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The Eastern Coyote
| Article
# : |
17917 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1990 |
1,860 Words |
| Author
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Dwight G. Smith
Dwight G. Smith is professor and chairman of the biology
department at Southern Connecticut State University in New
Haven. His latest book, Plants, was released this summer by
Pearson Publishing Company of Boston. |
Nights across the rural eastern United States that were once quiet and peaceful have lately become increasingly noisy. In many areas, the familiar nocturnal whine of distant cars and drone of overhead airplanes is frequently penetrated and punctuated by high-pitched yapping and quivering barks, yowls, and wails - the vocal logo of the Eastern coyote. For most Easterners, these sounds mark their first awareness of this new arrival in the neighborhood.
The Eastern coyote is a phenomenon of this century. Beginning with a few scattered sightings in the early 1990s, this native of the West has become an increasingly common part of the wildlife throughout much of the East, especially the Northeast. The ancestors of these coyotes most likely migrated eastward from Minnesota through southern Canada and down into New England, although a more southerly migration through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio may also have occurred. A few populations may have derived from animals that escaped from captivity, especially in the South.
Coyotes have thrived in the human-modified landscapes of the East; the large-scale clearing of land for farms, orchards, and residential areas plus the elimination of wolves and pumas - the coyote's natural competitors - have undoubtedly contributed to the success of this dog-sized canid. Today the Eastern coyote is found from Maine to Florida and in sufficient numbers to be regarded as a valuable renewable fur resource in several eastern states. Unfortunately, however, it has retained its western predilection for attacking livestock and poultry as well as deer, which has caused concern in some states among hunters, farmers, and
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