067 Mapping the Expansion of Coyotes, Reintroduced Bison Test Their Boundaries, and Time to Stop Making Rock Sculptures

Mapping the Expansion of Coyote Range across the Continent In the mountain west, we simply accept the presence of coyotes on the landscape. They're simply a part of the mountain environment that we call home.  For many places though, that isn't the case. Coyotes are one of the continent's most successful predators and have always been one of the first carnivores to explore potential new habitats. But just how native are they too much of their current range? If we were to look back...waaaaay back, would we find them in the same places we encounter them today? What can we learn from their range expansions that can help us predict where they might move in the future? In a report published in the Journal Zookeys in May of 2018, biologists James Hody and Roland Kayes looked to scientifically quantify both the historic range of the coyote over the past 10,000 years, but also to look at how the influence of civilization has aided them in dramatically increasing their range. Reintroduced Banff Bison Decide to Move Towards the Prairies Last episode I crowed triumphantly at the release of Banff's new bison herd from its paddock into its 1,200 sq km release zone. This was a very exciting time that was also filled with some trepidation. Bison have not roamed free on this landscape for some 130 years, and now, here they were, able to make their own choices of how to explore their new home. It was always a possibility that some may decide to push the boundaries once they were released from the paddock. I also talked about how the bison headed off in the wrong direction that parks staff had hoped and were literally headed off at the pass and encouraged to move further into their release zone where officials hope they will stay. The goal is to use a variety of techniques to guide them until they truly settle into their new landscape. This involves a combination of baiting them to get them to move into areas with rich food rewards while also using aversive conditioning to discourage them from heading towards the open prairies where support for the release is still quite low. These massive animals have been penned up for their entire lives, either in their Banff Park pen or in Elk Island National Park in the case of the original 16 reintroduced to the park. Once the gates opened up, one direction would seem as good as any other…"I wonder what's over there…or there…or there?" In the August 9 edition of the Rocky Mountain Outlook, we learned that one of the big bulls had decided to go on a walkabout and had bolted eastward towards the prairies. It was always a risk that some of the bulls might assert their dominance and begin to head in unwanted directions. This was complicated by the fact that they had no legal protected status once they left the protection of Banff National Park and stepped onto provincial lands. This first bull was followed by a second, and unfortunately, on Aug 16 Parks were forced to Euthanize one of the two bulls when it moved into much more high-risk landscapes within provincial lands. According to a release, they stated that they: "made the difficult decision to euthanize one of the bison bulls who had continued to move eastward toward private grazing lands and was posing a risk to public safety and to the safety of livestock." Park officials ask visitors to stop making rock sculptures or Inukshuks Ever since the Vancouver Winter Olympics adopted the Inukshuk as its logo, it seems that every time visitors see a bunch of rocks, they can't help themselves. They need to pile them up into either poor renditions of Inuit rock sculpture, or they simply make a tall pile trying to balance as many stones as possible in one spot. The problem has gotten out of control in the past few years as Instagrammers began to invade the mountain wilderness. Suddenly no wild place is immune. Take a long day-hike or multi-day backpack trip and these stone piles are there to greet you and remove any feeling of wilderness you might have been enjoying up until that point. Recently Kevin Gedling, the Partnering and Engagement Officer in Jasper National Park, has asked people to stop building these geological eyesores. For more details on the episode and detailed show notes, please visit the page at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep067