The research team meets coyote 1101 for the first time
Over the past several winter months, we have successfully radio-collared eleven coyotes that call downtown Chicago home. These super urban coyotes are residents of the southwest, west, and northwest sides of the city. Of the eleven coyotes collared this past season, one in particular was a milestone for the project because it was the second time we had met this coyote.
For the last 17 years, every spring the Urban Coyote Project attempts to locate dens of radio-collared coyotes that are breeding. When pups are found, each receives a microchip, similar to what your vet may use for your dog or cat, that allows us to identify the coyote in the future. One such coyote is #1101. She was found in May 2017 in a den near Western Ave on the southwest side of Chicago and given a microchip. On March 3, 2018, she was recaptured less than a mile from where she was born, this time nearly all grown up. Although we sometimes later meet microchipped coyotes again in other study areas, the extreme urban environment for 1101 is special; coyote 1101 the first microchipped coyote within the deep urban core of Chicago that was also recaptured and radio-collared in our project.
Coyote 1101 getting her new radio-collar (sedated)
For the last month, she has been tracked alongside her parents, coyotes 744 and 745, throughout the southwest side of Chicago. The next big question is where does she go next? Does she remain at home with her parents or will she decide to venture off on her own in the future? Will she choose to live in the city or will she decide to move out to the suburbs? Only time and radio-tracking will tell…
