Coyote attacks always make headlines

It's a slow news day when eating dinner becomes breaking news.

But when someone picked up some fast food in Wheaton last week, the media were all over it. The story made headlines on WGN-TV and WBBM radio. It was a hot story in the Chicago Tribune and half a dozen local newspapers. It popped up on numerous Web sites as well.

So how does eating a meal become newsworthy? When the diner is a coyote and the dinner is a small dog.

While this incident is sad for the pet owner, it's hardly out of the ordinary, and it certainly is not breaking news. What has led to the rift between suburbanites and wildlife?

Perceptions of wildlife are based on stories, images, and information - not necessarily factual- from a variety of sources. Think Walt Disney. In the classics "Snow White" and "Bambi" there are the good guys and the bad guys. The good animals are the herbivores - docile, doe-eyed and darling. They're all pals, and they stick up for each other. The wolves, however, are fierce, felonious, and evil. Their slanted red eyes pierce the darkness of the forest. Their mouths are red, too - evidently from their victims' blood - and their lips curl to bare their sharp teeth as they snarl, growl and howl in pursuit of something to kill.

In addition to Disney films, television shows and storybooks perpetuate the misperceptions of ecology. Herbivory is good; carnivory is bad. (Note: this does not apply to humans shopping in the meat department of the grocery store.)

We have been inculcated with myths, misleading messages, and misconstrued ecology from many sources, for many generations.

Like the game "operator," stories about animals get passed on and on, with increasing distortion along the way and no one checking the facts. By the time the message gets around the circle it's garbled almost beyond recognition.

Who started the one about raccoons washing their food? Has anyone actually seen a bat getting into someone's hair? In whose back yard was the opossum hanging by its tails? These are fictitious behaviors.

Many people are so disconnected from native wildlife that they haven't had a chance to observe these animals and truly know their habits - so people believe whatever message is whispered in their ear, as in the game operator, and pass it along the line.

Lack of knowledge often leads to unfounded fear. And when you get scared, it's easy to start seeing things that aren't there. In last week's coverage of "coyote's carry out," a reporter interviewed witnesses to the horrific event.

"Neighbors who saw the coyote said it was enormous," according to WGN news, "possibly 80 pounds."

There is no such thing as an 80-pound coyote. Sorry. It makes for good science fiction, but it's not science fact. A large male coyote in our area may weigh 42-43 pounds, tops, according to the Urban Coyote Research Web site, urbancoyoteresearch.com.

One news report last week said that coyotes "have been stalking ... pets for years and growing bigger, bolder and more dangerous."

And, the report states that neighbors are worried their children will be "dragged away" by these monstrous beasts.

The problem with these misperceptions is the resulting human behavior. Behavior based on misinformation and motivated by fear is rarely good. What's needed is knowledge and understanding of the wild animals whose habitats we have moved into, and adjustment of our behavior based on that knowledge.

Bill Graser, wildlife biologist for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, agrees that the problem is more a matter of human behavior than coyote behavior.

"Education and changing human behavior are the best ways to prevent coyote habituation before it ever happens." There are some fundamentals that everyone should abide by in order to make the entire neighborhood less attractive to coyotes and other wildlife.

"Avoid letting pets outside unattended at night," Graser advises. "This is especially true for small dogs."

Graser also cautions people about leaving food outside for pets or for wildlife - even birds.

"Feeding birds is OK but you don't need a bird feeder the size of the Sears Tower. The excessive seed may draw in rodents which may in turn lure coyotes." If everyone in a neighborhood takes these basic precautions, many problems can be avoided.

Lest readers think I am nonchalant and uncaring about the loss of pets to coyotes, I am a dog owner and my dogs have had their share of close calls with their wild canid cousins. Last summer a coyote appeared at the edge of a cornfield and drew a bead on my three-month old German Shorthair Pointer. I scooped up the puppy and cautiously started to leave the area. The coyote vanished momentarily in the tall corn, only to pop up in another spot, and another and another - closer every time. Clutching the puppy, I realized that there was more than one coyote and that they were stalking us in a tighter and tighter circle.

Do I blame them? No. They probably had a den nearby, we were in their space, and my puppy was no different from a rabbit to them. Would I be upset if my pup had become their lunch? You bet. But those coyotes were no more cold and calculating than a person catching a quick deli sandwich, and no more wicked than a walleye eating a the lure on your line.

Coyote will be in the news again, guaranteed. But the more people know about wildlife, the more they understand basic animal behavior, and the better they see the ecological picture, the less likely it is that coyote news will be bad news. When our perception of wildlife is clearer, our reactions will be more reasonable and our actions more sensible. By re-connecting with the natural world around us, we may live with rather than against wildlife. Now there's a newsworthy story.

Valerie Blaine is a naturalist with the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. She loves to run with her dogs on leash along forest preserve trails and off-leash in dog parks. You may reach her at blainevalerie@kaneforest.com

Coyotes in historyCoyotes have a long and checkered history. Originating in North America some 150,000 to 300,000 years ago, they filled a niche of small carnivore throughout their range. Known both as "God's dog" and "Trickster," the coyote has played a salient role in the legend and lore of Native American cultures throughout their expansive range. When Europeans arrived in North America, they dubbed coyote "prairie wolf," as they had never seen this animal before. Eventually, they picked up the southwestern Indian and Mexican name "coyotl" which has since become "coyote." Scientists have named the animal Canis latrans, meaning "barking dog."Coyotes were not problematic until Americans began ranching in North America. The coyote found easy meals on ranches and farms, and soon there were bounties on coyotes and their larger kin, the wolves. Wolves did not fare well with the advance of human habitation. Coyotes, on the other hand, increased in the midst of farms and towns and suburbia where they are problematic once again. There is an open season on coyotes for those who have the proper licenses. Despite the sizeable harvest of coyotes each year, coyote populations are strong and in some areas they are on the increase. The Trickster lives on.True18571016As their natural habitat shrinks, coyotes are brought into contact with humans more frequently.Gilbert R. Boucher II | Staff Photographer, 2005True