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News

  • Forestry Friday: The Rare Milkweed Garden at the Gardner Forest

    Sophie Oehler
    September 15, 2023

    In this Forestry Friday, the forestry team takes a trip to the Gardener Forest in Hollis to check in on a population of a rare species of milkweed. (Photo: Sophie Oehler)

  • Something Wild: Why the treeline of Mt. Washington is not a line

    Dave Anderson, Chris Martin, Jessica Hunt
    August 24, 2023

    In this second episode of our series, Dave Anderson of the Forest Society and Chris Martin of NH Audubon are exploring the different forest zones on the flanks of the mountain, below the treeline.

  • Something Wild: Atop Mt. Washington

    Dave Anderson, Chris Martin, Jessica Hunt
    August 3, 2023

    The Something Wild team is above treeline on Mount Washington, exploring the ecological zones of New England’s highest peak. 

    While many visitors focus on summiting, Chris Martin of NH Audubon and Dave Anderson of the Forest Society are examining how both flora and fauna vary as the ...

Howl in the Wild

Something Wild
Chris Martin, Andrew Parrella
August 21, 2015
Wildlife
Maligned or misunderstood? Coyote families are common in NH Forests

During the late summer and fall, coyotes really "yip it up." Despite what you can learn on Youtube, their yips and howls are family communications that have nothing to do with bloodthirsty predators circling for the kill.

The eastern coyote pack is small: an adult pair and their young. The youngsters are venturing out on their own now and adults howl to round them up. When on the prowl for food, silence is the code—which makes sense—but reuniting often inspires prolonged vocal celebrations. 

Coyotes are most active- and vocal- dusk and dawn, and there's not much they won't eat: from blueberries to mice to young deer. Most coyote pups will not survive the first year, and those that do disperse in early winter. Then, the group's yipping and howling days are over. 

Howl of the Wild . Wikimedia Commons photo

The remaining adult pair is monogamous. In the depths of winter as prelude to breeding, pairs howl as part of their courtship- along with dispersed coyotes advertising for a mate of their own. Police sirens also can elicit a howling response.

Coyotes showed up in New Hampshire in the 1940s after eradication of wolves opened a wide niche. They took over former wolf territory, along with the "Big Bad Wolf" reputation. There are no hunting season limits on coyotes, and some states offer bounties. But "wily coyote" keeps on expanding—suburban and urban settings included. There's evidence that population control programs actually trigger compensatory breeding and population increases.

Rather than conjuring "Big Bad Wolf" images when hearing coyotes, why not picture a reunion as family members greet one another: parents looking on as the young siblings yip and cavort—energetically as youngsters do. 

 

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Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
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