Behavioral Ecology and Management of Suburban Coyotes in Westchester County, New York

The coyote (Canis latrans) is now established as a relatively common inhabitant of nearly all landscapes in the northeastern United States. However, the ecology and management of this larger, mid-sized carnivore in urban areas is poorly understood, and creates much uncertainty for residents and wildlife managers alike. Detailed behavioral ecology studies are important to understand the role of the coyote in urbanized landscapes and their interactions with humans. We are studying the behavioral ecology of coyotes in Westchester County, N.Y., a predominantly urban county directly north of New York City. We investigated the diet of coyotes through trail-based fecal collections to identify potential anthropogenic food items that could lead to negative human-coyote interactions. Concurrently, we examined the spatial ecology of coyotes using both VHF-and GPS-based telemetry. Preliminary results from the diet analysis indicated that >50% of the scats collected contained white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) remains. Other natural food items accounted for most of the remaining food items. No domestic dog remains have been identified in scats and only 4 scats contained domestic cat remains-3 of which were collected during the same day along the same collection trail. Spatial ecology data indicated that coyote home ranges (n = 26) averaged 5.53 km2 ± 3.18 SD, and ranged from 1.16-12.02 km2. Habitat use revealed that 71% of coyote locations (n = 1,987) were in natural lands, and 28% were in residential, recreational and agricultural areas. While these findings indicated the risk for negative interactions was lower than for other areas of the U.S., potential does remain for conflicts to occur. Overall, resident coyotes appear to be living natural lives and remain embedded in natural processes, while avoiding human interactions in developed landscapes.