Atlanta Coyote Project

A great day with Carmine and Wilee today! (Read previous posts if you are unfamiliar with their story.) The staff at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary have done a fantastic job creating a life for these two coyotes who could no longer realistically live in the wild. Please support the great work that they are doing at YRWS by visiting their facility. In other Carmine news, we can now confirm that he does indeed possess one copy of the allele that produces melanistic coat color ...in canids (I.e., he is heterozygous for the dominant Kb deletion mutation). This means that at least one of Carmine’s parents was also melanistic. This genetic analysis was done by our colleague Dr. Bridgett VonHoldt at Princeton University. We are currently writing a scientific paper about Carmine that will appear in the journal Diversity in the coming months. Thanks Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary and Bridgett VonHoldt. Video by Lisa Mowry. See more

Our colleagues at the Canine Genetics lab are conducting a study on dog aging. They have a newly developed method that requires a simple/easy cheek (buccal) swab from each dog. If you have a dog, please consider participating in this important study. Check out this video and Google form for further information and instructions. https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSdDuI9G33TjWc0V6-/viewform

It has been a while since we've provided an update on Carmine and Wilee at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary, so happy to report that they are doing well. As the season changes to cooler temperatures, you can see that they are starting to put back on their winter coats. Visitors are welcome! (Photos by Larry Wilson)

We began collecting publicly reported coyote observations through our website in Oct 2015 and have now published a paper in the journal Human Dimensions of Wildlife based on some of our results. This particular paper includes reports received through 2018, but we continue to collect data on our website on a daily basis. Thanks to all of the citizen scientists who submitted observations and please keep those reports coming in! You can read the entire paper by clicking on the l...ink below, but here is a brief summary: Coyote activity was investigated in Atlanta, Georgia from 2015 2018 using publicly collected data. More than 500 reports were received annually (1,672 total) and analysis revealed bias toward areas of higher income and education. Human-coyote encounters, defined as an interaction at close range, were rare (196; 12% of observations), but 124 of those reports (63%) indicated the presence of pets nearby. Coyotes were less likely to be observed in areas of high human population density, farmland, and managed clearing, and more likely to be seen in riparian wetlands and areas of low-density development (e.g., parks, golf courses, large-lot homes). Coyote sightings are now relatively common in Atlanta and their presence is generally benign. However, negative coyote interactions do occur and pets should be kept under close supervision and coyote access to anthropogenic food resources prevented. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of using community science to understand urban coyotes. https://www.tandfonline.com//full/10/10871209.2020.1806415

Thanks to analysis conducted by our colleagues in the Canine Genetics lab at Princeton University, we can now confirm that Carmine is 100% coyote (Canis latrans). This is what we expected all along, but some of Carmine's unique features (black coat coloration, hyper-social behavior) led some to wonder if he was the product of admixture between a coyote and a dog (Canis familiaris), but this was NOT the case. Coyotes and dogs are separate species, which means that evolved repr...oductive barriers generally prevent hybridization between them. While it might be physiologically possible in some cases for dogs and coyotes to interbreed, other factors (e.g., timing of fertility, reproductive behavior) make it highly unlikely. The genetic analysis of Carmine is a great example of how the scientific process allows us to find concrete answers rather than rely on speculation. And further investigation into Carmine's genetic makeup continues as we search for the underlying genes that produce his melanistic coat color and his unique social behavior. Stay tuned! See more

We are in the process of writing a scientific paper on Carmine, the black (melanistic) coyote who we relocated to Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary back in February and we need your help. If you had any encounters with Carmine in the months leading up to his capture, we would like to hear about them. Please complete the following survey and distribute it to others who might have information to contribute. Much of this information is likely already in our database, but we just want to ensure that we're not missing any crucial information. Your help is greatly appreciated. And we are happy to report that Carmine continues to do well in his new home.

Great to see Carmine and Wilee doing well at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary!

Thanks to all who tuned in to the webinar we gave that was hosted by Atlanta Audubon Society. It looks like we had an audience of 150+ people. If you weren't able to attend, you can view the presentation here (https://youtu.be/ZAaWDjMc_4U). Also thanks to our colleague Dr. Bridgett von Holdt of the Canine Ancestry Project for joining us as a guest panelist.

Join us online on June 24 @ 7:30PM! (Note that you need to register in advance.)

Happy to report that Carmine and Wilee have moved into their new home and are doing well. Great work by Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary to create a wonderful natural habitat for these two coyotes who were no longer able to remain in the wild. You can visit them in the coming weeks as YRWS will soon open to the public. (Images by Larry Wilson and Brandon Sanders)

Carmine and Wilee were officially introduced to one another today at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary and all went very well. They have been in adjacent pens for the past month and had plenty of opportunity to interact through the fence, but this was their first face-to-face meeting. Fortunately, there was no aggression and it looks like they will be good companions going forward. The staff at YRWS is working tirelessly to implement their mission of "benefitting animals and ed...ucating humans." If you would like to support their work and contribute towards the care of Carmine and Wilee, you can make a donation through the Atlanta Coyote Project. YRWS will open in the coming weeks by limiting the number of visitors allowed in at any one time to ensure safe social distancing, so please plan to visit when possible. And if you are not familiar with the story of Carmine and Wilee, please read some of our earlier posts. (Photos by Larry Wilson) See more

It is interesting to watch the changing behavior of coyotes (and other forms of urban wildlife) during this time of diminished human presence. This coyote was spotted at 8:00am crossing Clifton Road in Candler Park. Typically, urban coyotes tend to avoid humans and are generally not seen during daylight hours. However, fewer cars on the road might change that. Similar sightings have been seen in other urban areas like Chicago. And lighter traffic evidently makes crosswalks optional!

Many thanks to Gray Chapman and Atlanta Magazine for telling the story of Carmine! https://www.atlantamagazine.com//the-hunt-for-atlantas-fr/

This is the time of year that coyote pups are being born here in the southeast. This video was sent to us by Mischa Murphy last week and the pups were several weeks old at this point. Coyotes typically create dens that are well out of sight from humans by digging holes in the ground or taking advantage of other naturally secluded and protected sites, but they will occasionally den under houses, in large drain culverts, or in or near other man-made structures. They live in nuc...lear family groups and both parents will care for the young (as will any siblings from previous years who might have remained with the family). The family will be very protective of the pups and den site for the next few months, so it is extremely important to steer clear if you or your pets do happen upon a den. The pups seen in these videos were left unattended, which is rare and caused the homeowners to be concerned for their welfare, but the parents apparently returned not long after and moved the pups to a new location. This is what coyotes will do if they feel that their den site has been detected or is unsafe for the pups. Although dens can be reused in subsequent years, the den is only occupied for a few months in spring (i.e., they are not lived in year-round). In the late summer or early fall, most of the pups will disperse in search of their own mate and territory. If you want to see more video of coyote pups and see inside a coyote den, go to our website (https://atlantacoyoteproject.org/atlant/urban-biodiversity/). See more

Happy to report that Carmine is doing well at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary and he and Wilee (the resident coyote) are slowly and carefully being introduced to one another. This currently consists of separate but adjacent enclosures. The prospects of eventual (platonic) companionship look good! So far they have responded well to one another. Public visitation is not yet possible, but please keep up with Yellow River on their website and Facebook page for updates.

Sorry for any inconvenience. We will try to reschedule.