Individual animal geographies for the more-than-human city: Storying synanthropy and cynanthropy with urban coyotes

Abstract

Recent efforts within geography to deconstruct anthropocentric readings of the urban and explore the city as ‘multispecies’ or ‘more-than-human’ face substantial methodological challenges. This paper contributes an empirical case study of human-coyote urban cohabitations in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, using a ‘hybrid’ methodological approach to individual animal geographies. It builds on dialogues surrounding animals’ geographies that centre individual animal lifeworlds and experiences, exploring coyotes as subjects and actors who participate in the co-creation of shared urban worlds. A methodological approach based on collaboration and storying recounts the tales of two coyotes – Urban10 and Blondie – and their kin whose stories are gleaned by weaving together diverse social and ecological research tools, including: participant observation with Coyote Watch Canada, document review, semi-structured interviews, GPS collar data, field investigations, ethological observations, and trail cameras. The discussion details implications in terms of cynanthropy – ‘becoming-canid’ as methodology, delving into coyote lifeworlds using hybrid tools – as well as synanthropy – coyote synurbization and more-than-human urban belongings. Dwelling with Urban10 and Blondie in cynanthropic exploration makes visible opportunities for multispecies researchers to generate knowledge collaboratively with other-than-humans. Findings surrounding synanthropy highlight the practices involved in adapting to and participating, ecologically and socially, in life in the multispecies city. Overall, this paper advances efforts aimed at developing innovative and experimental hybrid methodologies for animal geographies, and theoretical discussions around re-storying the more-than-human city towards livable multispecies futures.