While domestic dogs do lick themselves and thus ingest fur, coyote scat has a lot more hair and fur in it, is much more likely to contain bones and seeds, and is usually twisted and tapered at one end. "This was an opportunity for me to get forced outside," she says, and to learn a little bit more about Southern California wildlife.īy the end of the afternoon, Boag had picked through a lot more dog droppings and found a raccoon latrine, but just four good clumps of coyote scat. Having recently moved to Los Angeles from Northern California, Boag thought she'd be missing being constantly surrounded by nature, which is why she signed up. While some researchers are happy to collect smartphone photos captured opportunistically, these volunteers have agreed to visit their assigned locations once each month for two years, collect any coyote scat they find, seal them in brown paper bags, label the bags, and return them to a central location for the NPS researchers to analyze. It's an intensive, high-commitment project. That's where Boag and her 24 counterparts come in. Since even Chicago's coyotes prefer sticking to green spaces, nobody really knows how coyotes make a living in the big city.įull of fur and bones and twisted at the end means probably coyote. "In these urban environments, a lot of people jump straight to the assumption that it's all domestic animals, so they're eating cats and dogs." But most studies of coyotes living in and around cities, like the long-term study of Chicago's coyote population, have found that coyotes persist primarily on natural prey sources, along with some fruits and other vegetation. "Animals that persist somewhere have to have a food source," Brown tells me. In the neighborhood of Westlake alone, coyotes were involved in nearly 350 collisions between 20. They drown in our concrete-lined waterways they get struck by our cars. That certainly allows them to take advantage of more resources than animals that stick to natural habitats, but it also exposes them to more threats. While the continued survival of mountain lion P-22 in Griffith Park has impressed and surprised many, smaller, highly social predators like coyotes have different needs than the big cats and can more easily move between natural and urban areas. "For a long time, people thought that medium sized carnivores couldn't make it in urban environments," says NPS wildlife biologist Justin Brown. Researchers with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area have been studying coyotes for quite some time, but to really understand how animals survive and thrive in urban landscapes like Los Angeles, they've decided to enlist the help of citizen scientists like Boag.
Coyote poop pro#
San Antonio College, her scat-collecting activities are completed entirely pro bono. Though she's got a scientific background and teaches biology at Mt. With so many dogs in attendance, she's had to become adept at distinguishing between their feces and the coyotes'. She's looking for coyote scat – the proper scientific word for poo – and it's her job to come here once each month in search of the smelly stuff. "Domestic dog," she says, and continues along the path.īoag isn't here for the exercise or to tire out her dog, a labrador-pitbull mix. She grabs a stick lying nearby and pokes around, but it's not what she's looking for. We've only just started circling the lake when she stops to take a closer look at something underneath some bushes. Dozens of people mill about, most of them walking dogs or getting exercise.
With its attractively landscaped lawns and commanding views of downtown's skyscrapers, it’s a beautiful spot for a midday stroll. It’s a sunny Monday afternoon and Camille Boag and her rescue dog, Rue, begin their regular walk around Echo Park Lake. Citizen scientist Camille Boag examines a potential coyote scat.
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