Though cars are the biggest threat to coyotes taking up residence in U.S. cities, a new study suggests urban living poses a different kind of hazard to coyote health -- in the form of chronic stress.
"This is the first mammalian carnivore that has been evaluated for stress in an urban environment," said lead author Stan Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist at Ohio State."The city does present challenges for them, even though they're really good at doing what they're doing. This is helping us understand how well animals are adjusting to urban systems -- or not adjusting to them.
The results bore out that hypothesis, but the findings also showed there is more to the story of modern coyote life: Poor physical condition is linked to higher stress -- which poses a chicken-and-egg question of which problem came first. Sarcoptic mange infection itself doesn't kill coyotes, but the loss of hair makes them susceptible to succumbing to cold Chicago winters.
Transients, on the other hand -- adult coyotes that have left their parents but not yet established or joined a pack -- have a different set of worries."Transients were right up there with the alphas in terms of stress. They don't have to defend a territory, but they have to avoid getting attacked by resident coyotes -- they're going through territories on a constant basis -- and are trying to avoid people and trying not to get hit by cars," Gehrt said.