Oh, the Places You Will Go

A major goal for our project is to learn how coyotes navigate Ohio's landscape and, specifically, how they move and behave around livestock operations. To do this, we have been trapping and fitting GPS collars on coyotes around the state. 

We can learn a lot from this GPS data! Tracking where coyotes move gives us an idea of how big an average territory is, how far coyotes typically travel before finding a territory, and - if the coyote dies while the collar is active - how old they typically are when they die and what the main causes of mortality are. We can also monitor how they behave around livestock facilities, if they appear to be attracted by the livestock, or what management techniques tend to keep them away.

While it is important for us to understand how an average coyote behaves, we also get to see some unique behaviors. For example, one of our subadult males (we call him CALA003) was captured and collared in Gahanna, OH, but had a bout of wanderlust. As a young animal in search of a territory of his own, he meandered to Buckeye Lake, back to Gahanna. Unsatisfied with those prospects, he then looped north of Columbus to pass through Marysville before following highways southwest beyond Cincinnati - all within 20 days. He crossed the Ohio River to try out Kentucky life, but it didn't suit him so he came back and eventually settled down near Mason, OH. Despite moving through extremely urban areas and crossing major highways many times, CALA003 successfully navigated this trek and survived until his collar's time drop-off date a year after he was captured. We are no longer following CALA003 since his collar has dropped off, but we wish him luck!