COLUMBUS — The nation’s foremost expert on coyotes and a professor at Ohio State University, Stanley D. Gerht, offers a new perspective on the oft-misunderstood animals in his just-published book, “Coyotes Among Us.”
The book is based on more than 20 years of research by Gehrt, professor of wildlife ecology at the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences.
Co-authored with former journalist Kerry Luft, the book draws from decades of experience to dispel coyote myths, highlight the benefits of living with coyotes and embrace the coyote as a brilliant survivor against all odds.
From its depictions as the “trickster” in ancient fables to its portrayal as a threat to humans and their pets in modern news sources, the scrawny animals are rarely shown in a favorable light.
Postings on lifestyle and safety apps such as Nextdoor, Amazon Ring’s Neighbors and Citizen frequently warn neighbors of coyote sightings, especially when they are seen or heard during mating season (January to March) and when the young pups are dispersing from family groups (October to January).
Though harassed and hunted for generations, today the coyote persists and even thrives. With an innate ability to adjust to new climates and environments, it has developed an expansive range.
Once confined to the American West, coyotes now live in 49 states, across lower Canada, throughout Mexico and all the way to Costa Rica. Only Hawaii has avoided their invasion.
Study
The 144-page book includes stunning images of coyotes within their surprising habitats and is based on 22 years of research from the Urban Coyote Research Project, led by Gehrt in the Chicago metropolitan area. He is the principal investigator of one of the largest studies of coyotes to date, capturing and tracking more than 1,450 coyotes.
In the project, a subset of coyotes is live-captured, collared and released at their capture site. They are then monitored to understand how they live in urban areas and how they interact with other wildlife, domestic animals and humans.
Coyote habitat ranges from rural prairie to urban overpasses; it is the largest animal to regularly live wild within city limits. The coyote continues to overcome the ceaseless intrusion of urban development to create a bright and flourishing future, providing its human neighbors a surprising number of benefits, Gehrt noted in the book.
As the human population increases, so does the population density. The denser the human population, the more plentiful the trash. Food is hard to find in the wild, but it’s lying everywhere in a city, town or neighborhood. Coyotes are simply going where the food is.
Background
Gehrt also serves as chair of the Center for Wildlife Research at the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation in Dundee, Illinois. His Ohio State research program focuses on various aspects of mammalian ecology, especially urban systems, dynamics of wildlife disease and human-carnivore conflicts.
Luft is executive vice president of the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. He previously spent nearly three decades in journalism, mostly at the Chicago Tribune, where he specialized in national and foreign news. He has written or edited five other books.
