Based on more than 20 years of research on US’s top urban predator
Dr. Stanley D. Gehrt, School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) professor and Wildlife Extension Specialist is the author of a new book, Coyotes Among Us: Secrets of the City’s Top Predator. Published February 13, the book is based on more than 20 years of research through the Urban Coyote Research Project, based in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Coyotes are often portrayed as a threat to humans and their pets in modern news sources. And, as they have moved into urban and suburban areas, encounters between coyotes, people, and their pets have
increased. In Coyotes Among Us, Dr. Gehrt, with Kerry Luft, pulls back the curtain on the defamed coyote to reveal surprising truths about this unique creature.
When the Urban Coyote Research Project launched in 2000, it was one of the few studies of its kind in North America. Today, it’s the longest-running continuous coyote study on the continent, and as its leader, Dr. Gehrt is the nation’s foremost expert on the animals.
Once confined to the American West, today the coyote has an expansive range in 49 states. Able to thrive in as diverse environments as rural prairie to urban parks, the coyote is the largest animal to regularly live wild within city limits – making it the top urban predator.
Through photographs, research, and detailed information on individual animals collared for tracking, Coyotes Among Us shares how the coyote has relied on its innate ability to adjust to new climates and environments. The book includes insights on the coyote’s expansion, how and why it has thrived, and the surprising benefits of living with coyotes.
Coyotes Among Us: Secrets of the City’s Top Predator is available wherever books are sold.