March 28, 2025
A huge thanks to Cameron and Apalachicola Riverkeeper for providing much needed assistance in retrieving our GPS collar last week!
My name is Dakotah Shaffer, and I am a PhD student at the University of Florida studying coyote movement behavior in northern (collaboration with Tall Timbers) and central Florida. This particular coyote was collared in February 2024 at Tall Timbers Research Station in the Red Hills, about 30 minutes north of Tallahassee. Her name is Hestia, after the Greek goddess of the hearth, in honor of Tall Timbers’ legacy and continued stewardship of forest management using prescribed fire.
Hestia was transient female when she was collared, meaning she did not have an established home range or mate. Coyotes are monogamous and only territorial coyotes (sometimes called alphas) mate and have pups. The rest of the coyotes are either resident helpers that stay in their parents’ territory and may help raise the young of that year or transients which are waiting for an opportunity to become territorial. Hestia displayed long-distance dispersal behavior, which is not uncommon in transient coyotes. Over the ensuing 3 weeks after being collared, Hestia traveled about 65 miles as the crow flies southwest, until she hit a barrier… the Apalachicola River.
After running into the Apalachicola River for two and half months, Hestia seemed like she may have found a spot to settle on the eastern edge of the river. But she had other ideas… she decided to swim across the river! She swam it at least 5 more times, before deciding that she preferred what the locals call “the island” between the Apalachicola River and Woods Branch. The more we study animals, the more we learn that they will do the unexpected and will break out of whatever box we as have constructed. More than most, coyotes constantly prove this.
Once it became apparent that Hestia would not be leaving “the island”, the question of how to retrieve the collar needed to be answered. This is important because we have to retrieve the collar in order to download all the data from the GPS collar. Additionally, we plan to redeploy the collar with a new battery this year. The GPS collar has a battery that lasts a little over a year and has a drop-off mechanism that triggers after 59 weeks or when we choose via a satellite, that causes the collar to break apart and fall off the coyote. After fruitlessly attempting to find contact information for the property, where the collar was going to drop off, Kim Sash (Biological Coordinator at Tall Timbers), gave me Cameron Baxley’s number. Cameron is the Riverkeeper with the Apalachicola Riverkeeper organization. To my delight, 15 minutes after talking to Cameron about the obstacles I was running into, she called me back and said she figured out which property Hestia was on, got permission to access it, and even a video of Hestia from a trail camera! Cameron then offered to help me get across the Apalachicola and as close as possible to retrieve the collar.
As a wildlife biologist, I am always looking for adventures, and was excited this collar gave me an excuse for another one! Cameron provided smooth sailing down the Apalachicola and up another tributary, which quickly became not so smooth with lots of downed trees and logs in the water, but Cameron got us around it all until one blocked the waterway. After anchoring, we proceeded on foot! I was quite excited to see what kind of habitat Hestia had been using because it seemed a bit uncharacteristic for a coyote. Studies on coyotes often show they avoid more wet areas and “the island” definitely appeared to be an area that would get wet and flood. Cameron confirmed it does. Indeed, much of “the island” was wet and Hestia must have navigated water somewhat regularly. More typically, if such a thing exists for coyotes, there was also an old UTV path that Hestia utilized to travel. But the closed canopy forest that floods periodically was just another example of coyotes displaying their ability to adapt to new environments and defy our expectations.
After traversing some dense vegetation, we found the old UTV path and had a nice leisurely stroll through the beautiful forest, Hestia had been navigating these past months. As we approached the last known location of the collar, we finally hit some deeper water on “the island”. First, it was knee deep, then I came to another section that appeared much deeper. I thought, surely, a coyote would not have swum when she could have gone another route. I was wrong! I ended up chin deep to get to where the collar had dropped off, 6 feet from the water once again. All in all, it was fun day and fairly straight forward thanks to Cameron’s help! Otherwise, I would have been in for a much larger headache and longer hike to figure out how to get to the collar.
I always try to “find joy in the journey”. This was easy to do during my excursion with Cameron. The Apalachicola River and its surrounding landscape was very beautiful and was a treat to experience. It was also great chatting with Cameron and learning more about the Apalachicola Riverkeeper organization and all they do to monitor and try to preserve the Apalachicola. “Small, but mighty” Cameron used to describe them. After my experience with Cameron, you can add kind and considerate to the description.
I wish I could continue monitoring Hestia’s journey as well to see if she stays on the Apalachicola or moves on. Given the amount of time, she has remained there, if she finds a mate, it is likely she will stay. However, it is always hard to predict what coyotes will do. If you see a coyote with two yellow ear tags near the Apalachicola River, you who it is!