December 8, 2007. Field Update: 1) Sad news: Snale is dead; 2) Raider is likely still alive, with a malfunctioned collar!; 3) Permit update
Starting with the bad news first: It is with sadness that I report that coyote “Snale” (Sandy Neck female) is dead. She was a petite, yet healthy coyote weighing 31.8 pounds at her time of death. She had an interesting history, as she was first captured on Sandy Neck Beach in spring 2006 and was clearly lactating. That summer (2006) she successfully raised a litter of 8 pups with at least one other adult, a white-faced, yellowish-bodied male, whom I identified by sight numerous times. Her range extended south to the route 6A and route 6 area of West Barnstable.
Around breeding season this past February (2007), she started displaying erratic movements including a few random locations in the Hyannis area. However, she periodically returned to Sandy Neck, off and on, until April, when she stopped using Sandy Neck completely. I suspect that a more aggressive female claimed her territory, possibly a daughter. As with many things with these coyotes, however, the real cause will never be known (e.g., maybe her mate was killed and she decided to leave for some reason).
During spring and early summer 2007 she hung out in Centerville and along the mid-Cape highway between exits 4 and 6. It was obvious that she was using locations at the edge of the ranges of some of my other radio-collared coyotes, in areas that they didn’t frequently use. Then during this past summer (when I was spending lots of time observing Sill’s group at their visible rendezvous site) she really began a pattern of using the area around route 6 and Service Road between exit 4 in Sandwich (and sometimes west of there) and exit 6 in Centerville. She spent a lot of time in the West Barnstable Conservation Area and, specifically, at the northern part of it.
Interestingly, the coyote “Mystic” used that area by the way until he was shot last year. His former pup (now 1.75 years old), who still lives in the area (name “Mup”), currently uses Mystic core range around the Marstons Mills Airport but does not go deep into the hills and woods of the West Barnstable Conservation Area. I have suspected that since February (Mystic was shot last December), a new male came into Marstons Mills and is going to breed Mup and her probable mother whom I occasionally identify by sight traveling with Mup. Long story short: Mystic’s death has undoubtedly caused a shrinking of territories and a subsequent increase in the local population of coyotes in this area. I will try to publish on this phenomenon (i.e., kill coyotes then have a density increase) in the near future but I do discuss it in my book “Suburban Howls.”
Back to Snale. Last week (week after Thanksgiving) she started displaying localized movements. However, it was shot-gun deer week and hunters can now legally shoot and kill coyotes during that season. Thus I did not want to walk in on and move her even though she spent most of the week close to Service Road in West Barnstable. Last Sunday (December 2), I walked in on her and, as expected, found her dead. She was curled up in a typical bedded position under a small pine sapling in an otherwise deciduous forest (mostly oak), which is a typical coyote bedding area. They seem to love those little pines (8-10 feet tall) which don’t provide much cover compared to other areas with larger pines.
Snale did not seem to have obvious injuries so I brought her to the Cape Wildlife Center in Cummaquid, Barnstable, MA (which was odd because I initially thought that someone shot her). There Judy Ellal X-Rayed Snale as well as performed a necropsy (cutting her open). Strangely, there were no obvious external injuries when I examined Snale where she died (e.g., no visible blood). However, Judy’s analysis found obvious internal hemorrhaging and a broken rib (a big thanks to Judy for helping with this necropsy!). Snale, we determined, was hit by a car and slowly bled to death. She found a location in the woods and bedded. Her face had an obvious grimace associated with pain. It is amazing (yet sad) how these animals routinely deal with things like pain, freezing cold conditions, precipitation like freezing rain. Yet they handle most scenarios.
Good bye poor Snale. I will miss tracking you and seeing how you fared after losing your territory on Sandy Neck.You lived a tough life and your biggest ally (i.e., the highway that the resident packs mostly avoided so you could squeeze out a mini-territory among other packs) turned out to be your likely downfall (unless you were hit to the immediate south on adjacent Service Road).
------
In other, more exciting news, I think that Raider is still alive! On 6 December 2007 I left the middle of Hyannis and decided to keep my antenna out the window and the receiver on. I typically do this whenever I am in Raider’s old range just in case I detect her signal. I haven’t found her in over a month.
