December 23, 2022: I am pleased to release my newest, free e-book: Backpacking the Iconic Pemigewasset Wilderness. This e-book describes my 3 day, 35 mile journey into the heart of the White Mountains, New Hampshire.
The White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire is truly an inspiring place. It has wilderness and a surprisingly intact ecosystem given its location in the urbanized Northeast. It is so pristine that I have previously written a book suggesting that part of it should be given National Park status.
The Pemigewasset Wilderness is the biggest of 7 wilderness areas in the White Mountains. In this e-book, I – using 395 pictures – detail my 3 day backpacking trip (July 7-9, 2022) from start to finish in complete and great photographic detail. I have been to the White Mountains countless times since my youth, and after all of these visits I have gained a detailed knowledge of the area which helps to put my experiences into context. In this e-book, I share with you, the reader, my experience while hiking the ‘Pemi’ in a photographic journey intended to awe the reader.
For more, including to download it, please visit the book’s link:
Way, J.G. 2022. Backpacking the Iconic Pemigewasset Wilderness. Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research, Barnstable, Massachusetts. 255 pages. E-book. Open Access URL: http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/BackpackingIconicPemigewassetWilderness.
December 22, 2022. Why coyotes aren’t leaving New York City anytime soon. This is a well written article on eastern coyotes in NYC, the most urban of locales!
December 13, 2022. A Coyote Unexpectedly Killed a Human in 2009. Scientists Now Know Why: It’s likely due to an unexpected dietary adaptation. This is a most interesting study stemming from a very unfortunate and tragic event.
December 12, 2022. Nahant Calls in Rifle Experts to Kill Aggressive Coyotes After Attacks: Officials in Nahant, Massachusetts, voted to hire rifle experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to address the town’s coyote problem. This is most unfortunate and there is already a petition (click here) to stop this plan from moving forward. Update December 20: North Shore Coyote Crossroads As ‘Kill’ Plan Faces Pushback: As Nahant moves to “dispatch” its “problem” coyote population, wildlife advocates call for alternatives to shooting the animals.
December 3, 2022. Eastern Coyote: The Furry Face Behind The Haunting Howl. This was a well done interview I did with a Cape Cod (Falmouth) newspaper.
November 8, 2022. Fascinating article actually written by a pro-hunting group Outdoor Life: In Washington State, Hunters May No Longer Be “Necessary to Manage Wildlife”: An emerging wildlife war has its first skirmish this week in Spokane, where a reformist group is looking to deprioritize hunting and hunters. This battle is happening nationwide.
September 15, 2022. Press Release: Dozens of Conservation Groups, Scientists Call on New York to Protect Wolves. I am glad to be a part of this effort to better protect wolves in the Northeast. September 20: Here is an article on the topic in the Adirondack Almanac! September 22: The plot thickens as another lab confirmed that the animal was indeed a wolf! Article: Princeton DNA analysis finds New York animal was a wolf. September 22, afternoon: DEC: Scientific Analysis of DNA Test Confirms Animal Taken During Coyote Season in 2021 was a Wolf. This article is important as the state of New York is admitting it is a wolf! Hopefully that furthers the points in our letter. September 27, yet another article on the topic: NYSDEC Reverses Course, Now Calls The Cooperstown Wolf A Wolf.
August 28, 2022. Cry wolf? Debate over presence of wolves in Northeast. This is an AP article that made it to many outlets. Here is one of them on the continued reporting of the wolf from New York.
August 27, 2022. Did a hunter kill a wolf in New York? My answer: Of course he did, and the NY folks are clearly trying to cover it up. There are no 85 pound eastern coyotes/coywolves and to claim otherwise is pure ignorance, or worse, a deliberate attempt to mis-inform the public.
August 3, 2022. Coyotes are here to stay in North American cities – here’s how to appreciate them from a distance. A pretty good article in the online journal The Conversation.
July 28, 2022. Press Release from the Center for Biological Diversity: Wolf documented in New York. Here is another documented wolf and the state of NY is essentially doing nothing to protect them. I was part of this group to help get the sample tested. There were many stories on this, including this one, this one, this one (this article does a decent job of needing to protect the eastern coyote/coywolf to allow wolves to come back), and lastly this one.
June 26, 2022. Observations on Coyote Ecology: impact, use, interactions, & movement in the environment. This is a very detailed article, written by Janet Kessler of San Francisco, CA, who directly observes her study subjects.
June 23, 2022. I am pleased to release my newest, free e-book: Yellowstone in Winter: The Recovering Wolves of the Northern Range. This e-book details, in over 450 pictures, the wildlife of Yellowstone, particular wolves and their prey, during the depths of winter.
Winter is the time of year in Yellowstone for bone-numbing cold temperatures and peace and solitude in the world’s first national park. It is also a battle of survival for many of the creatures who call the park their home. Due to the relative lack of traffic and visibility of wildlife against a white backdrop, winter is an excellent time to observe wildlife. My weeklong trip from February 23 to March 1, 2022 was no exception.
