DFW Urban Wildlife

The book Coyotes Among Us – The City’s Top Predator by Stanley D. Gehrt, PhD with Kerry Luft (copyright 2024) recounts a story over 20 years in the making. For more than two decades, Stanley Gehrt led a team of graduate students and technicians in an effort to develop a better understanding of how and why Coyotes choose to live in urban environments.

Gehrt centered his team’s work around Cook County in Illinois–the greater Chicago area. With around 9 million residents, the greater Chicago area is the third largest metropolitan area in the United States–a place that at first glance might appear to be unlikely Coyote habitat. But as it turns out, Coyotes have been colonizing urban areas for decades now, as they have expanded their range all across North America. Their ability to survive–and even thrive–in human dominated ecosystems is a fascinating phenomenon that begs for additional study.

Over the course of his project, Gehrt’s team tracked numerous urban Coyotes from birth until death. The researchers used trail cameras, radio collars, and satellite technology to collect data about the Coyotes as they lived their lives in areas dominated by human development and activity.

In his book, Gehrt chronicles the research efforts, highlighting important anecdotes and discoveries made along the way. The storytelling is concise, accessible, and a joy to read. The book is filled with wonderful photographs and data charts, which help to illustrate the team’s findings. Many fascinating aspects of Coyote behavior are touched upon, and while Gehrt’s work focused primarily on urban Coyotes, many of the lessons learned certainly apply to rural Coyotes as well.

As a brief personal aside, I actually had the opportunity to meet Stanley Gehrt in the late 2000’s when he was in DFW for a speaking engagement at an urban wildlife conference. Gehrt was in the early stages of his research back then, but he was already making important discoveries about city Coyotes.

DFW Urban Wildlife was also in its infancy at the time, and Gehrt’s talk made a big impression on me. It certainly influenced the way I have pursued my own studies of Coyote behavior here in DFW–an influence that continues to the present day. Gehrt’s descriptions and interpretations of Coyote behaviors match closely with my own observations. His suggestions about how best to coexist with urban Coyotes also align closely with my thoughts on the matter.

I’m very pleased that Gehrt has been able to collect and present his findings in a book so that they can be shared more broadly. All in all, this may be the single best book on Coyotes that I have read to date, making it easy to recommend. If you would like to improve your understanding of Coyote behavior and enhance your knowledge about coexisting with these clever canines, this book is an excellent place to start.

Here’s how I score Coyotes Among Us – The City’s Top Predator…

1. Accessible, Enjoyable Read – This book is written in a nice, conversational tone that makes it very readable, without requiring specialized scientific knowledge. Concepts are well illustrated with an ample supply of excellent and interesting photographs. At only 125 pages, it is a quick read, but there is still much to be learned from the endeavor. SCORE: FULL STAR
2. Informative, Relevant, Insightful – Coyotes are rapidly expanding their range all across North America, and they are colonizing our cities and neighborhoods along the way. As human/coyote encounters occur more frequently, a better understanding of these animals will be of benefit to both us and them. This book is an excellent primer on the subject. SCORE: FULL STAR
3. Read Again, Add to Personal Library -I purchased this book early in the year and have already returned to it time and again. Adding it to my personal library was a no-brainer. SCORE: FULL STAR
4. Availability, Price Point – The hard cover edition of this book can be purchased on Amazon for around $20–a reasonable price. SCORE: FULL STAR
5. Recommend – Coyotes Among Us is an easy book to recommend. It will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about Coyotes and/or urban wildlife. SCORE: FULL STAR

RATING: Five out of Five Stars