However, right next to the Cape Cod Mall I heard a beep-beep at her frequency. Sure enough, once I stopped and took a bearing I had her right at a tiny pond next to route 28 and at the sewage treatment plant next to the mall. I have located her here many times, an oddly urban area, so was not overly surprised that she might be there (hence why I had the receiver on and antenna out the window).
The biggest problem was, once I parked my car on the south side of route 28 and proceeded to cross the road on the north side, the noise of all the traffic (3:40-4:00 PM) on route 28 made it difficult to hear the receiver which I was carrying (along with the antenna). Knowing I had to walk in on her (I did not like the location because it is so urban but there was enough woods where she could remain hidden) to see if the sound was indeed her collar, I went into the woods at the SW side of the pond and went through the woods to the west side of the small pond. Right when I got to the shore of the sewage pond I saw a coyote in the grass at the north-central part of the pond. It got up and slunk off to the northeast into a patch of fragmites reeds. At the time, her signal was loud because I was so close. The collar did seem to get variable which is typical of a moving animal. But within a minute or two the collar became faint then I couldn’t hear it anymore. While she could’ve run out of radio-range it is highly probable that she remained in that same patch of woods as the vehicle traffic would’ve made it nearly impossible for her to cross route 28. In addition, I purposely walk in a certain direction so she would have enough woods to hide in without getting pushed around to traffic (I repeat, with a failed collar I absolutely had to walk in and make sure that she was there).
I am very certain that her collar went. It is likely the connection between the battery box and the antenna which transmits the signal. I did see tracks by the shore of the pond (there was a dusting of snow on the ground). I as so annoyed because I could’ve walked in at the south (not SW) part of route 28 and not made as much noise. However, the end result was that clearly a coyote was over there and clearly the collar changed from being really strong to non-existent. It is really hard with a failed collar because once it doesn’t work you can’t track your study subject. However, this is what I surmise happened:
Raider was really close to the road which allowed me to detect her signal. Furthermore, she was likely sleeping in a position that moved the collar into a position where there was a connection between the battery and the antenna that likely wore away (her collar was light and didn’t have much protective podding around the collar which likely made it easier for the collar to malfunction). Once when Raider stood up and moved, the connection likely came apart and the collar stopped working.
Unfortunately, I did not see if she was with other coyotes. Best case scenario for us is that she is still the breeding female of Hyannis/Hyannisport and we will capture and re-collar her before the next breeding season.
-------
With Snale dead and Raider’s collar (not her) likely dead, we are now down to 3 collared coyotes which actually isn't bad since we have not been able to trap for the past 10.5 months. On Friday 7 December my colleagues Drs. Eric Strauss and Peter Auger and I submitted a proposal to the state. It was our 3rd/4th revision to a permit request. It is intended to be our last request as we have now answered all of the state division of fish and wildlife’s questions about our study. I find it amazing (and you have likely heard me say this before) how anyone can go to K-Mart and buy a hunting license yet multiple-Ph.D. level researchers have to go through a whole song and dance to study these same animals. Actually, it is pathetic but unfortunately it is the way things are right now when hunting license purchases (sadly) is still the only revenue stream going to fish and game departments. This is the case despite wildlife watching making so much more money, but going, instead, to the general economy. (I write this section calmly, however, it has been one of the most frustrating past years of my life knowing that people want our research to go away in order for us to quit being a thorn in people's side about hunting issues. I thank Eric and Pete for sticking by me. It will ultimately help coyote management where, eventually, I am confident that the public will demand more protection for all animals, including social, family-oriented predators like eastern coyotes).
This final permit request, once accepted by the state, is likely to insure us of automatically renewing our permits on an annual basis for the long-term (10+ years) provided we submit an annual report of our research activities. As we move back into the capture phase of our research, stay tuned for new captures.
Also, I have purchased 1.38 acres and am hoping to eventually conduct another captive coyotes, where I (not a zoo), will own the animals. I hope to raise 2-3 animals that will be used for educational and scientific research including hopefully bringing them into the classroom so people can see what an eastern coyote really looks like. Despite the many setbacks it looks like our research is back on board. Lets hope it helps our coyote friends in the long-run!
