Posted on 07/12/2012 7:55:38 AM PDT by CedarDave
SANTA FE — After several reports of confrontations between hikers’ dogs and coyotes in recent weeks, Santa Fe National Forest officials are asking residents “to be alert to situations for potential wildlife conflicts and learn how to avoid them.”A National Forest news release suggested hikers should be “mindful and respectful of the coyote’s habitat” by keeping dogs on a leash. The release also noted that under a Santa Fe County ordinance, any dog or other domestic animal within a county park, trail or open space area shall be restrained by a leash.
A dog owned by Santa Fe residents Houston and Alice M. Davis was attacked July 10 by a coyote while Houston Davis and their two dogs were hiking along a service road in the Millennium Lift area.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Doggie PING!
Coyetes make excellent AR-15 target practice.
I didn’t know “a NY minute” was allowed in TX?
They are called “wild animals” for a reason-they are not pets, and because people move into their areas and feed them, they lose their natural fear of humans. If you kill all the predators in a rural area, soon that area will be overrun with nasty pests-mostly rodents-proper natural balance is a must.
While no creature is safe in too-large numbers, it sounds like these hikers were in the animals’ territory, not on a city street. The trail/forest is not a dog park-the dog is an attractant for predators-leave the dog at home.
In the woods that border my property, there are coyotes, at least one mountain lion, big feral hogs (most dangerous of all) and the odd pack of abandoned dogs. I do not hike after dusk, and I do not take my dog on the hiking trail, ever-I do not want her eaten.
I was taught if you smell, hear or see tracks of a predator, make noise and look large, don’t turn your back, get the hell off that trail NOW, and do not run. I hike nearly every day, and I follow that advice.
Sometimes I hike with a firearm, depending on how far onto the deep woods I intend to go, and I always carry a walking stick and make lots of noise so that I don’t act like a prey animal-I’m aware that I live in the animals’ dining room, and show the proper caution.
I heard a dog get torn to pieces by what sounded like a pack of coyotes, and it was one of the saddest, most unpleasant sounds I have ever heard.
I didn’t see what was happening because it was distant through the woods, but that was just what it was. No mistaking it for anything else.
It was awful to hear.
To be fair, I don’t blame coyotes for doing what they do. It is what they are made to do,and what they should do. Neither should WE be blamed for doing what WE should do.
S-S-S indeed.
I agree 100% with you-dogs and cats are pets, and pets (and their messes) should remain on your property, and not happily running loose in the meadows, especially where there is livestock nearby-that is just about any rural area here. The fine in this county for an unleashed dog is astronomical, with good reason.
Most of the time when I see yotes...they are alone.
Putting carnivorous animals at the top of the food chain is a very, very bad idea.
I guess God was wrong then........
You have it backwards. Back in the 80's and 90's when I lived in Santa Fe, you could hike up in area of the ski basin and never see a coyote. The parking lot to the several trails was full and people (and dogs) were frequent on the trails for the first couple of miles and less so as you got further in to the areas like Puerto Nambe, Santa Fe Baldy and Lake Katherine. Great for day hikes and weekend backpacking. Coyotes have invaded the area and are now as much of the varmints as the rodents you mention. They now threaten the fawns and and maybe the young of the bighorn sheep on the east side of the mountains. Dogs and (maybe small humans) are just as much a prey animal to them as other small or young mammals.
One of the biggest issues when hiking in National Forests, including wilderness areas, are livestock. Lots more cowpies than dog poop and they trash out riparian habitat and streams. Don't even think about drinking from them without filtering or iodine tablets.
What does S-S-S indeed mean?
“The trail/forest is not a dog park-the dog is an attractant for predators-leave the dog at home.”
Take the dog, as it may be the warning/distraction for a predator confrontation which could otherwise result in your becoming predator scat.
In the ultimate extreme, your dog is there to protect you and, if necessary, die so that you may live.
Shoot-Shovel-Shutup!
Thank you. While I would scoop up after my own dog, frankly, out in a wilderness area there’s a lot more than dog poo to find. Back in the day I used to be able to walk with our dog in the woods and never had a second thought about it. Now everyone wants a rule to make every place exactly suit only themselves. Why there oughta be a law! Oh wait, that’s what started all this....
Oh Doh! LOL
At the top of the food chain is an omnivore with an array of weapons.
Take away those weapons, and those omnivores can drop pretty far down the chain.
Ha...to be fair, I had never seen that acronym till I read this thread, though I have heard the process referred to many times!
Me either, but I’m always learning something new on FR.
I recall back in the 50's there was a movement to eliminate the evil coyotes that were killing the nice bunny rabbits and bambis and an occasional farmer's sheep.
A few years after the government coyote elimination program that paid people to hunt and poison coyotes we had an explosion of rodents and the diseases they carried. After a number of useless attempts at programs, nature righted itself by increasing the number of predators to offset the number of varmints.
What is “their” area or territory? At one time, virtually every place in the world was wild with few humans. There is no place that “belongs” to a wild critter. They have to adapt to us, not the other way around. I don’t favor indiscriminate killing of wild creatures, but we come first. As you’ve stated, predators have a place in our world. But there is no place we cannot go. Be careful where we go, yes.
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