A study on coyote populations near Camp Elliott in San Diego County was conducted in 1971, and concluded that “any reduction in the density of this species can be regained after one breeding season.” The same study subtly critiqued the coyote control program at the time, stating, “Preliminary investigations have shown the coyote population in this area to be essentially the same during the removal trapping program”. The second factor is the coyote’s own wily versatility. The near-elimination of these apex predators has likely made coyotes more bold, and allowed their populations to reach historic highs. San Diegan coyotes used to live under the shadow of the California grizzly bear and the mountain lion, but the former is now extinct and the latter has been greatly reduced in number. This means that they prey on smaller animals, while they themselves are prey for larger carnivores. Animals such as coyotes, raccoons, and foxes are known as meso-predators. In San Diego, and in the rest of North America, the coyote owes its tremendous success to a few key factors, the first of which is the elimination of its predators. Longtime University City resident Brian Engleman says “hearing the coyotes in the canyon was often a nightly event I always found it cool rather than scary.” I’d heard them but never seen them before, and I had absolutely no idea just how abundant the population was. I’d always known they were present, as occasionally their thin veil of secrecy was punctured by their loud yipping, advertising their presence near Kate Sessions. January 23, another at two in the morning. January 22, I filmed one that had a reddish tint in the thick fur on its shoulders. January 11, I saw two of them - one during the morning and one at night. January 13, I caught one gliding across the hard packed clay, its eyes shining like two bright miniature suns as it looked directly at the camera. Each time I retrieved the SD card, more and more sightings rolled in. And the most common animal was the coyote. It was only $40 on Amazon, but to me, looking through the pictures it took was like opening a wrapped present, a glimpse into the lives of animals that moved throughout the canyon at dawn and dusk. I remember my giddy wonder and excitement the morning I biked to retrieve the camera, hearing the soft crunch of gravel under the wheels until I reached the canyons just south of Mount Soledad and the shrub to which I had haphazardly fixed the device.
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