OTTAWA -- The city of Ottawa’s wildlife speaker series will feature Dr. Stan Gehrt tonight at city hall. He has been studying coyotes in the Chicago area since 2000.
It is not at all uncommon to see coyotes in the city, especially in areas which are close to forested and agricultural areas.
They come into our urban areas looking for food. They usually will not harm humans but pets, especially smaller ones, may be vulnerable so they should be kept under control around areas that might have coyotes.
Laura Dudas the councillor of Innes ward said “we see their foot prints in the snow in the morning, we hear them singing at night, these sightings are not particularly common, but people are wanting to know how we can better coexist with them.”
“People are living with coyotes whether you know it or not,” said Dr. Stan Gehrt of Ohio State University. "If they’re behaving the way their supposed to they are staying hidden from you and you don’t know they are there, so it's important to know they are there so you make the right decisions -- don’t leave out food because food is by far the number one conflict between coyotes and people.”
If a coyote is seen in a community, residents can contact the city or the National Capital Commission to report the sighting.
Dr. Gehrt explained "they're just super smart, they learn so quickly, and they’re so flexible in their behavior so they’re quick to take up new food and that helps them in a city...their ability to avoid us even while living in Chicago with nine million people is probably the key to their survival. “
The city's wildlife series is at city hall at 7:00 p.m. and free of charge. The presentation will be livestreamed on the city's YouTube channel at 8 p.m.
