Animal Behavior

It’s that time of year again, when the days begin to fall shorter and the nights colder. As we prepare for the cooler months of autumn and winter, so do the wild species sharing our landscape. For different species, those preparations will vary. But one thing is certain – winter is harsh, and provisions must be aplenty. In Aesop’s fable of the grasshopper and the ant, the grasshopper has been distracted making music all summer…

During the 20th-century, coyotes (Canis latrans) colonized eastern North America and then formed 2 distinct variant populations in the northeastern and southeastern regions that are morphologically and genetically different from western populations. In the past 15 years, we have expanded our knowledge of eastern coyotes in the areas of ecology, morphology, genetics, hybridization, and efficacy of control strategies. Such information is important to support successful conservation of coyotes in a diversity of environments. This talk…

Earlier this year, the WCC observed a family of coyotes on our wildlife cameras nearly every single night. Through close observation, we got to “know” these individuals quite well and could reliably differentiate them from one another in their photos and videos. Most frequently spotted were the breeding pair – a tan and gray male with a long bushy tail, and a thick-coated blonde female whose tail tapered to a distinct point. Like wolves, coyotes…

Did you hear a “meow”?! Recently at the Wolf Conservation Center, we have begun utilizing trail cameras across our grounds. A trail camera is triggered to take photos or videos when it senses changes in heat and motion, typically when an animal passes in front of the camera. We placed these cameras in various locations on site where we detected animal sign (scat, tracks, etc.) in hopes of capturing footage of our local wildlife. Over…

It’s no secret I like coyotes. In fact, part of my job as Wildlife Outreach Specialist at the Wolf Conservation Center in New York is to address the rampant misinformation so widely circulated about coyotes. That is why I felt compelled to respond to Leo Maloney’s Op-Ed that is rife with misrepresentation of coyote behavior. Maloney implies throughout his piece that the DEC’s recommendation – the same shared by multiple scientific agencies – to haze…

Studies have shown that ravens seem to anticipate theft by rivals, and will cache their food to save some for later. Ravens will observe other ravens’ behaviors and will raid their caches if they have the chance. “At the same time, ravens with thievery on their minds try to look like they’re not watching too closely, which would make the cache-building ravens suspicious.” Their complex social interactions are just one of the signs of their high level of…

Although the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) is only an hour away from New York City, there’s actually more native wildlife around than a person might expect. From owls and eagles to eastern coyotes and bobcats – New York’s Westchester County is pretty wild! Here are some of the critters that our trail-cam captured in the month of March alone! The Wolf Conservation Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental education organization committed to conserving wolf populations…