Coyotes on the Fairway

By AdminBirds, Camera Traps, Conservation, Conservation Science Investigators, Education, Little Green Guards®, Mammals, Research, San Diego, USA
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Can golf courses be wildlife friendly? Julian (Conservation Science Investigator) discovered why certain species are attracted to a golf course and why other species stay away.

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Written by Julian, Little Green Guards® C.S.I.

 

INTRODUCTION

After discovering what animals share my backyard with me, I decided to explore another habitat type for my C.S.I. project.

Part 2 – Golf Course

Previously I observed that rabbits were the main animals using my backyard. They were there because my backyard has what they need – food, water, shelter, and possibly mates – all the important elements of a habitat1. To my surprise I did not see any predators, such as coyotes, despite coyotes being known to occur in San Diego2. Because I have heard them howl at night, I can confirm that they are in the area.

Beyond my backyard is a golf course and I wondered what animals I might see there. Would I find more or fewer animal species on the golf course than in my backyard? I predicted that there would be more animal species, including predators, found on the golf course than in my backyard. My reasoning for this was that since the golf course is bigger than my backyard, it could support more animals at the same time. Also, because the golf course is not fenced, it does not hinder animals, such as coyotes, from going there. I had another question. Would I see more or fewer rabbit events than occurred in my backyard? My prediction was that there would be fewer rabbit events on the golf course than in my backyard. I thought this would be the case because a crucial element for rabbits to survive are shelters, which are missing on the golf course. In contrast, my backyard has vegetation of different sizes, providing many areas for rabbits to hide.

 

METHODS

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A short picket fence separates the golf course from my backyard, with some vegetation acting as a privacy barrier. Here, Dr. Phillips and I set up a camera trap facing the fairway. We chose the same camera settings as those in my previous study (© LVDI International).

 

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We aimed the camera at the base of a tree, one of the few trees in that part of the golf course. Only one camera was used in this study (© LVDI International).

 

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An aerial view of my study area (© LVDI International).

 

The monitoring period was 6/23/20 – 7/14/20. However, the camera malfunctioned due to a bad battery, so there were no data between 6/23/20 and 7/2/20. Also, this time I did not conduct any direct observation.

 

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I created a data sheet for all the captured images (left) and a separate independent event data sheet (right) using Microsoft Excel (© LVDI International).

 

As before, I defined events as independent when two events were separated by at least a half an hour. Finally, I created a bar graph with the number of independent events per species and another graph showing the activity pattern of each species.

 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The camera trap operated continuously for 11 days and produced a total of 234 photos. Based on the captured images, I confirmed my prediction that there would be more animal species on the golf course than in my backyard.

 

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Specifically, I discovered at least six different species. They included: 1) striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), 2) coyote (Canis latrans), 3) dog (Canis familiaris), 4) human (Homo sapiens), 5) American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), 6) great egret (Ardea alba), and an unknown (© LVDI International).

 

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Humans and crows were the most frequently seen animals on the golf course, and they were often captured in the same photos (© LVDI International).

 

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The data also showed that humans, crows and egrets are all diurnal animals, meaning that they are primarily active during the daylight hours. Coyotes and skunks, on the other hand, are nocturnal who are mainly active at night. Although dogs and coyotes are close relatives (both are in the same genus), because of their domestication by humans, dogs have become diurnal (© LVDI International).

 

Having humans on the golf course is not surprising. The dogs also are not surprising because some nearby residents own dogs. In addition, I am not surprised to find crows because they are attracted to large open spaces with food. One might think that crows would stay away from golf courses due to the amount of people, but crows can fly away as needed.

 

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Crows live in groups with more eyes to look out for danger. Here, we see them eating fallen fruit together (© LVDI International).

 

I read that golf courses, particularly their artificial ponds, can provide suitable habitat in areas that otherwise might not have sufficient wetlands to support waterbirds, such as egrets. In fact, one study conducted in Florida found that over 40 species of waterbirds made use of golf courses3.

 

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Like the crows, the egrets were on the golf course looking for food. Because egrets prey on insects, frogs, and lizards, they mostly forage alone. Besides food, the egrets might use the golf course as their breeding habitat as well4. I noticed two different egrets in the camera trap photos, one was in its breeding plumage (left, red circle) and the other was not (© LVDI International).

 

Coyotes and skunks do occur throughout San Diego and can adapt to urban and semi-urban environments2, 5.

 

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Coyotes are terrestrial predators that prey on small animals they find, such as rabbits6. When looking for prey, coyotes moved fast through the golf course, so they often appeared blurry in my photos (© LVDI International; inset photo from Unsplash).

 

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Skunks are omnivores and can be found in a variety of habitats7. They are known for their potent defense mechanism against their predators, and are always at the ready (© LVDI International; inset photo from Pixabay).

 

If you remember I had another prediction, which was having fewer rabbit sightings on the golf course than in my backyard. That prediction was also correct. In fact, I had no rabbits in my camera trap photos this time. The absence of rabbits is likely due to the presence of coyotes and the lack of places to hide. A possibility of why they were able to live in my backyard may have been that that my neighbors have big dogs, which potentially scared away coyotes.

Before the golf course and nearby residential community were developed, this area was a coastal sage scrub habitat8 that harbored many native species. In Part 3 of my C.S.I. project, I will investigate what animals occur just beyond the golf course, in an adjacent property that has far less human disturbance. More exciting animal species await!

 

Sources:

  1. https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/habitat
  2. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=2562&inline=1
  3. http://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/ticpdf.py?file=/2000s/2005/050307.pdf
  4. https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/greategret.htm
  5. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=2602&inline=1.
  6. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=2561&inline=1
  7. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=2601&inline=1
  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_sage_scrub

 

Julian is a 5th grade student in San Diego County.