th century, coyotes were found mostly in the western United States. But in recent decades they have spread all the way to the East Coast and have infiltrated many major cities."

Link.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Austin has been dealing with a coyote problem (numerous, sometimes aggressive coyotes) for a couple of years. They're even reported in in-town neighborhoods like mine, where they've been dining on pet cats and dogs.

chuck b. said...

Have your perspectives about wild predators and wildlife management changed in light of your recent travels? :)

JvA said...

Chuck, how did you like the latest Harry Potter movie?

chuck b. said...

I decided to see it next Monday...because I got a jury summons, and the last time i went for jury service they kept me for a few hours and let me go. Kill two birds with one stone, I figure.

lisa said...

So have you personally seen any coyotes?

chuck b. said...

No, I've never seen the coyotes.

But I once saw foxes in Santa Cruz when I was in college.

Anonymous said...

My perspective on wildlife management in cities has been influenced heavily by "Beast in the Garden," a provocative title but a thoughtful and well-reasoned book. See my posts about it at http://www.penick.net/digging/?p=112 and http://www.penick.net/digging/?p=143.