Coyote Study

Studying The Elusive Coyote January 5, 2011 Reporter: Patrick McMurtry Videographer: Brad Rice

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EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO

You hear about coyotes all over West Virginia, but chances are you've never seen, or even heard one. You can bet they're out there prowling around the woods looking for something to eat. Geriann Albers is a graduate student conducting a study on what exactly the critters do eat, and where you're more apt to find them.

"They moved into the state on their own. They haven't been here very long and we haven't done any studies on them, even the mid-Atlantic region in general, none of them have done coyote studies at all." says Albers.

That means West Virginia would be at the forefront of coyote knowledge in this part of the United States, and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources stands to gain a lot from this study.

"Usually, in baseline data, we try to get, especially with carnivores, is what are they eating because that will help us understand what species they are impacting and help the DNR and United States Wildlife Services manage them better. I get scat samples and stomach samples and I try to get all the seasons covered."

That way we'll know what they eat Spring, Winter, Summer and Fall.

Geriann needs a lot of help to get enough coyotes to do a comprehensive study, and that help comes from all over the state.

"Let's take a look at this guy. I just picked him up yesterday. Wildlife Services are the people that do livestock protection around farms and they're one of the three ways I get a lot of my samples They bring me the animals they have either trapped or hunted over carcasses, so I get those animals from fur hunters and trappers."

A collaborative effort that will help the DNR better manage coyotes.

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