Evaluating the role of area, isolation, and human behavior on meso-mammals in a small statistical demographic area

Urbanization offers unique challenges for wildlife. The urban landscape is fragmented and changes available resources for wildlife. Human-dominated landscapes can provide food, shelter, or cover through human-subsidized resources. However, to thrive in human-dominated landscapes, wildlife must adapt or disperse, otherwise they will die. In this study, I investigated how the urban landscape and human behavior influence urban wildlife occurrence. I established 35 camera sites during April 2020. I surveyed residential property dwellers around each camera site to determine what behavior they performed that could increase species occurrence. Gray fox and coyote site use decreased with increased isolation while no species responded to patch area. Almost all species investigated responded to attractants but not all showed a positive response. Although number of survey participants was small, site use by wildlife tended to increase with owning a bird feeder and putting out trash the day before pickup