{"id":26212,"date":"2023-04-29T12:53:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-29T19:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26212"},"modified":"2023-04-29T12:53:19","modified_gmt":"2023-04-29T19:53:19","slug":"the-san-francisco-resident-documenting-the-citys-coyote-population","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/29\/the-san-francisco-resident-documenting-the-citys-coyote-population\/","title":{"rendered":"The San Francisco resident documenting the city\u2019s coyote population"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Janet
Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paul Krantz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 28, 2023 (SFGate.com)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janet Kessler has been watching San Francisco\u2019s wild coyotes for 16 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She knows individual coyotes by their faces, has assisted with genealogical studies, and spends time observing them almost every day. The 73-year-old self-taught naturalist is known to some as San Francisco\u2019s \u201cCoyote Lady\u201d because of her efforts to document and advocate for what some would say are the city\u2019s least appreciated residents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Kessler never formally studied biology and didn\u2019t previously work in a related field \u2014 she\u2019d been a hostess, an editorial assistant, a legal assistant and managed an art gallery at different points in her life. After her last job ended, she started playing the pedal harp, but that pursuit ended after she sliced a finger on a tin-can lid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One
One of Janet Kessler’s photos of coyotes in San Francisco.\u00a0Photo by Janet Kessler<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cIt was during that healing time that I met my first coyote. A coyote appeared magically when I needed it to,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cThe more I learned about coyotes over time, the more absorbed and involved I became.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kessler\u2019s fascination evolved into a full-time occupation. She isn\u2019t paid for any part of her work as a coyote observer and advocate, but she wholeheartedly rejects the term \u201cretired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRetirement means kind of stopping and settling down. I\u2019m extremely active,\u201d Kessler said, adding that she regularly works more hours than is required by a standard job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Janet<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"One<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE\/Photos by Janet Kessler)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kessler regularly enjoys early morning and evening walks in San Francisco\u2019s open spaces, a habit that she has continued since her first coyote meeting. She started bringing along a camera so she could document their presence and behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t consider myself a photographer; rather, the camera is a notebook for recording data,\u201d Kessler said, adding that she started shooting with a simple digital point-and-shoot and eventually upgraded to a mirrorless camera with a 650 mm lens \u2014 a setup that puts her on par with professional wildlife photographers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, Kessler started collecting scat samples, which eventually were used for research into the local population. A team of students from the Mammalian Ecology and Conservation Unit at UC Davis analyzed the DNA, gaining insight into the animal\u2019s local genealogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One study, which examined 97 scat samples from at least 30 individuals, concluded that San Francisco\u2019s population is \u201cessentially a single, randomly interbreeding population or family group.\u201d These results seem to validate what Kessler has believed for years \u2014 that the city\u2019s coyote population started with four to six individuals that were reintroduced sometime around 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further DNA studies are ongoing, which Kessler expects will confirm familial relationships she has documented, and potentially reveal others. Additionally, other researchers are analyzing the scat samples as part of a diet study. Initial findings suggest that urban coyotes are eating more human foods than previously thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She began publishing information about San Francisco\u2019s coyote population on her Coyote Yipps blog<\/a> in 2009, and later she started sharing her photos on an Instagram account<\/a> with the same name. Kessler even wrote a couple of manuscripts for books about San Francisco\u2019s coyotes, one of which detailed her encounters with a specific coyote she named Myca. Kessler self-published \u201cMyca of Twin Peaks,\u201d and copies of the book were sold in San Francisco\u2019s independent bookstores. She also gives talks around the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"JanetJanet Kessler poses while photographing coyotes in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Apr. 27, 2023. Kessler has been capturing images of the coyotes in the park for years.Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Kessler\u2019s work transformed her from a casual observer into a coyote advocate. While headlines about coyotes tend to focus on alleged attacks<\/a>, she maintains that coyotes are more like us than most people realize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are much more intelligent than most people think. They think and plan ahead, they have direction and purpose to their actions,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cThey have individual relationships and routines. They are protective of their areas, they have likes and dislikes between themselves. They love to play, they hunt for a living, they have flawless memories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also added that coyotes tend to mate for life, but just as with humans, occasionally it\u2019s more complicated. Coyotes are territorial, with a mating pair claiming and defending a territory. That territory includes where they hunt and forage for food, and also where they raise their family. In both urban and wild environments, coyotes\u2019 life cycles tend to follow an annual cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Janet Kessler’s photos of coyotes in San Francisco. Photo by Janet Kessler<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pupping season typically begins in April in San Francisco<\/a>, when a litter of one to seven coyote pups are born. The pups remain in their den with both parents working together to bring them food until they are big enough to come outside and begin to learn how to hunt. \u201cThere\u2019s lots of playing and family activity,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cTug-of-war games and things like human kids do \u2014 just to get their muscles moving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the pups are about 9 months old and fully grown, they begin dispersing, leaving their families in order to find a mate and a territory of their own. Kessler notes that dispersal happens at different times for different individuals. In the city, she\u2019s noticed that most pups disperse sometime during their second year. Come next year\u2019s pupping season, the cycle repeats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispersal period is an especially hazardous time for urban coyotes, as they leave the parks and open spaces and wander through more urban areas in search of a place to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere have been big shifts in some of the coyote families this winter due to deaths, to moving, or to territorial takeovers. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how things settle down,\u201d Kessler said. She added that she welcomes photos of local coyotes along with notes about the place and time they were seen, to help her track their movements and their territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Janet<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Janet<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"One<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE\/Photo by Janet Kessler)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top cause of accidental death among coyotes living in urban areas is car crashes. In 2021, 24 coyotes killed by cars were picked up within the city, Kessler said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Kessler believes the local population is relatively stable, and that the city\u2019s coyotes aren\u2019t going anywhere soon. \u201cI think it\u2019s pretty clear that coyotes are in cities because these areas attract them,\u201d she said. \u201cCoyotes aren\u2019t being shot here in the same way they are in rural or ranching areas, and their diets are supplemented by our garbage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important thing people need to know about coyotes, Kessler says, is to keep pets on a leash when they are around and to walk away from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCo-existence is really easy \u2014 keep away from them. Don\u2019t let pets roam free, and don\u2019t feed them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Krantz is an Oakland-born writer and journalist currently based in Berlin. <\/em>He has an M.A. in Digital Journalism, and tends to focus on the environmental impacts of human activity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SFGATE<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"HEARST<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"HEARST\u00a92023 Hearst Communications, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Krantz April 28, 2023 (SFGate.com) Janet Kessler has been watching San Francisco\u2019s wild coyotes for 16 years. She knows individual coyotes by their faces, has assisted with genealogical studies, and spends time observing them almost every day. The 73-year-old self-taught naturalist is known to some as San Francisco\u2019s \u201cCoyote… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[508],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26212"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26213,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26212\/revisions\/26213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}