#activity patterns

[easterncoyoteenthusiast]

Attitudes Towards Coyotes

Coywolves can live successfully in a variety of habitats (for related information, see my post on range/diet). The primary sources of mortality in the majority of these environments are anthropogenic (i.e., trapping, shooting, car accidents, and poisoning). Poisoning remained a widespread method of predator eradication until 1972, when its use on federal lands was banned in the United States; the use of household rodenticides is, however, still allowed.

Though a portion of the general public has become sympathetic towards these animals in recent years [1-2], deliberate killings still occur on city margins. An example of this was discovered during a 2005 study of a pack of coyotes in eastern Massachusetts [3]. Activity and movement patterns in this study were typical; the coyotes did not kill local pets or physically endanger citizens, but rather increased their nocturnal behavior to avoid people and displayed territorial behavior towards transient individuals. Even so, sightings of the individuals in this pack—Maeve, Jet, and Cour—led to some upset.

All three individuals were found dead during the study; in each case, the cause of death was ruled an anticoagulant pesticide (Brodifacoum, a second-generation poison and active ingredient in some forms of rat poison). Because all three displayed no abnormal behavior in the week leading up to their deaths and all died in less than a week, it is likely that, rather than having eaten poisoned prey, they were purposefully dosed at high concentrations.

Public support for the lethal management of carnivores has noticeably declined over time. Jackman and Way surveyed Cape Cod voters to examine “knowledge of and attitudes toward current coyote hunting policies and practices in Massachusetts” [1, p. 188]. Knowledge was largely limited, with only 40% being aware that Massachusetts has a hunting season for coyotes and 14% being aware that there are no bag limits—meaning a hunter can kill as many coyotes as they want. Responses to the survey indicated that only 23% supported the no-bag limits; the “only group to include majority support (62%)” [1, p. 190] comprised frequent hunters, who represented only a small percentage of the sampled public.

Anyone wishing to determine shifts in attitude towards and/or awareness of coywolves should consider the use of surveys à la Jackman and Way [1]. I wanted to incorporate a survey to determine whether residents of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania (where I am currently based) had noticeably different stances, but I did not give myself enough time to get IRB approval and properly analyze data. I would also recommend a potential partnership with an ecologist and/or biologist. Because I am an anthropologist and have little background in those fields, I was therefore somewhat limited in my view/understanding.

References:

[1] Jackman, J.L. & Way, J.G. (2017). Once I found out: Awareness of and attitudes toward coyote hunting policies in Massachusetts. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 23(2), 187-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2017.1397824

[2] Way, J.G. (2021). Coywolf: Eastern coyote genetics, ecology, management, and politics. Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research, Barnstable, Massachusetts. www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/Coywolf/

[3] Way, J.G., Cifuni, S.M., Eatough, D.L., & Strauss, E.G. (2006). Rat poison kills a pack of eastern coyotes, Canis latrans, in an urban area. Canadian Field Naturalist, 120(4), 478-480.

TL;DR:

Coywolf mortality is largely anthropogenic

Attitudes towards coywolves have improved over time

Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have no bag limits on coyotes; Pennsylvania has no set hunting season

Hybridization | DNA Analyses | Range & Diet | Behavior & Ecology | Conservation | The Anthropocene

[wonder-and-wildflowers]

Dazai canonically rambling about his loved ones at every possible opportunity is so dear to me.

Mori knew a lot of the things he did about Oda because Dazai told him. Akutagawa also knew about Oda and how important he is to Dazai because of Dazai's ramblings. Random, unnamed PM members know about Oda being very dear to Dazai, because Dazai praises him and talks about how great he is.

Chuuya knew straight away that Dazai had been speaking about him to the ADA. It wasn't something he expressed feeling betrayed or suprised about. It was just an immediate understanding that of all the ways they could probably have known about him and his ability despite it being confidential information in the PM, Dazai's ramblings were most likely the reason.

The way that Dazai speaks about Ranpo to quite literally anyone who will listen. To Fydor, to random cops, to Atsushi.

Dazai canonically brags about the people he cares about in an 'omg omg omg my person my people I love them look how amazing they are' way.

[socksandbuttons]

So reminder to everyone for the Bean Au Moon has always been New Moon. Which due to all the Nexus things puts more light on his Identity issues on being compared to Moon (fascinating too, i saw many people talk about that WAYYY before dark sun). Anyway recent comic where we do get KC squinting very hard about this Moon's growing issues about Old Moon. And we know me. Immediate father figure KC sitting there like 'Oh not another one'. A small tidbit of a thought cause I don't know what I'll do with this yet, similar with Earth and KC's comic. Conceptual but its there. Me remembering canon and going 'hmnnn i know its written as it goes but would've been interesting for THEM to have a talk.'

