Landscape Architect & Specifier News

MAR 2018

LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.

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118 Landscape Architect and Specifier News I n f o r m a t i o n R e q u e s t # 6 0 2 I n f o r m a t i o n R e q u e s t # 6 9 4 There are 19 subspecies of coyotes (Canis latrans) in North America, with the average adult male weighing between 18 to 44 pounds, with northern species tending toward the heavier side. Coyotes are strictly monogamous. The females have a gestation period of 63 days, and an average litter is 6 pups. Suburban Coyotes Coyotes are more and more frequent visitors to suburban neighborhoods and parks. Animal control authorities in New Canaan, Connecticut, for example, recently placed coyote warning signs at Waveny Park and other city parks. As further evidence of the prevalence of coyotes in cities, St. Charles, Illinois and St. Charles Park District (Chicago) have developed a Coyote Management Plan ( www.stcharlesil.gov/coexisting- local-coyotes ). The plan notes that coyotes thrive in suburban areas because of the abundance of food, water and shelter. The plan asserts that trapping or hunting programs are largely ineffective. It advises homeowners to keep their cats and smaller dogs safely inside the home, and secure outside trash containers with locking lids, clean up barbeque grills, remove food (even fallen fruit) and water sources, and, of course, to never intentionally feed them. Editor's note: I can attest to suburban coyotes, as on two occasions a pair of coyotes jumped the 6' side gate of our suburban southern California home to decimate a population of rabbits and guinea pigs that were once my wife's beloved "free range" pets. I chased off the coyotes the second time around at 1 a.m., and later saw one coyote strolling down the sidewalk, while his partner was rummaging on a neighbor's lawn across the street. I learned too late about a simple deterrent that would have worked for our fence. A 'Coyote Roller' is a 4-foot, aluminum extruded ribbed roller mounted to the top of the fence. It spins with contact and prevents the coyote from getting a proper foothold to scale the fence. ( https://coyoteroller.com/pages/what-is-a- coyote-roller ).

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