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Do you have these where you are? Click to the image to enlarge.[/caption]
Suburban coyotes are moving into Vancouver's densely populated neighbourhoods, like Fairview (see the sign above), drawn by three of their favourite things (in no particular order): Pets, pets, pets.
Vancouver's densest high-rise areas, host typical city animals, like, skunks, squirrels, raccoons; these little critters, particularly the last two, have adapted to living off urban waste. Coyotes however, are relative new-comers to the city core. With the notable exception of the downtown West End neighbourhood, coyotes have steered clear of high-rise density, in favour of woodier suburbs, with regular cross-border forays into single-unit neighbourboods on the city's fringe. Generally single-unit home owners had pets, while the apartment dwellers didn't.
I can't find any numbers on this, but owned condo units appear to be supplanting rental apartments all over Vancouver's neighbourhoods. Condo owners do what they want -- and they have wanted dogs for some time now.
Dogs of every size (but trending towards bite-sized) seem to be everywhere, but accurate numbers are hard to come by. One local 2010 estimate had 80,000 dogs in Vancouver, while another site, extrapolating from undated human population figures, estimated the total population of cats and dogs at over 500,000. Trust me. There's lots of dogs, and (of course) dog poop. Wherever they were, I imagine coyotes could smell a change in the air.
A big problems here, is habituation. Wild animals are inherently shy, if not scared, of people. City critters like raccoons and skunks hardly class as wild -- people don't phase them one bit. With coyotes, this habituation will be dangerous -- familiarity breeds contempt. This is all bad, if you are a pet owner, but all good if you happen to be a coyote.
Do you have these where you are? Click to the image to enlarge.[/caption]Suburban coyotes are moving into Vancouver's densely populated neighbourhoods, like Fairview (see the sign above), drawn by three of their favourite things (in no particular order): Pets, pets, pets.
Vancouver's densest high-rise areas, host typical city animals, like, skunks, squirrels, raccoons; these little critters, particularly the last two, have adapted to living off urban waste. Coyotes however, are relative new-comers to the city core. With the notable exception of the downtown West End neighbourhood, coyotes have steered clear of high-rise density, in favour of woodier suburbs, with regular cross-border forays into single-unit neighbourboods on the city's fringe. Generally single-unit home owners had pets, while the apartment dwellers didn't.
I can't find any numbers on this, but owned condo units appear to be supplanting rental apartments all over Vancouver's neighbourhoods. Condo owners do what they want -- and they have wanted dogs for some time now.
Dogs of every size (but trending towards bite-sized) seem to be everywhere, but accurate numbers are hard to come by. One local 2010 estimate had 80,000 dogs in Vancouver, while another site, extrapolating from undated human population figures, estimated the total population of cats and dogs at over 500,000. Trust me. There's lots of dogs, and (of course) dog poop. Wherever they were, I imagine coyotes could smell a change in the air.
A big problems here, is habituation. Wild animals are inherently shy, if not scared, of people. City critters like raccoons and skunks hardly class as wild -- people don't phase them one bit. With coyotes, this habituation will be dangerous -- familiarity breeds contempt. This is all bad, if you are a pet owner, but all good if you happen to be a coyote.
The West End neighbourhood of Vancouver, is both, right in the downtown core, and right beside one of the largest city parks in the world: Stanley Park. The West End easily has over 100,000 people per-square-kilometer. Thanks to the large GLB (gay, lesbian, bisexual) population, the hopping club scene, and the huge wilderness habitat next door, raccoons, coyotes, drag queens, and drunk teenagers from the suburbs, can routinely be seen partying together on any Friday night along the West End's Davie Street.
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