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Coyote vs Seattle · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Greetings,
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Williams and the podcast of my newsletter,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist, Explorations of the Urban Kind.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Every week I share my observations and adventures with the human
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: and natural world around Seattle, Puget Sound, and the Pacific Northwest.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode returns to coyotes in Seattle.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work,
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: including my new book,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: In the Range of Fire and Ice,
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: A Human,
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: and Natural History of Washington's Cascades,
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: You'll also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my previous five and
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: a half years of newsletters, as well as images tied to this week's episode.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 93 of the Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Coyote vs. Seattle, September 24, 2026.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Alas for coyotes, they face one serious issue in Seattle.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: No roadrunners grace the wilds of my fair city.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: But perhaps this may be a saving grace.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of focusing their formidable skills on the pursuit of
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: the legendary avian predator,
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: God's dog, as some call coyotes, can concentrate on more suitable prey.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: A recently published study based on 687 coyote scats collected
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  SPEAKER_00: from Seattle parks found that coyotes rarely caught birds,
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  SPEAKER_00: Roadrunner or otherwise, and instead focused on fruit and small critters.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Samantha Kreling,
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  SPEAKER_00: lead author of the study in the September 2026 issue of People and Nature,
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  SPEAKER_00: and her colleagues discovered that the most frequently eaten items in
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: a Seattle coyote's diet were apples, plums,
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  SPEAKER_00: and cherries,
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: rabbits,
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: non-native,
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: here due to our propensity to let former pets out in the city,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: chickens,
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: from chicken found in garbage and not backyard chickens, cats,
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Though the latter is likely overestimated by the methods used as
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: the same cat will often be detected multiple times, mice and rats.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: The key, noted Sam, was that coyotes exploited our habits.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Quote, If trash is unsecured,
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  SPEAKER_00: compost is open,
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  SPEAKER_00: and picnic sites or the like are not cleaned up,
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: urban wildlife, including coyotes, capitalize on them, she said.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: In total, coyotes ate food from 65 families, 24 plant and 41 vertebrate.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: As Sam told me, coyotes are incredibly opportunistic.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: If an easy meal becomes available, they will take it.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: For example,
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: illegal dumping leads to coyotes taking pest rodents and human-generated food such
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: as chicken, pigs,
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: and cow,
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: whereas population density results in greater consumption of garden fruit as well
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: as rodents.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: The study further found that greener areas
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: with more tree canopy cover support less diverse,
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: non-anthropogenic diets and that in areas of lower household income and less Not
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: that we will be able to control what a wily animal like a coyote eats,
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: but we can at least be better neighbors as well as more tolerant.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Coyotes probably help to control rodent populations,
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  SPEAKER_00: particularly in areas rife with illegal dumping.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: They also spread seeds of native plants
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: and reduce those often despised vegetable garden pests, rabbits.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Nor are coyotes marauding carnivores, only eating our precious cats and dogs.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: They may pick off the occasional pet, but rarely ones on leash or in fenced yards.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Sam was also involved in another study of coyotes in Seattle.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Using SCAD again,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: she and her colleagues at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: the University of Washington compared coyote populations in rural
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: and urban settings.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amazingly,
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  SPEAKER_00: Seattle has a population density nine times greater than found in wilder
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: and rural settings.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Estimated density in Seattle was 0.98 per square mile, or around 83 coyotes within city limits.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: That might surprise people who think of coyotes as afraid of humans,
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: but I think it just shows how ideal the urban setting is for coyotes,
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: said Laura Pru, lead author of the study in Environmental Research, Ecology.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Of particular interest is what affects coyote numbers and what doesn't affect them.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers had hypothesized that the luxury effect,
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: with wealthier neighborhoods having more tree cover and biodiversity,
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: might lead to greater coyote density, but this was not the case.
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  SPEAKER_00: Conversely,
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  SPEAKER_00: impervious surfaces and pollution,
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: which tend to lead to more dead coyotes, didn't reduce the density.
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  SPEAKER_00: Human population density was the only factor that significantly influenced coyote density.
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  SPEAKER_00: More people equals fewer coyotes.
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  SPEAKER_00: So why are there more coyotes in Seattle than in rural and wilder parts of the state?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Urban coyotes benefit in several ways, in particular the absence of two primary means of death.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: A coyote May have a greater chance of being killed by a vehicle in Seattle than in
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: a rural counterpart, but that same coyote isn't going to be shot or caught.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Our species has long been instrumental in controlling,
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: or at least attempting to control, coyote populations via hunting and traveling.
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  SPEAKER_00: Trapping.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: A review study of 31 studies estimated that an urban coyote had
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: a 41% greater annual survival compared to one in rural or natural areas.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, humans caused 77% of deaths across all studies.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Food, either finding it or not being it, also contributes to the success of urban coyotes.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sam's study showed that the cityscape led to dietary diversity twice
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  SPEAKER_00: as high compared to wilder locations.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, the absence of predators such as wolves and mountain lions meant
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: that coyotes were rarely eaten by anyone.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Without these big competitors,
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: coyotes are in essence the top dog and more able to exploit a wide variety
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  SPEAKER_00: of food resources.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: One part of the coyote story that the scientists Do not know is
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: the long-term population dynamics in Seattle.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: With just a single year,
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: single season estimate,
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: researchers cannot generalize if the number of coyotes in Seattle is growing
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: or stabilized.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Also uncertain is if their numbers trend with bunny abundance, as happens in many natural areas.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sam told me that it's hard to predict what will happen here.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Coyotes are relative newcomers, A rival unknown, but perhaps in the 1920s or 30s.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: They tend to have larger litters in cities and have plenty of food and few means of death.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: So their population has the potential to continue to grow.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: But that is speculation and not fact.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: She also stressed that Seattle has a lot fewer coyotes than other urban environments.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: The reason is tolerance or intolerance.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: We human residents are generally receptive to coyotes,
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  SPEAKER_00: but not when a coyote acts in a manner we do not like,
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: such as bothering our pets and eating garbage.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: We are incredibly fortunate that coyotes grace Seattle,
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: even without access to Acme products or Roadrunners.
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  SPEAKER_00: But if we want to keep it that way,
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: we may want to become a bit more proactive in how we manage our pets
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: and our garbage, as well as be more tolerant of such wildness in our midst.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: and natural world around Seattle, Puget Sound, and the Pacific Northwest.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like more details about my walks, talks,
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: and books,
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: including In the Range of Fire and Ice,
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: along with a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: check out my website, geologywriter.com.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to slow down, pay attention, and enjoy the world around you.