Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Do You Hear What I Hear? Human Perception Of Coyote Group Size, Kyle Brewster, Scott E. Henke, Alfonso Ortega, John Tomecek, Benjamin Turner

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Recordings of 1 – 4 coyotes (Canis latrans) that were howling and yip-yapping were played to 427 participants who were asked to estimate the number of coyotes they perceived to hear. Participants were separated by gender (M or F), age group ( 35), resident location (urban, suburban, or rural), and occupation type (rancher/farmer or non-rancher/farmer). Differences between participants concerning gender, age group, resident location, and occupation type were not observed; however, treatment differences were observed. Participants were able to discern differences in the number of coyotes howling with the addition of each coyote; however, participants consistently overestimated the …