Coyotes may not have a reputation for being metropolis inhabitant — unlike say , rats or pigeon — but in late year , scientists have discovered that there are large andthrivingurban prairie wolf populations across North America , even in cities as large as Chicago andLos Angeles .
In L.A. , the National Park Service is study local prairie wolf populations to figure out how they live in city and what part they run in the local ecosystem . Since last year , the NPS has been using GPS shoe collar to track several different coyotes that survive in L.A. neighborhoods around the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area . Now , they ’re look for volunteers to help them figure out what these prairie wolf eat , LAistreports .
The park service is face for up to 30 volunteers to help collect and examine coyote tail several times a calendar month at certain locations in and around the metropolis . All you have to do is show up for a mean solar day of grooming , and volunteer at least one full day to collect scat . Citizen scientists will also help oneself identify what ’s in the poop ( and thus , what the coyotes have been eat ) for a few days a month . The researchers plan to continue the volunteer scat collection for at least two long time .
Hopefully , the project will yield important insight into how coyotes live in L.A. , leading to better management of urban Canis latrans population in the future .
The NPS researchers have already been surprised by the hidden lives of the coyotes they have been chase with GPS . One chase coyote , have a go at it as C-144,has raisedseveral pup in the urban townsfolk of Westlake ( one can be seen on someone ’s porch in the double above ) . She has even managed to cross the pike on multiple occasions — typically a firm roadblock for wildlife .
Volunteer for crap dutyhere .
[ h / tLAist ]
All images courtesy National Park Service viaFlickr// Public Domain
