“Was It a Fox or a Dog?  The Growth of Coyotes in PA”

by Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

 

       The state of Pennsylvania is known for its population of deer and bear, but coyotes?  I was surprised to hear it as well.  Recently, at a local zoning hearing in Lehigh County one resident argued the right to raise alpacas upon her property.  With little interest I listened until I overheard one board member decline the motion on the grounds that the animals would create a problem with the coyotes.  Coyotes?  I imagined these loud canines to live in the western part of the country where they roamed in packs.  Yet, this area is more suburban than rural these days.  The idea was dismissed from my mind until a walk in our township park.  Scurrying across the vacant soccer field I saw an animal that looked too large to be a fox but too wild to be a dog.  I had encountered one of these coyotes for myself, and indeed they do live in large populations in Pennsylvania.  In fact, with the spread of suburban communities, the sightings of eastern coyotes is becoming more and more common.

            It is claimed that coyotes were seen in Pennsylvania as early as the 1930s, but the first verified sighting was recorded in Clearfield County in 1946.  The popular myth that the state game commission imported them to help with the deer population is denied by the state department, leaving the animal’s natural wandering to be the answer as to their arrival to the eastern part of the country.  Now, coyotes inhabit every state east of the Mississippi and 65 of 67 Pennsylvania counties.  Their obscure origins could be explained by the common confusion between the coyote and other canines, allowing them to escape identification. 

            The coyote’s established population started in the northern areas of Pennsylvania, probably migrating from the Catskill Mountains in large numbers in the late 1960s.  In the late 1970s the number of coyotes began to increase rapidly, as many as 250 additions per year.  At that time the highest population could be found in the Pocono Mountains.  By 1990 the population was documented to have spread across the entire state of Pennsylvania, higher numbers remaining in the northern part of the state.  Today there are more coyotes in the state than black bears, a total population estimated by the State Game Commission to be between 25,000 and 30,000 animals.

       Had I not heard about coyotes inhabiting the region, I would have mistaken the fellow in the park as a fox.  This is often the case since foxes dogs, wolves, and coyotes are all members of the canine family.  Having once been referred to as a brush wolf, a prairie wolf, or a coy-dog, the eastern coyote is properly named Canis latrans.  Thought to have interbred with wolves, the eastern coyote is larger than its western cousin.  DNA backs up the theory of coyote/wolf interbreeding and explains the differences in not only appearance but in habitat and behavior between the eastern and western coyotes.  In fact, the wolves which were once said to be sighted in Pennsylvania may actually have been the eastern coyotes known today mistakenly labeled. 

       A true eastern coyote is markedly larger than a fox and is the second largest predator in the state.  Ranging from 48 to 60 inches in length, males weigh between 45-55 pounds with females weighing ten pounds less. Their coloring often causes the confusion between the various canines since the eastern coyote has four color patterns:  blonde, red, dark brown, or the pattern commonly referred to as German shepherd.  Their distinguishing characteristics are erect ears, black vertical lines on the front legs, bushy tails which are held downwards, and yellow eyes. 

       Eastern coyotes live in families but usually hunt alone.  Their ideal dens are located beneath trees or piles of brush, in natural rock formations, or in abandoned fox dens.  Transitory by nature, the coyotes tend to follow trails and dirt roads or move along the forest edge rather than amongst the brush.

       It is agreed that the eastern coyote population is filling a void in the ecological system—one left by the disappearance of other predators such as the eastern timber wolf and the once proliferate cats of the area.  The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s statement of coyotes declares their population to be “very resilient.”  What makes the coyotes so versatile and therefore proliferate is their diet.  From deer to mice and even vegetarian meals, the coyote is not picky about what he eats. 

       Noted photographer John Wasserman comments, “I have often watched coyotes hunt mice. They will watch the ground cover intently, tilting their head with one ear toward the sound of their unseen prey. Then suddenly the coyote will come up off the ground with its front feet and slam its paws down near the rodent to make it move. In a heartbeat, the mouse is in its jaws.”

       Often foraging by the sides of roads or in empty picnic areas, the coyote prefers to come out at night to avoid human contact.  Rarely do they prey upon domestic animals.  In fact, although coyotes are seen in close proximity to human populations, they avoid people as much as possible, making their threat to humans minimal.  The Pennsylvania Game Commission through the State Wildlife Management Agency declares that coyotes will “leave an area at the first sign of human intrusion…Coyotes rarely display aggressive behavior toward people.”