By Jameson Filston, Campus Carrier Online Editor
 |
| PHOTO COURTESY OF GENA FLANIGEN |
The video shows a pretty forest scene free of any disturbance, but is soon interrupted by the entrance of a coyote. The coyote sniffs the ground, eats a few persimmons and saunters off the edge of the frame as casually as it came.
This is just one of the videos featured on the website for the Atlanta Coyote Project. Senior Robbie Ellwanger has been working on collecting videos like this since his junior year as part of his research on coyotes with Chris Mowry, associate professor of biology.
Ellwanger got involved with the project by helping Mowry, who believed that Ellwanger’s background made him suited to the task. Mowry also noted that Ellwanger showed great interest in the task and was very persistent, another reason he got the job.
Ellwanger’s work on campus involves learning camera trapping techniques and studying the role of persimmons in a coyote’s lifestyle. Ellwanger began working on the project in his junior year when he decided that he wanted to work in biology. He got more involved in the project as the year progressed, and spent his summer studying coyotes with the project as a Laura Maddox scholar.
In addition to his other job as a residential assistant and his role on Berry’s swim team, Ellwanger sets up cameras and analyzes footage as part of the Coyote Project’s study on the predator. Mowry said that he goes above and beyond what is required, and works much of his time unpaid because he works more than Berry’s 16 hour limit.
The Coyote Project also studies coyotes off campus. Mowry is studying coyotes in Roswell to find out how these animals are adapting to an urban environment in comparison to Berry’s more rural demographic.
“We are trying to learn about coyotes in a variety of settings” Mowry said.
The Atlanta Coyote Project has camera traps set up around the Metro-Atlanta area to study these coyotes’ behavior.
“It really shows us inside their lives,” Ellwanger said. “We’re not there messing with them.” The videos also show how often coyotes come in close contact with humans, which can be an issue.
Coyotes can be seen as a threat when they live in such proximity with humans.
“It’s their habitat too,” Ellwanger said.
One of the main goals of the project is to reach out to the public and to let them know how to live side by side with these predators.
Mowry is proud of how Ellwanger has grown as they have worked together. This summer Ellwanger and fellow student Robert Stilz presented at the Wildlife Society Meeting in Raleigh, NC. The way they were able to answer questions and interact with the other attendees made Mowry proud.
“I’m so happy that I hired him,” Mowry said.
After his senior year ends, Ellwanger plans to take an outdoor job. He wants to work in the Georgia area either with wildlife or with the environment.
The senior environmental science major may not know exactly what lies in store for him after graduation, but knows that he wants to remain involved with the project. “Hopefully I’ll either stay in touch or continue working a little bit for the Atlanta Coyote project,” Ellewanger said.