I was particularly interested in observing the Junction Butte wolves since I have observed them so often over the past several years, especially during the previous summer (2021). I was greatly concerned about them, and the other wolves, due to what the states of Montana and Idaho have done to aggressively reduce their numbers for no legitimate reason. Livestock losses to wolves are minimal in the region and elk and deer are over “objectives” set by the states. In addition, I also was psyched to simply be in the park during mid-winter and observe how other more visible animals, namely bison and elk, behaved.
For more, including to download it, please visit the book’s link:
Way, J.G. 2022. Yellowstone in Winter: The Recovering Wolves of the Northern Range. Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research, Barnstable, Massachusetts. 394 pages. E-book. Open Access URL: http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/YellowstoneInWinter.
May 4, 2022. Rite of Passage. A cool, brand new 10 min video on red wolves in North Carolina. Worth the watch.
April 27, 2022. How killing wildlife in the United States became a game: Calls for a ban escalate as controversial hunting contests kill more than 60,000 animals a year. This is an investigative piece behind coyote and other predator hunting competitions. There is a nationwide call to ban them and I hope the legislation passes. This is pure bloodlust and is done for no sound purpose other than the fun of killing an animal.
April 15, 2022. Could Red Wolves Actually Improve Deer Populations and Hunting in the Southeast? As controversy over red wolf introductions continues to percolate in the Southeast, a group of researchers and locals argue that the predators are actually helping game species thrive. This is a well-written article from a hunting magazine.
April 14, 2022. Walter Medwid: Refocus Fish & Wildlife mandate so it’s on conservation. This is a good article from Vermont about including non-hunters in wildlife management decisions.
April 8, 2022. Toronto’s mystery predator really is a coy-wolf – but not as we know it: Part urban legend, part DNA-tested reality, the coyote-wolf hybrid has adapted to dense human-built environments. A well written article that I was interviewed on.
March 28, 2022. Killing wolves to own the libs? The predators were reintroduced to the state in the nineties—and have been the object of political controversy ever since. An aggressive new law allows people to hunt or trap as many as they can. This is a very disturbing article coming out of the New Yorker Magazine. It is amazing that people can have so much irrational hate, fear, and ignorance – putting it nicely. Keep in mind that this is all legally allowed by western state wildlife agencies and/or legislators, who have turned into political jokes.
March 26, 2022. I am pleased to release my newest, free e-book: A Yellowstone Summer with the Junction Butte Wolf Pack. This e-book details, in 510 pictures, the life and times of a famous wolf pack followed during the summer by adoring fans.
Summer is the time of year for tourists, heat, and bison jams. For locals and visitors alike, it is an exhausting period because these three ingredients create a considerable amount of traffic and uncomfortable, irritable people on hot, relentless sunny days. However, nature and wildlife thrive in Yellowstone despite the mass of humanity in the world’s first national park during the busy summer months. My two week trip from July 21 to August 3, 2021 was no exception, and was highlighted by seeing the Junction Butte Wolf Pack on all 14 days. Yellowstone is quite literally the only place in the world where this is possible.
The ‘Junctions’ regularly hunted in Lamar Valley and Little America. These two places are open, grassland-dominated valleys where wildlife, especially bison, abounds. Wolves are often seen in these areas. This pack was one of the largest on record, numbering 34-35 individuals during my Christmas in Yellowstone trip. During my summer 2021 trip, they were down to around 20 adults and yearlings, plus the new pups of the year. Wolves mostly travel in small groups during the summer so getting whole pack counts can be difficult. In this book, I provide detailed notes and pictures on what I saw during each observation session with the wolves. I also provide images of other wildlife observed during my two weeks in Yellowstone. Lastly, I conclude the book by documenting the tragedy that the Junction pack experienced in winter 2021-22.
For more, including to download it, please visit the book’s link:
Way, J.G. 2022. A Yellowstone Summer with the Junction Butte Wolf Pack. Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research, Barnstable, Massachusetts. 481 pages. E-book. Open Access URL: http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/YellowstoneSummerWithJunctionButteWolfPack.
March 4, 2022. The Unwavering Wolf Truther Who Would Be Maine’s Next Governor: John Glowa has spent decades arguing that wolves have a clandestine presence in Maine — never mind what state agencies say. Now, the perennial bee in wildlife officials’ bonnets is parlaying his canid crusade into a long-shot bid for governor. Can a voice in the wilderness become the leader of the pack? A good article that shows how one man can prove an entire state agency wrong!
February 9, 2022. “Coyotes are seemingly everywhere these days. And there aren’t many hunters standing in their way: In 1996, voters outlawed the traps that were the chief method of coyote control. Now, with the population exploding, hunters are asking for new tools.” I am not surprised by this article from the Globe. Apparently they are ‘liberal’ with everything, except their wildlife stories. I am always amazed how <1% of the population (hunters) get such of a big platform, when 33% of the population is wildlife watchers and would rather watch wildlife including eastern coyotes/coywolves. It is like this article was written by a hunter him/herself. Amazing. Fortunately, MassWildlife staff had the best and most appropriate comment of all in the article, stating that there is no way to limit their numbers at this point and non-lethal measure are most effective. Given this knowledge, it is unfortunate that the agency still supports an unnecessarily long hunting season with few limits besides the hunting contest ban.
