Why are coyotes showing up all over the place? Spoiler alert: evolution can work fast. If you live in the United States, chances are you’ve seen a coyote in the wilderness, or in more unexpected places like on a train, in your backyard, or even in a sandwich shop. But coyotes haven’t always been so bold. Back in the 1900s, coyotes were more like wolves – you mostly found them in forests and other areas far away from humans. Now, coyotes are everywhere, and Dr. Christopher Schell decided to find out why. Through his research, Chris learned a lot about coyotes, and some things really surprised him. But what makes this story even more unique is that by studying coyotes, Chris ended up learning even more about himself.

Thanks for listening! If you want to support us, you can follow “Going Wild” on your favorite podcast listening app. While you’re there, please leave us a review - it really helps. 

You can also get updates and bonus content by following me, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, and PBS Nature on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. And you can catch new episodes of Nature Wednesdays at 8/7c on PBS, pbs.org/nature and the PBS Video app.

Follow Dr. Christopher Schell on Twitter.

This episode of “Going Wild” was hosted by me, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant. Production by Caroline Hadilaksono, Danielle Broza, Nathan Tobey, and Great Feeling Studios. Editing by Rachel Aronoff and Jakob Lewis. Sound design by Cariad Harmon. 

Danielle Broza is the Digital Lead and Fred Kaufman is the Executive Producer for Nature. 

Art for this podcast was created by Arianna Bollers and Karen Brazell. 

Special thanks to Amanda Schmidt, Blanche Robertson, Jayne Lisi, Chelsey Saatkamp, and Karen Ho. 

NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you. Funding for this podcast was provided by grants from the Anderson Family Fund, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.