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Meet the coyote packs roaming downtown CHICAGO: Predators have adapted to city life so well more than 2,000 now call the Windy City home

Around 2,000 coyotes thought to be living in the Windy City
Have learned to live in close quarters with people and cross busy roads
They are strictly nocturnal and will sleep near sidewalks during the day
Suburban sprawl means downtown areas are one of their last options
Some have been used by the city to kill rodents

By WILLS ROBINSON FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 10:38 EST, 22 November 2014 | UPDATED: 12:29 EST, 22 November 2014

As suburban populations increase in places like Chicago, there is no space left for coyotes to live and roam for their prey.

Therefore almost 2,000 have ventured into a new habitat - among the skyscrapers of downtown Windy City.

The animals have adapted to living in close quarters with humans and have learned to navigate tasks associated with built-up areas - such as crossing busy roads and avoiding cars.

Over the past few years they have spread to nearly every corner of the United States - wreaking havoc by preying on domestic pets and even attacking children.

But the suburban sprawl and increase in out-of-town developments have prompted some to migrate to more urban areas.

Urban crawlers: A Crittercam used as part of a study by Ohio State University shows a pair of coyotes trying to cross a road in downtown Chicago

Lifestyle: The project, which has seen 850 of the creatures tagged with GPS and 400 with radio collars, has found them to be strictly nocturnal, but during the day they sleep yards away from where humans walk

They are strictly nocturnal, curling up in a ball during the day just yards from where people walk, and are able to defend large settlement areas.

Stan Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist at Ohio State University in Columbus, told National Geographic that the versatile creatures are 'expanding their ecological envelope'.

'We felt there were parts of Chicago too urban, with too many people, for coyotes to live—and we were wrong,' he said. 'They're a humbling animal'.

Gerht, who has been tracking urban coyotes in Chicago since 2000, tagged 850 coyotes with GPS devices and placed radio collars on about 400.

During the course of the project they have found that coyotes thrive in urban populations - living longer than their rural cousins and being more active at night.

Crittercams attached to the animals show them stopping and waiting for cars, rushing between streets and following their mates.

Because of access to a wider range of resources - such as discarded food - they are able to produce larger litters of puppies, with an average of up to nine per pack.

One GPS-collared coyote named 748 and his mate were able to raise a litter of five pups inside a secret concrete den in the parking lot of Soldier Field Stadium, home of the Chicago Bears.

One GPS-collared coyote managed to raise five pups in a secret concrete den in the parking lot of Soldier Field Stadium, the home of the Chicago Bears

The survey is run by the Urban coyote ecology and management based in Illinois. Their website reads: 'Originally known as ghosts of the plains, coyotes have now become ghosts of the cities, occasionally heard but less often seen.

'With the exception of a few individuals, coyotes have largely learned to avoid us.'

The movement of the carnivores into the city was embraced in 2011, when officials used one to help rid the streets of rats.

Location: Suburban sprawl has meant that downtown and built-up areas are one of the only places coyotes can set up their habitats

Strong: In comparison to their rural cousins, urban coyotes live longer and can develop larger families

Sunday, November 23, 2014

More from the long running Chicago Urban Coyote Study headed up by our friend, Biologist Stan Gehrt...............The 2000 Coyotes living in Chicago are thriving,,,,,,,,,,,nocturnal, adaptable and largely staying clear of the residents in our third largest city

Meet the coyote packs roaming downtown CHICAGO: Predators have adapted to city life so well more than 2,000 now call the Windy City home

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