Coyotes are the new kids on the block in Ohio. They only became common in the state about 30 years ago, and they’re now one of Ohio’s top natural predators. But in many ways, they’re still a mystery to farmers and wildlife biologists alike. Ohio State University researchers are trying to solve part of that mystery.
Most of the research on coyotes has been done in the western U.S. But the ecosystems in that region, and the ways people farm, are very different from Ohio, so it’s hard to know how much of it applies to coyotes in the state. Ohio State researchers are studying how coyotes fit into Ohio’s ecosystem, and how farmers can manage them to protect their flocks and herds.
“We need to be able to have practical information to help producers, and to help them manage or minimize the conflicts,” said Stan Gehrt, professor and wildlife extension specialist with Ohio State.
Project
The research project is a five-year study, funded by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, that started in July of 2021.
“In the grand scheme of things, coyotes are relatively new to the state,” explained Katie Dennison, wildlife biologist for the division of wildlife. “There’s really a lot of basic ecology of coyotes in the state that we would benefit from having a better understanding of.”
The first records of coyotes in Ohio, she said, were in the early 1900s. But coyotes weren’t common in the state until the 1990s.
Dennison said coyotes are currently the only furbearing species that doesn’t have a limited season in Ohio. There are no proposals to change that right now, and haven’t been since the ODNR tabled a 2020 proposal to limit coyote hunting and trapping after farmers said it would keep them from managing coyotes that preyed on their livestock.
Dennison said the division of wildlife is hoping the project will help them better understand the impact coyotes have on livestock producers, and will allow the division to provide science-based recommendations for managing coyotes and protecting livestock.
Differences
Coyotes moved to the state on their own, and it’s something of a “natural experiment” in Ohio and other eastern states, Gehrt said. That’s because there are big ecological differences between Ohio and the western U.S. Ohio is of part of the Eastern Deciduous Forest ecosystem, and has more of a mix of open space and fragmented forests than out west. Livestock production is also different, Gehrt said.
Sheep, the main livestock he is focused on, are raised in flocks of thousands over many square miles of private and federal land in the west. In Ohio, sheep operations tend to be smaller — with dozens or hundreds, not thousands, of sheep — and cover smaller areas.
In the west, a single sheep operation could span across many different coyote territories. In Ohio, it may not even span the complete territory of one coyote pack.
Research
The first steps of the project involve getting some basic information about coyotes in the state, Gehrt said. The researchers are collecting coyote carcasses from hunters and trappers and from the division of wildlife’s roadkill surveys.
Researchers can learn about coyotes’ diets by studying the carcasses. They can also study coyote population demographics, like age, reproduction rate and litter sizes, by studying the carcasses. Adult female carcasses, in particular, can allow researchers to estimate growth rates.
The focus is on demographics and distribution of coyotes, rather than trying to figure out an exact number of coyotes in the state. Dennison said the ODNR relies on population indices, which allow it to monitor whether the population is increasing, decreasing or staying stable, rather than absolute numbers to monitor the coyote population in Ohio.
The animals’ diets can help researchers understand how significant livestock are as a food source for coyotes, and whether that varies in different parts of the state.
Researchers will also track coyotes that live near livestock operations, to learn more about the size of their home ranges, habitat use and survival rates and how they interact with livestock at different times of year, Dennison said.
Then, the researchers will transition into studying the damage coyotes cause or the conflict they have with livestock farmers. For example, they want to identify which coyotes are most likely to attack sheep, and whether there’s a pattern to their attacks. Some of that involves working directly with farmers.
Management
Gehrt is hoping to work with farmers to test some management techniques that have been used out west. One technique he wants to try involves hanging mylar plastic from fence lines. When the wind blows, the plastic moves, and that should make predators like coyotes less likely to want to cross the fence line.
“It doesn’t work forever, because they’ll figure out it’s not a threat,” he said. “But for a certain number of weeks of months, it might be effective.”
He also suspects it could work better in Ohio than out west because farms tend to be smaller in Ohio, so hanging plastic around a fence line may be more feasible. Learning more about which coyotes are most likely to attack livestock, and which livestock they tend to prey on, will also help researchers decide what strategies to try.
