Posted on 06/08/2005 12:47:58 PM PDT by ZULU
Are Coyotes Becoming More Aggressive?
California Department of Fish and Game spokesperson Lorna Bernard notes that much of the Golden State is prime habitat for the opportunistic animals.
"They are scavengers as well as hunters, and they are very smart," she said. "When they learn that people aren't a danger to them, they become very brazen."
"We've had quite a few attacks," she continued, "but people don't typically get seriously hurt."
In California there has only been one documented human death attributed a coyote attack. The incident occurred about two decades ago, when a coyote killed a young girl in Glendale.
Timm and Baker list some 35 other coyote attacks over the past three decades on small children that could have been fatal, had an adult not intervened.
Eastern Coyotes Flex Muscle
Close human-coyote encounters are not restricted to California. In New York State, wildlife biologist Gordon Batcheller studies coyotes from his post at the state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
He said coyotes are "becoming habituated to humans and human environments, and adapting their behavior to ours."
From the coyotes' perspective, this human environment "is a 'subsidized environment,' meaning it provides an artificially high amount of foods with an unnatural absence of threats," Batcheller said. "These adaptable animals take quick advantage of these unnatural environments."
At Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, wildlife biologist Paul Curtis and his team are beginning a five-year study of coyote ecology and behavior, funded in part by the state's DEC.
"The goal of the project is to look at changes in both coyote and human behavior that may be leading to more conflicts and complaints," Curtis said.
New York DEC officials estimate that 20,000 to 30,000 coyotes live in the state.
Curtis describes a progression of behavior in so-called problem coyote areas. First, the generally reclusive animals are increasingly spotted in daylight hours. Next, pets begin to vanish from yards and are even snatched off leashes by coyotes.
"That's the last stage before a human attack," Curtis said. "And we're at that stage in New York now." New York wildlife officials hope to head off such conflicts before a serious attack or death occurs.
Most coyotes, even those living near humans, are seldom seen and are reclusive. But dealing with human-adjusted animals is a management challenge.
"It appears to be a learned behavior," Curtis noted. "Certain animals seem more adapted to an urban environment. They catch a few cats and say, Hey there is abundant food here."
Animal control officers are experimenting with ways to reintroduce fear of humans in coyotes that have lost it. Many states have open season on coyote hunting. But the practice is controversial and often impractical in suburban and urban areas, where most problems occur.
Other non-lethal methods, including rubber buckshot and fencing, have met with mixed results.
"If they persist in aggressive behavior, the ultimate solution would probably be to remove problem animals," Curtis said. "Nobody is happy about that."
Human Causes?
Meanwhile, Timm's data suggest that certain areas seem more predisposed to coyote-human conflicts.
"The data on pet losses in recent years is not very different in the states of Texas and California," the University of California wildlife specialist said. "Yet there have been few, if any, human attacks [by coyotes] in Texas."
No one is certain what might account for the discrepancy.
"We're speculating at this point, but something is different about southern California, and in many cases we think that intentional feeding in neighborhoods is a factor," Timm said. "It's probably more typical than we know."
"People in Texas don't have a kind of Disney attitude about animals," he added. "There may be more of that rancher mentality, where everybody recognizes that we don't want [coyotes] in the neighborhood."
Scientists stress that respect for animals, especially predators such as coyotes, means keeping them wild.
"Don't feed them, either purposely or inadvertently, and stay away from animals that show no natural fear," Batcheller, the New York wildlife biologist, cautioned. "Like other wildlife, coyotes should be enjoyed and appreciated, but from a distance. It does this species no good to encourage abnormal behaviors."
As Curtis, the Cornell wildlife biologist, noted, "Hearing [coyotes] howling in the woods at night is a wonderful thing. And that's where we want to keep them—in the woods, away from people."
Pretty hard to "pull" on those critters.....Coulda shot one out of a tree-stand a couple seasons ago....But it was "about that time" that ol' mossy horns woulda been sneaking out...so I let him walk.
If your "caller" is positioned out from the shooter....and you are in a blind..then you might have something...!!
FRegards,
Saw one out by the airport in Greensboro a couple of years ago. Thought it was a wolf, it was that big.
I'll match your GSD brain for brain with my Dobies. They can do everything the Shepherds can do with a lot more finesse.
And look so handsome doing it!
(They DO NOT have the tenacity of the GSDs {stubborness} which
MIGHT be an asset in some cases. Man, are those German Shepherds STUBBORN!)
Last summer my friend's kids were riding their ATV's and a coyote started following them home. They had their cell phones and called their dad to tell him. He met them and killed the coyote in MY yard. When I got home, they told me to be careful. I keep a shotgun behind my front door for all the predatory critters. Including the two legged kind. :) Coyotes frequently eat cats and dogs on the Indian reservations around here.
Probably so, but less entertainment value. I'd be good with a combination of the two, I'm sure.
Yes they are very intelligent. That's why so many are trained to be police dogs. I've had three and they are great dogs.
Just looked over most of your website and it is great! Every Freeper should take a look at at it...the page on Guns is a very good resource.
If I remember my late Dad's tales correctly, the {county?} bounties stopped in the forties in this area. {Kansas}
There has been a moratorium on Polar Bear hunting since 1973.
No hunting from aircraft or motor vessels and in some regions only Inuit can hunt bears.
As for shooting a Polar Bear with a .22, a .22 caliber would bounce off a bears noggin like a chick pea and wouldn't even penetrate the fur and hide let alone four inches of fat.
The Inuit hunt with .303s even then Polar Bears are extremely dangerous prey.
I've seen one running away at 40 miles an hour after being wounded and it took half an hour to take it down from a helicopter even then it reared and took a swipe at the helicopter.
I thought the NHL season was cancelled?
Preferably with said rifle functioning flawlessly.
That was the caliber of choice in 1963 when I lived in the north. I don't know what the Inuit use now. But yes Polar Bears are not casual hunting and to kill won elevates the Inuit hunter to legend status especially when they hunted them with spears.
There are coyotes and there are coyotes.
Like I said, some populations of them are hunted or have limited exposure to people and are likely to run away in most cases. In those instances, these are probably pure blooded coyotes, Canis latrans, a relatively small, solitary animal.
In the eastern U.S. another critter is involved, one which is larger than the western coyote and one which hunts in small packs. In all likelihood, it is a cross between the eastern Canadian wolf, Canis lupus, and the western coyote, Canis latrans. Its bigger and bolder and found in areas where hunting is rare or non-existant. People there have come to be associated by the animal not as a menace, but as a potential food source - in the form of livestock, garbage, pets, or, in rare cases, children.
(He was with the old Museum of Natural History, wasn't he?)
Yeah. They used to have an Ackeley Hall of African Mammals in the Museum of Natural History in New York. Don't know if they still call it that though. Maybe it isn't politically correct enough and now they call it the Zulu Hall of African Mammals (Sarcasm).
Dobies are smart. But I still think German Shepherds are the smartest breed around.
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