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This
book is about the experiences and findings of wildlife biologist
Jonathan Way, studying coyote ecology and behavior in urbanized
eastern Massachusetts. Jon is acting out a childhood dream to
study wild animals. However, instead of going to far off places
such as Africa or the remote stretches of the Rocky Mountains,
he began his professional career in high school and college by
tracking eastern coyotes in his own hometown on Cape Cod. We hear
so much about this unique animal and the conflicts it can create,
but relatively little is known about the coyotes in the east.
The lack of other studies taking place on coyotes in urbanized
areas in eastern North America provided Way with the perfect graduate
project, and an unending source of information and entertainment.
The coyote
is a remarkable animal, being one of the only carnivores to actually
increase its range and distribution in the past one hundred years.
Coyotes have taken over as top predator in all environments in
New England, from wilderness parks to city greenbelts. Along its
migration to the northeast it has become larger, likely the product
of hybridization between western coyotes and eastern wolves, and
with that, we see more speculation and theories about what the
animal is, how it got here, and why it is here.
This book
celebrates having these animals living among us and makes a passionate
plea for their protection. After all, with the eradication of
most of their competition in New England, mainly wolves, a niche
for a relatively large carnivore was left vacant for over one
hundred years. Coyotes naturally colonized these areas on their
own four feet and deserve the respect that any native carnivore
should be granted. With their tremendous range expansion in a
relatively short amount of time, coyotes proved that it is unnatural
not to have a predator in most ecosystems.
In Suburban
Howls, Way takes us with him as he navigates dirt roads and wooded
paths, travels through cemeteries, around cranberry bogs, in and
out of residential areas, down power lines, and even into the
city to see where coyotes travel and rest and how they survive,
raise pups, prosper as a family, and ultimately die, many before
their time. A fascinating account details the author raising a
wild-born litter of coyotes, capturing his first coyote in a box
trap, tracking a coyote into downtown Boston, documenting an increase
in local coyote numbers following the death of resident territorial
coyotes, and seeing first-hand how coyotes mourn when separated
from their family. The reader will discover that it is perfectly
appropriate to have wildlife in developed areas and that people,
not wild animals, are the ones that typically have a hard time
adjusting to their new neighbors. With a territorial species like
a coyote, any land that does not have other coyotes might as well
have a “For Rent” sign out.
This book
is written for the layman in a humorous, easy-reading style. It
highlights the dedication and emotional involvement of working
with this needlessly controversial animal, and will offer simple
precautions to enable Homo sapiens to coexist with these wild
canines that Native Americans called the Trickster. The data Way
has gathered over the past ten years will enlighten and educate
you with an insight into the behavior and habits of these remarkable
wild dogs.
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