Reports of coyotes and foxes in the city have rattled residents. But a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says city dwellers have long shared their space with wildlife – even though sometimes we don’t realize it.
Wildlife biologist John Benson says, because people are quarantined at home, they may be seeing more animals.
“People are home, they’re out during the day, they’re not working, they’re seeing wildlife more because their behaviors has changed, not so much that the wildlife’s behavior has changed,” he says.
Benson has tracked wolves in Canada and studied sharks off the coast of California.
He collaborates with the National Park Service on a long term study of mountain lions in the greater Los Angeles area. And he’s not surprised at reports of coyotes in suburban and metropolitan areas of Nebraska.
“They’re an adaptable animal. They’re generalists in the sense that they eat a wide variety of foods so they can exploit both natural prey, you know, we all see a lot of rabbits and squirrels here. But then, of course, there’s garbage, human food, pet food. Coyotes can eat all of that.”
Coyotes usually avoid humansbut Benson says, if you come face-to-face with one, make yourself look big and threatening.
“I would stand my ground, I would look it right in the face. And if it continues to come at me you could even yell at it,” he says.
The pandemic-triggered quarantine may open new areas of research.
For example, Benson has been talking with colleagues around the world about how closing parks affected wildlife behavior.
“Those might be great places if they’ve been close. All of a sudden you’ve got wildlife roaming around that suddenly doesn’t have to deal with human traffic and so what changes at that point?”