It’s not that unusual to see average wildlife roaming around Tacoma, but this year has been rather different. In addition to the raccoons and deer that residents are accustomed to, coyotes are also more numerous and there is one in particular that has become a local urban legend.
Spotted at Hilltop months ago, this coyote has attracted a lot of attention due to a severe facial deformity or injury to the extent that its upper maxilla (jaw) is missing, giving it a grotesque and one worries how he can even eat or drink. Photos of this coyote, nicknamed online “Jawless Jerry” and “zombie coyote,” were posted by many Tacoma users on Facebook and Instagram, as well as in the Facebook group. #TacomaCoyotes.
“I live in the Stadium District and I see people posting about him all the time. He’s trying it though,” said Joe Brady, assistant director of parks and recreation at Metro Parks Tacoma. Brady covers regional parks and attractions. of the department, so he sees a lot of wildlife activity in these places.
Brady said resident coyotes live in Pt. Defiance as part of its entire ecosystem along with raccoons, deer, opossums and more. The fact that coyotes tend to be solitary leads to very occasional sightings in the park, and they go outside the park boundaries in search of food. Human feeding of raccoons in the park has been a long-standing problem, leading to additional concerns regarding coyotes.
“It boosts the raccoon population and guess who preys on raccoons? Coyotes,” Brady said. “Animals tend to go where the food is.”
In the evenings and at night, all kinds of wildlife come out and move around the urban and suburban areas of our city. Zach Hawn, conservation coordinator at Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, is a lead staff member of the Grit City Carnivore Project, a research partnership between Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park and the University of Washington -Tacoma. Learn more about gritcitycarnivores.org.
GCCP is part of the largest Urban Wildlife Information Network managed by the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Cities in primarily North America, as well as a few international partners outside of North America, are all collecting urban wildlife data in a unified manner to examine cross-city analysis of how urban wildlife responds to environmental factors. humans and development.
Tacoma’s participation in the GCCP began in 2018. Project staff installed and monitored a number of motion-sensitive cameras to search for urban wildlife throughout the city. Hawn is in charge of Pt. Defiance’s involvement in research.
“Tacoma has a lot of urban wildlife,” Hawn said. “Raccoons, deer and coyotes are the most populous, Eastern gray squirrels and Douglas squirrels… Every once in a while we will have a striped skunk on our cameras, which is always fun to see , and opossums… Many of these nocturnal animals that we don’t see during the day, we can see because our cameras operate 24/7 during monitoring season.
Hawn said he hasn’t necessarily seen an increase in these species in our area, but the fall season is when young coyotes disperse from their family groups, so people may see more coyotes Right now.
“They’re just young coyotes trying to find their place in the landscape and sometimes that means we see them more often than more experienced coyotes,” Hawn said.
The GCCP study model is based more on the distribution of the spatial position of these animals in relation to their number.
“It’s hard to tell if a raccoon that passed a camera 30 minutes ago is the same one you see now or if it’s different. We don’t see higher frequencies in detections of the species that we capture with our cameras,” Hawn said.
Another potentially misleading factor is social media, where a wild animal, such as a coyote, can be seen and photographed in city neighborhoods, giving the impression that there are many of them running around.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if in some of our larger natural areas like Pt. Defiance and Swan Creek, coyotes are mating and raising their young, so that’s where the populations are coming from,” Brady said.
“We encourage people to just be aware. If you come face to face with a coyote and there is a problem, the normal things apply when dealing with wildlife: make a lot of noise and make yourself look big. I have never heard of a problem between a human and a coyote, at least in my experience and certainly not at Pt. Defiance Park.
Hawn recommends using “a very high-tech tool called the ‘Super Duper Coyote Spooker,’ and it’s just an aluminum can filled with pebbles or rocks,” he said. “The professional word is to “confuse” the animal. We encourage them to look out for you and your region to help them move forward. Make noise, use reflective strips… It is entirely acceptable and advisable to signal your presence to the noisemakers and to help the animals move to another area.
Ana Maria Sierra started the #TacomaCoyotes group on Facebook about five years ago. Sierra lives near the University of Puget Sound and has seen many coyotes over the years.
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Grit City Carnivore Project Manager Zach Hawn installs one of several motion detection cameras located throughout Tacoma. |
“We were seeing coyotes everywhere, walking down Union Avenue and around UPS, especially during the school year when students are dropping off food here and there. What’s really fascinating is how they suitable for urban environments,” she said.
“There’s a lot of ignorance about coyotes and that’s why I started the group. I started the group so people wouldn’t get so hysterical about all of this. The way we reduce hysteria and learn to live peacefully, compatibly, alongside wildlife by having information about them. Just as they have adapted to us, we must adapt to them. We must have respect for the coyote. In my opinion, it is the most resilient and intelligent animal on the planet.
It’s not just wild animals on land that need to be monitored. Also keep an eye on the sky for eagles, hawks and other birds of prey. Brady spoke of a surprising discovery at Titlow Park regarding this.
“We had a bald eagle nest in Titlow Park for years and years on top of a big, tall cottonwood tree. When that tree finally died and fell, the nest collapsed and it was made up of countless dogs, tags and cat collars. This is the world we live in. Nature surrounds us on every corner even if we live in the city.
Tacoma’s proximity to bodies of water offers a different kind of encounter with wild creatures, like orcas. Brady said right now, spotting them is at its peak.
“Lots of orcas this year,” he said. “There are a ton of them. People are really missing out if they’re not looking for orcas because they’re all over the South Sound and Commencement Bay right now. Pt. Defiance is a great place to see that.
Bridget Mire is a Coastal Region Communications Specialist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Pierce County is in her area and she said the department asks the public not to report normal coyote sightings if the coyotes are going about their business.
“We want to prioritize species with a high conservation need,” she said. “We receive many reports of bears throughout the year and from people who have seen a cougar, but unless it is a public safety issue or Whether it attacks livestock or pets, we try to encourage people to take steps to keep these animals away from their property and neighborhoods.
Mire advises ways to keep wildlife away from your home and neighborhood:
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Keep trash cans secure with bear-resistant containers or use ratchet straps to keep them securely closed.
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Take out your waste on collection day and not the day before.
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Pick fruit from trees to negate this food source.
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Feed your pets indoors and do not leave them outside unsupervised, especially during times when coyotes are most active at night, early morning and evening.
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Keep dogs on leash and cats indoors.
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Keep bird feeders away from your home.
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Supervise your children, especially during times when coyotes are most active.
If there is an immediate public safety concern or if an injured or dangerous animal is seen, call WFDW Law Enforcement at (360) 902-2936 or make a report. has wdfw.wa.gov/get-involved/report-observations. The Woodland Park Zoo also has an urban carnivore observation tool where the public can report their sightings: carnivorespotter.org/urban-carnivore-spotter.
