Nature on PBS presents 'Learning to Coexist with Detroit's Urban Wildlife'

For today's evergreen educational entry, I'm sharing Nature on PBS's Learning to Coexist with Detroit's Urban Wildlife | WILD HOPE.

As Detroit’s population declined and nature reclaimed the city’s vacant spaces, wild carnivores like coyotes, raccoons, and skunks are now returning and making themselves at home.

Ecologist Nyeema Harris studies how these opportunistic predators and scavengers are adapting to urban life. Through a series of experiments in city parks, and with the aid of camera traps, she's uncovering unexpected interactions — like dogs acting as a buffer with the coyote population — which provide valuable insights into how wildlife navigates urban environments. Her research suggests that peaceful coexistence is achievable when humans make small changes to accommodate their wild neighbors.

My readers should not be surprised that I embedded this video; they should only be surprised that it took me a month to get around to it. It's exactly my kind of content.

Local news has reported relatively recently on Detroit's urban wildlife, including WXYZ explaining Wildlife is making a comeback in urban areas of metro Detroit; here's why in 2022.

Wildlife is making a comeback in metro Detroit, from river otters to foxes and coyotes. Last week, we caught coyotes along Detroit's riverfront, and the wild animals are becoming more brazen. Terry McFadden has been with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for over 20 years. He said he isn't surprised coyotes are making a comeback in urban areas like Detroit.

I'm not surprised, either. I first posted about urban coyotes in 'Meet the Coywolf': Evolution in action for Darwin Day and coyotes in metro Detroit in Happy Labor Day from metro Detroit plus National Wildlife Day! Both of those were eight years ago. I'm only surprised I was able to find a WXYZ video I could embed. Based on when I started complaining about WXYZ not allowing embedding of its YouTube videos, this was from just before that happened.

I close with one more video about coyotes in metro Detroit, WDIV/Click on Detroit/Local 4 explaining Coyote mating season: What Michiganders should know from January 2024.

Over the next few weeks, it’s coyote breeding season, which means you may see more than usual.

That's a wrap for learning to coexist with Detroit's urban wildlife. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.