[gayestcowboy]

i crocheted something

[electoons]

doctor does a brain scan on me and all that shows up on the MRI screen is the Elijah Wood Do You Wear Wigs interview

[soundleer]

Does Jevin have any casual attire?

ooh yea i can say he does for sure as i have drawn him in his casual attire before

usually he either goes out in his comfort fit (him just wearing his hoodie and sweats) or something a little more styled like this hyee

emo ahh blueberry 💙⛓✨

[hellonearthtoday]

yeah. you have to watch us kill another guy, ponyboy. no you can't close your eyes. you have to watch. yeah. sorry

anyway something something that one trend w your two comfort characters. I don't like either of them but I'm stuck with them I guess. nightmare blunt rotation only bwcause ctommy would eat the blunt and Ponyboy would die

note: pb is on a stool because ctommy is 6'2 . god bless

[reds-skull]

Me: damn I feel like painting Soap rn

Me an hour later: but what if I completely fuck him up tho

(inspired by this painting by Zack Zdrale)

[ansonmountdaily]

Anson Mount working on pit fire pottery in his workshop

Some highlights of Anson unveiling his latest pottery pieces on Instagram. Making clay pottery (mugs, bowls, vases, etc) is one of Anson's hobbies! The specific type of pottery produced is called earthenware.

"This is not a regular kiln opening, this is gonna be an opening of a barrel fire. Many of you probably heard of pit fire pottery and it's exactly what it sounds like; it's when you dig a pit, you build a fire in the pit, you put the pottery in there with a bunch of botanicals and chemicals, and you cover it up and let the fire do the work. We talked a lot about chaos in the process last time. This is one of the more chaotic processes that you can do with pottery because you just have absolutely no idea what the fire is gonna do." - Anson Mount

Source: Anson Mount Official Instagram May 24 2023 + clips from May 20 2023 and May 18 2023

[easterncoyoteenthusiast]

Behavior & Ecology: Activity/Movement Patterns & Territory

The risk of interspecific predation is, by definition, absent for apex predators living within a natural system. Once that system has been significantly and anthropogenically altered, this will not always remain the case. Various studies [1-2] have determined that apex predators are capable of perceiving and responding to anthropogenic risks and will do so in ways akin to those exhibited by natural prey species. Like other canid species, coywolves will exhibit altered activity patterns, shifting away from areas and/or times of increased human presence [3-6], therefore decreasing the risk of potentially lethal encounters with people.

Activity patterns—ranging from movement to foraging to grooming [4]—allow an animal to efficiently exploit its environment while minimizing risk and are influenced by a variety of environmental and individual factors [3]. Movement patterns are a subset of activity patterns and significantly impact home range and territory sizes, habitat utilization, and population density [7].

In altering these patterns, coywolves have increased their odds of successfully living alongside humans. Studies of their activity and movement patterns throughout various (sub)urban areas show little to no diurnal movement, moderate amounts of crepuscular activity, and high rates of nocturnal activity [4-8]. High rates of diurnal activity are only typical of populations that either (1) live farther from humans or (2) face lower rates of persecution [3-6].

In forested and largely undisturbed areas, for example, activity is usually spread equally throughout the day [4-5]. Possible explanations for this include differences in the availability of cover, prey activity patterns, and human-coyote interactions. It may be that these differences are also reflective of sex differences in mate search and parental activities. Males have been found to travel the farthest, and their mean daily distances are markedly greater than those of females, especially during the breeding season [4-6]. This increase in movement has been attributed to either (1) unpaired male coyotes traveling farther to find receptive mates or (2) increased territoriality.

Home range and territory are synonymous. While the first refers to an area regularly visited in search of food or mates, the latter expands on the definition by implying a level of protectiveness against outsiders—in other words, they become territorial. Most wild canids exhibit a high level of territoriality, so most of their home range will also be their territory. In coywolves, this will equate to between 5 and 10 square miles (12.9–25.9 km^2) in (sub)urban areas and 15-20 square miles (38.8–51.8 km^2) in rural areas [5]. Because they can travel long distances quickly (usually 10-15 mi [16.1–24.1 km] per day) [5; 4, 6-7], they may be located anywhere within their home range at any given time.

Because "older, well-established individuals effectively guard considerably larger areas from other packs" [5, p. 83], coywolves as a whole are likely to stabilize—or even decrease—their own numbers without the aid of hunting and trapping measures. The typical pack size falls between 3 and 5 members, consisting of the breeding pair and their offspring [5]. It is common for people to overestimate the size of a pack; when howling, changes in intonation, pitch, and volume can easily make a pack of 3 sound like a pack of 10 [5].

