Pam’s Perspective<\/p>\n
Pam Otto is the Manager of Nature Programs and<\/p>\n
Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District<\/p>\n
I’ve been on vacation this past week, a vacation at home, and it’s given me time to get caught up on all sorts of things. I<\/p>\n
finally got around to pruning back the elderberries that had made the back gate inaccessible and were threatening to<\/p>\n
engulf my neighbor Tom’s rose of Sharon. I raked up leaves\u2014futilely\u2014from the parkway maple that suddenly took ill.<\/p>\n
And I got caught up on some reading, including one of my favorite Chronicle features, SoundOff.<\/p>\n
Do you read SoundOff? I do. It’s a forum where anyone from anywhere can call in and\u2014anonymously\u2014speak his or<\/p>\n
her mind about anything. Amid the last week’s collection of opinions on national and local politics, and the great Batavia<\/p>\n
chicken controversy, a couple of items caught my eye.<\/p>\n
One was the caller who sounded off about coyotes on south 7th Ave. The person noted that “the coyotes are showing up<\/p>\n
again.” Perhaps more important, he or she added that the sighting occurred “just when I thought they were all gone.”<\/p>\n
I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t comment on this one. It seems a lot of people have the perception that coyotes<\/p>\n
are not permanent residents here, that they sporadically pop up\u2014like a gang of thugs or relatives who drop in unannounced\u2014<\/p>\n
cause a little trouble, and then either move along on their own or are ushered away.<\/p>\n
But the fact of the matter is, whether we see them or not, coyotes are everywhere.<\/p>\n
Twice over the last year and a half or so, Kane County Audubon has had coyote expert Chris Anchor come and speak.<\/p>\n
Chris, a wildlife biologist with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is one of several scientists participating in<\/p>\n
a long-term study called The Cook County Coyote Project. In his presentations, he repeatedly states that coyotes are an<\/p>\n
undeniable part of the landscape, not just in Cook County, but throughout the Chicago region.<\/p>\n
One slide he shows is a map of the study area, which is centered around Busse Woods in Elk Grove. The map is then<\/p>\n
overlaid with what looks like thousands of dots\u2014each a location where a radio-collared coyote was detected as it<\/p>\n
moved through its range. Any areas that do not have dots, Chris says, might look like they’re coyote free. But then he<\/p>\n
explains that, instead, they are places where coyotes are living free of radio collars.<\/p>\n
So, getting back to the SoundOff caller, yes, the coyotes are showing up. And they will again and again, because all<\/p>\n
indications are that they are here to stay. (If you’d like to read more about the decade-long Coyote Project, check out<\/p>\n
their web site, www.urbancoyoteresearch.com. The findings are fascinating and, the researchers note, quite the opposite<\/p>\n
of what they thought they’d find.)<\/p>\n
The other SoundOff that got me thinking was the caller who said that motorcycles need to be loud so that people will<\/p>\n
take notice and see them. That topic always has been, and will continue to be, controversial, and I have no desire to get<\/p>\n
involved in a lengthy debate. (Although, as a person who rides a motorcycle, I know I need to drive as though I’m invisible.<\/p>\n
I do. It works. And my bike, by the way, is about as loud as a sewing machine.)<\/p>\n
Anyway, the caller went on to say that “loudness belongs outside.” Reading that, I knew I had to comment again.<\/p>\n
Noise pollution, like light pollution, is one of the great banes of our outdoor spaces. How many times have you been<\/p>\n
blasted from a peaceful reverie by the roar of a jet engine, or a Harley Dyna Sport with Screaming Eagle slip-ons?<\/p>\n
Motorcycles aside, when was the last time you enjoyed a truly quiet outdoor moment? One that was free of all our<\/p>\n
usual noises–traffic, airplanes, air conditioners? Here in the TriCities, even nestled deep in one of our great natural<\/p>\n
areas, true quiet is hard to come by.<\/p>\n
But it’s worth seeking out. Quietness\u2014not silence, but rather a lack of man-made noise\u2014lets you hear the sounds that<\/p>\n
otherwise get drowned out. The clicks and whirrs of orthopterans\u2014our cricket and grasshopper friends\u2014on the ground.<\/p>\n
The songs of birds in the trees. The soft rustling sound of leaves being dragged into the ground by nightcrawlers.<\/p>\n
(Okay, I know that last one is a stretch but, really, worm-listening is a great way to spend a quiet summer evening.)<\/p>\n
(Continued on Page 2)<\/p>\n
Pam’s Perspective – Page 2<\/p>\n
I’ll wrap up by saying that I really don’t think loudness belongs outside. The outside has plenty of sound already, if<\/p>\n
we’d just take the time to listen.<\/p>\n
Okay, it’s back to vacation for me. I’m heading back outside now to clean up the yard some more. Quietly.<\/p>\n
Pam Otto is the manager of nature programs and interpretive services for the St. Charles Park District. She can be<\/p>\n