Keeping Up With the Carnivores
21st November 2014
Over the past 100 years, coyotes have, quite literally, been taking over America. They are native to the continent, and for most of their existence these rangy, yellow-eyed canids were largely restricted to the Great Plains and western deserts where they evolved. But after wolves and cougars were exterminated from most of the United States by the 1800s, coyotes took their place. Colonizing some areas at a rate of 720 square miles per year, coyotes now occupy—or “saturate,” as one scientist I spoke with described it—nearly the entire continent. (Long Island is a notable exception.) The animals are now the apex predators of the east. And they’re proving so resourceful that even the last stronghold—the urban core—represents an opportunity to flourish.
November 22nd, 2014 at 20:29
During my brief experience living in upstate NY, I was surprised to find that they have a season on coyotes. As a non-native species – and a carrier of disease – it should be considered a pest and have an open season year round (like Texas).
If someone’s pet dog chased a deer in NY, the dog could be shot. But if a coyote was chasing a deer and it wasn’t the hunting season, no one could do anything. Crazy place.