Do you hear what I hear? Human perception of coyote group size

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are considered a cosmopolitan meso-predator because of their widespread distribution throughout North America. Their ecological niche includes rural landscapes, the urban-rural interface, and metropolitan cities and small towns. Human awareness of their presence and relative abundance comes largely from their vocalizations. In September 2015, we played recordings of 1-4 coyotes that were howling and yip-yapping to 427 participants who lived in southern Texas, USA, and asked them to estimate the number of coyotes they perceived to hear. Participants were separated by gender (male or female), age group (<= 34 or >= 35), resident location (urban, suburban, or rural), and occupation type (rancher/farmer or non-rancher/farmer). We did not find any differences between participant perceptions of coyote abundance based on gender, age group, resident location, and occupation type. Participants were able to discern differences in the number of coyotes howling with the addition of each coyote; however, participants consistently overestimated the number of coyotes they heard by nearly 2-fold. To the extent that our surveyed population represented the general public, it appears that the public could develop the misperception that coyotes are more abundant than they actually are.