References:

[1] Brook, L.A., Johnson, C.N., & Ritchie, E.G. (2012). Effects of predator control on behavior of an apex predator and indirect consequences for mesopredator suppression. Journal of Applied Ecology, 49(6), 1278-1286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02207.x

[2] Hertel, A.G., Zedrosser, A., Mysterud, A., Stoen, O.G., Steyaert, S.M.J.G., & Swenson, J.E. (2016). Temporal effects of hunting on foraging behavior of an apex predator: Do bears forego foraging when risk is high? Oecologia, 182, 1019-1029. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3729-8

[3] Kitchen, A.M., Gese, E.M., & Schauster, E.R. (2000). Changes in coyote activity patterns due to reduced exposure to human persecution. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 78(5), 853-857. https://doi.org/10.1139/z00-003

[4] Patterson, B.R., Bondrup-Nielsen, S., & Messier, F. (1999). Activity patterns and daily movements of the eastern coyote, Canis latrans, in Nova Scotia. Canadian Field Naturalist, 113(2), 251-257. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285966455

[5] Way, J.G. (2021). Coywolf: Eastern coyote genetics, ecology, management, and politics. Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research, Barnstable, Massachusetts. www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/Coywolf/

[6] Way, J.G., Ortega, I.M., & Strauss, E.G. (2004). Movement and activity patterns of eastern coyotes in a coastal, suburban environment. Northeastern Naturalist, 11(3), 237-254. www.jstor.org/stable/3858416

[7] Way, J.G. (2011). Eastern coyote/coywolf (Canis latrans x lycaon) movement patterns: Lessons learned in urbanized ecosystems. Cities and the Environment (CATE), 4(1), Article 2. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol4/iss1/2

[8] Way, J.G., Cifuni, S.M., Eatough, D.L., & Strauss, E.G. (2006). Rat poison kills a pack of eastern coyotes, Canis latrans, in an urban area. Canadian Field Naturalist, 120(4), 478-480.

Photo credit:

Way, J.G., Ortega, I.M., & Strauss, E.G. (2004). Graphs of activity patterns for coyotes on Cape Cod, MA, between June 1998-May 2000 [digital photograph]. Accessed 09 April 2023, www.jstor.org/stable/3858416, pp. 244-245.

TL;DR:

To decrease potentially lethal encounters with humans, coywolves will become primarily nocturnal

In undisturbed and forested areas, coywolves are more active throughout the day

Coywolves regulate their own numbers within a given area

A pack of coywolves (averaging 3-5 members) can easily sound larger than it is because of pitch, intonation, and volume changes while howling

Hybridization | DNA Analyses | Range & Diet | Attitudes | Conservation | The Anthropocene

[pippenpaddlopsicopolisthethird]

Spot the difference!

I have been sewing the first layer of trim onto my Revue Starlight jacket. The lower edge of this gold will be mostly covered by a second trim, so I intended to machine stitch the lower edge and handstitch the top edge. However, i just hated how the machine stitching looked.

The stitches stand out and break up the pattern of the lace, not blending in with it. I ended up ripping out the machine stitches and re-sewing it all down carefully by hand.

The whole perimeter of the cape only took one evening for the lower edge of the lace, and tonight I think I can get a good portion of the upper edge. It just looks so much better.

This section of lace is fully and securely sewn down, and you almost need a magnifying glass to see how!

[apostaterevolutionary]

Do you think a depressed person could make these? (been doing a lot of latch hook lately)

[darthkote]

Obi: how come you requested the Kaminoans create one unaltered Clone for you to raise?

Jango: oh, you know, just..

Obi [tilts head, fighting a smile]: just?

Jango: the overwhelming desire to be a father. you know.

[thecutestgrotto]

Hi there! Could I please request sled-dog themed dividers? Maybe with some forest tree silhouette thingamajigs? Thank you! 💜🌿🐺

Hi anon! Hope these work! 🩵🌸

Dogsledding

[proffbon]

I made many attempts to decipher what my favorite type of video game romance is but due to limits on the options in a lot of games creating a not very accurate sample I decided to try it with just romances I deem my absolute favorite.

And yeah, there is a certain pattern. (And are you surprised it's mostly DA and Owlcat games romances?)

It's basically just slightly different plays on (re-)learning how to love trope. Usually it's a character who for certain reasons, be it their lifestyle, upbringing or past trauma, is wary of deep connections and in the beginning hopes for something casual before inevitably falling for the PC. And a lot of times these characters use facades to hide how they truly feel about the PC or other aspects of their life. (Zevran, Fenris, Davrin, Daeran, Astarion)

And then there's Marazhai...

Marazhai is here for a different reason.

[bluetiefling]

interesting how often the ones claiming that galadriel's season 2 arc was perfect and everyone who doesn't think so is just too haladriel brainrotted or something are the same folks who openly say it's fine if she were to just... fade into the background in season 3 or disappear outright. sorry I actually do think it's sexist for galadriel to be introduced as the central protagonist only for her to be gradually phased out so that gil-galad and elendil or elrond or whichever legendarium dude can have more to do.