Parallels
While a lot of research is focused on how coyotes interact with livestock operations, farmers aren’t the only ones who may be able to learn from the results. In addition to farmers, Gehrt has heard from hunters who are interested in learning more about coyotes and how they interact with Ohio’s wildlife.
And coyotes can be a problem in urban areas as well. In fact, their survival and reproduction rates go up in suburban and urban areas, where people are more limited in hunting and trapping them, Gehrt said.
“The food supply is so abundant that they can increase litter sizes,” he said. “They have both natural food in the cities and suburbs … then also have plenty of access to human foods.”
The issues people have with coyotes in cities and towns mirror issues in rural areas. Coyotes can prey on pets, just like livestock.
And when coyotes prey on sheep out west, often, specific animals are responsible for the problem, rather than coyotes in general. The same is true for coyotes that prey on pets in urban areas. Sometimes, getting rid of problem coyotes is more effective than getting rid of all of the coyotes in an area.
“We don’t know if that’s true for sheep production in rural Ohio,” Gehrt said. “But there are a lot of parallels for conflict and principles across different systems.”
I grew up in NE Ohio on a small farm. Pheasant, rabbits and quail were common when I was young. Now we only see Pheasants and Quail for a month or so after conservation groups release homegrown ones before hunting season, and we’re noticing a significant drop in the number of deer with fawns. We read about states encouraging farmers to put brush cuttings in piles to create protection for rabbits so we have been for several years, still rare to see a rabbit.
Don’t care why coyotes are here now, they’re an invasive species and need to be removed by whatever means necessary.
I dunno about them being new; I read the heck out wildlife books as a kid from the 1960s, 70s, & 80s that ALL had them well established in Ohio & made no mention of them being rare or recent at that time… I still think it’s more that they’ve just become so bottlenecked by the growing urban sprawl, that we’re just seeing them more often nowadays. (Oh well, not your fault if that’s what they’re saying. Mandela effect? Who knows… 😅)
Either way, I’m glad to see focused effort on understanding them, so we can figure out better ways to coexist. But someone REALLY needs to tell the researchers NOT to focus so much on sheep. Like seriously, I’ve been all over this state since the 1980s, & have seen a grand total of THREE sheep farms. All with 30 or less sheep total. One had 12. And it’s not just that they only had that many out in a certain field, these were locations I went by frequently over the course of years, & the numbers stayed nearly the same with little variance other than color ratios. The small one was outside the window in high school, so believe me, I’ve counted them LOTS of times, LOL!.
CATTLE AND CHICKENS are what they REALLY need to look at! The ONLY coyote kills of livestock I hear about are of chickens & young calves. (Not counting small pets. In which case there should just plain not be “outdoor pets” anyway; there are HUNDREDS of reasons not to leave cats or dogs out there alone, vs the two flimsy arguments “for” it: convenience & laziness.)
While of course, comparing sheep with sheep is good for compare/contrast of existing data, they DEFINITELY need to also monitor the most prevalent, & thus most heavily impacted, farm animal losses. Data needs to be relevant to the situation at hand if it’s to do anyone any good.
One idea, for cattle, sheep, goats, etc: Large herd guardian dogs need to become a thing again! (A rare exception to the rule about outdoor animals, because it’s been bred into them that the herd is their pack, & they’re made to be thick & strong, very able to survive coyote encounters, & usually imposing enough to scare the little things off without any bloodshed). Get some from a long working line who still have the instinct that gives them fulfilment with their hooved brethren, acclimate the herd & let them bond, then these loyal guardians will make the rounds & keep the babies safe. Sure, an investment of money & work at first… but then the increased herd survival will pay it all back. More dogs added over time when the first ones get along in the years will be easier to train (the already existing dogs can basically train them themselves), & the herd will be used to them by then.
Plenty of other ideas out there too, I’m sure. But yeah, I just hope that the researchers won’t be leaving a blind spot over the farmers that need solutions the most.