For some trappers, goal is letting coyotes roam
Revere students assist in BC-backed research
EVERETT -- After studying a female coyote trapped in Everett, student researchers helped release the animal yesterday, just a week after the town of Hull declared a state of emergency out of concern about lurking coyotes.
Revere High School students found the coyote in their trap early yesterday. The animal appeared to be 2 to 3 years old and had recently given birth, said Boston College graduate student Jonathan Way, who is working with the Revere students on the Urban Coyote Study.
The students put a radio transmitter on the animal, hoping it will lead them to its pups so they can study the hunting, mating, and general habits of coyotes. "We should be able to figure out where her den site is with the tracking devices and then we will be able to see her pups," Way said.
"It is a possibility that we will put transmitters on the pups, but we have not decided that yet," added David Eatough, a biology teacher at Revere High School. He trained his students, who volunteer to participate in the program, how to set and check the traps and how to release other animals that might be captured by accident.
When released, the female coyote sprinted 200 yards, stopped, looked around, and ducked into nearby woods. "I think when they're out in the open, they just wonder what the heck is going on," said Way as the coyote was released.
The Urban Coyote Study, a project of the Boston College Urban Ecology Institute, is the work of Way and Eric Krauss, a biology professor at BC.
The group went through a grueling application process to secure
permits from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to study coyotes in urban settings. Participants trap and study coyotes in deeply wooded areas of Boston and Cape Cod. Way declined to reveal exactly where because he doesn't want anyone tampering with the traps. "We're afraid the coyotes would get hurt, and that would defeat the purpose of the project," said Way, who has run the project since February 2002. Since then, eight coyotes have been trapped and released and are being monitored and studied.
"We focus on studying coyotes and trying to make an ecological profile of what they do in the wild," Way added. "What we are doing specifically is looking at their range, pack size, and movement patterns. We like to find out where they travel during the day, where they travel at night, and basically where they spend a lot of their time." Way scoffed at the
perceived threat posed by coyotes in Hull, less than 30 miles south of Everett, where last week the Board of Selectmen declared a state of emergency -- usually reserved for major snowstorms or natural disasters -- after a coyote was reported near the Lillian M. Jacobs Elementary School.
Coyotes have long plagued Hull, attacking at least six dogs in the past four years and killing scores of cats. Coyotes are usually spotted in the early morning or evening, but the Hull sighting on May 11 on the school property occurred at around 3 p.m.
The state of emergency allows Hull authorities to trap the coyote near the school without obtaining a special permit from Fisheries and Wildlife. The permit would normally be required for trapping outside the legal season, which runs from November to February.
Robert Deblinger, deputy director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, said Hull officials need to be educated about coyotes.
"This could have happened the same way in any town in Massachusetts," Deblinger said. "We need to make people aware that avoiding the coyotes in this way will never allow them to be able to get used to us. They will always coexist with us, so it is necessary that we get an understanding of what coyotes are like."
