Unexpected Urbanites: Cacophonous Coyotes

In many places across the area, the proof of coyotes' presence is in the howls: Hunters hear them in the woods near the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. John Hadidian, director of the urban wildlife program for the Humane Society of the United States, said he heard a group howling near the C&O Canal towpath in Montgomery County.

"It is a strange sound. . . . It's not like dogs barking," Hadidian said. "This is a chorus. These are voices occurring in unison. They're kind of melodic, and they have kind of a musical touch to them."

The District's first coyotes were spotted in 2004, when a handful were found in Rock Creek Park. Officials don't believe the population has grown much, but they say it's difficult to study such an elusive animal in a park crowded with people, cars and dogs.

The park's neighbors say it's obvious the coyotes are still there. They see the animals, which can resemble tall, skinny gray dogs, loping along side streets. And they hear drawn-out whines and repeated yips -- which they say don't sound like the rasps and screams of the park's red foxes and come from too deep in the woods to be dogs.

In some cases, the coyotes seem to howl at sirens blaring on Military Road or Nebraska Avenue NW.

Not everybody thinks the sound is melodic.

"I could tell there were several of them, because one sort of set off the other, and then they just started yelping at the same time," said Bill Peter of Chevy Chase in Northwest. "It wasn't that single yelp-howl that you hear in a western movie. It was a little more ominous than that."

On 28th Street NW, Shelley Schonberger had her own ominous thought after she heard a chorus of yips early one morning.

"Kitty comes in at night now," she said.

So what are the coyotes trying to say? Scientists have a few theories: The howls can serve to call a family group together or keep other coyotes away from their territory. The animals may respond to emergency sirens because they sound like rival animals or because the noise hurts their ears.

Or maybe they just like an excuse to make noise.

"I do think that howling is also fun for them," said Megan Draheim, a graduate student at George Mason University who has studied Rock Creek Park's coyotes. "So, when they're given the opportunity, they howl."

Unless, of course, you're trying to get them to do it. Last year, Draheim attempted to locate coyotes in Rock Creek park by attaching a loudspeaker to her iPod and playing recorded coyote howls. She never heard the reply she wanted.

And on Friday morning at the Quantico base, where coyotes live in the woods that the Marines use for training, Scott Simmons, a wildlife biologist who works on the base, had similar luck. Using a device the size of a large flashlight, he played a recorded coyote distress call and a "pack howl" -- a cacophony of yips, howls and squeaks that sounded like an entire zoo full of animals but was really all coyotes.

But the woods were quiet. The only response he got was a gobble from a far-off turkey.

Too bad, Simmons said. There's nothing like hearing the sound in person.

"It's pretty exhilarating," he said. "It reminds you that there is wild out there."