19 July 2023

Some fears, based on a species ancient experience, are bred-in-the-bone and guide behavior for millennia. For example, some people automatically fear snakes even though they never encounter them. This makes sense as an ancient fear spawned from early humans’ experience in Africa.

In the same way coyotes fear wolves. Coyotes are relatively small and hunt alone while wolves are twice the size and hunt in packs. A lone coyote can be eaten by wolves unless it manages to run away.

When wolves move in, coyotes leave the area and move closer to humans. Theoretically, the enemy of my enemy is my friend so humans would provide a shield against wolves.

Bobcats exhibit the same behavior in the presence of cougars, whom they fear.

Unfortunately, getting close to us is a bad bet for coyotes and bobcats with scant experience of humans. A recent study by Laura Prugh in northern Washington state, found that for 35 satellite tracked coyotes and 37 bobcats, the majority of those that died were shot.

Prugh’s work showed that in the case of coyotes and bobcats, gambling on safety with humans was a losing bet. Of the 24 coyotes that died, 14 were at the hands of people (13 shot and one roadkill). None were killed by wolves. Of the 18 dead bobcats, people killed 11. All told, a coyote was 3 times more likely to die at the hands of a human than in the jaws of a carnivore, the researchers found. For a bobcat, the odds were even higher at 3.8 times.

— Anthropocene Magazine: Coyotes gamble on human company to avoid wolves. It’s a bad bet.

Learn more in Anthropocene Magazine –> When coyotes gamble on human company to avoid wolves it’s a bad bet.

p.s. Yes, there are coyotes in the City of Pittsburgh. Those who live in cities are much better at coping with us. See Anthropocene Magazine: Coyotes live in almost all US cities.

(photos credits are in the captions, click the links to see the originals)