In a century that saw population declines in many North American mammal species, the coyote (Canis latrans) is an exception. Beginning in the 1900s, coyotes began their expansion both westward and eastward from their historical range in central North America. Today, coyotes are found as far North as Alaska and as far South as Panama. As humans moved across the continent they  altered the landscape  by logging, clearing land for agriculture, and developing towns and cities. Large predators such as bears and wolves were also lethally removed from many landscapes by humans. Both of these changes allowed for coyote expansion as the habitat became more suitable and the predators that limited coyote numbers through competition were suddenly gone.

Below is an example of the things that you can find in coyote scat around Seattle. Each of these samples tells us something about where that coyote has been and what it has been doing. We can even tell which coyote left the sample through DNA analysis. Slide the toggle to the left to see what each sample is.

The Seattle Coyote Study, initiated by Laura Prugh, a professor of wildlife science at UW, and her graduate student Sam Kreling, aims to learn more about coyote diet and population size in the Seattle area through the collection and analysis of coyote scat. The SCS is a community science project, so volunteers are needed for sample collection in the Seattle area. To learn more about the study or to get involved, follow the link below:

 University of Washington's School of Environmental and Forest Sciences : more information on wildlife research in WA