From time to time there is hue and cry over coyote attacks on dogs and cats. (“Pet owners report attacks by coyotes,” Metro. Dec. 23)
Many people love the experience of a walk in the forest preserves with their dogs–off leash. And yes, coyotes are predators, but that’s true of dogs too. Many fawns, woodchucks, rabbits and other wildlife are killed by unleashed dogs. For some people, predation is fine if the dogs do it. That’s the nature of dogs, they say. But somehow it’s not nature if the dog gets that same treatment from the coyote.
Of course the family dog is important to many people. And rightly so. But might we not remember that the coyotes have families too? They actually have a rather rich and complex social structure. The coyote exhibits the same loyalty and affection to its family members that the dog does to its human masters. Coyotes attack dogs (and foxes, and unrelated coyotes) in territories they defend to feed their families.
Coyotes are beautiful and wily creatures that play an important role in the ecology of our forest preserves. In their absence, smaller predators like opossums and raccoons become so numerous that they can actually eliminate some species of frogs, turtles and birds. The Humane Society of the United States and bird conservation groups have long advocated keeping cats indoors, because of the damage they do to wildlife (including hundreds of millions of songbirds killed per year in the U.S. by approximately 40 million outdoor cats)–as well as the damage to the outdoor cats (disease, cat fights, and, yes, competitive coyotes) that comes from prowling the neighborhood. Of course, it is illegal to run dogs off leash in the forest preserves, and still somehow it’s the coyote that gets all the blame.
The National Audubon Society, the Chicago Wilderness Coalition, and many forest preserve districts have begun educational programs to teach us to live compatibly with nature. As a beautiful and important part of the balance of nature, the coyote deserves our understanding–and a bit of effort to keep all concerned safe.
