Posted on 02/09/2011 6:07:37 PM PST by SJackson
As whitetail predators, coyotes may be more destructive than ever.
If you think coyotes aren’t killing a lot of deer, you’re not alone. You’re also probably wrong. Significant coyote predation has been documented in various parts of the whitetail’s range. But throughout much of the South, Midwest, and suburban Northeast, the coyote is a fairly new predator and is barely on the radar of many whitetail hunters and experts.
In over three decades of deer hunting and observation, I had personally come to view them as bumbling opportunists—more Wile E. Coyote than the Big Bad Wolf—when it comes to killing whitetails. But a pair of new research papers presented at the February 2009 meeting of the Southeast Deer Study Group, both conducted where coyotes had not historically been a problem, reveal a different story. What’s more, with coyotes now virtually everywhere whitetails are, and their numbers exploding in many areas, their impact is likely more lethal than ever.
The New Research In the first study, conducted by John C. Kilgo with the USDA in west-central South Carolina from 2006 to 2008, researchers implanted vaginal transmitters in pregnant does. When a doe gave birth, the transmitter was ejected along with the fawn, allowing researchers to capture the newborn deer and fit it with a monitor. When a fawn died, the monitor led researchers to the remains, where they collected DNA evidence to ID the fawn’s killer.
The results were jaw-dropping. Out of the 60 fawns monitored, 44 died within eight weeks. The killers were abandonment (one), unknown predators (two), bobcats (six), and coyotes (28 confirmed and seven probables). In other words, if you include the probables, coyotes accounted for 80 percent of all mortality.
The second study was conducted by Brent Howze and Robert Warren of the University of Georgia on a 29,000-acre area of the Peach State with a low fawn-to-doe ratio. To determine whether predation was causing poor fawn recruitment, researchers removed 23 coyotes from an 11,000-acre study block from January through August 2008. On a 7,000-acre control block of similar habitat, no predators were removed. In the fall, camera surveys showed a meager .07-to-1 fawn-to-doe ratio in the control area. In the zone where predators had been trapped, however, the ratio was a vastly better .72-to-1.
“Coyote predation is the big issue right now,” declares noted University of Georgia deer researcher Dr. Karl V. Miller, who supervised the second study. “It’s something we must take more seriously in whitetail management going forward.”
So what can you do? First, aim for a balanced buck-to-doe ratio on your property. It ensures a short, intense breeding season, which results in a short, intense fawn drop—and that narrows the window of opportunity for coyotes to kill young deer. Second, encourage grassy, brushy, young growth so does can drop fawns in comparatively predator-safe cover. Third, if you notice an upswing in local coyote numbers, you may want to decrease your doe harvest. Finally, become a coyote hunter. You’ll help keep predator numbers in check, and have a lot of fun, too. .
I always have the lever action 30-30 near.
Yes, I don’t hunt them. And they’re not stupid, and when they’re just hanging around, which is what they do, they don’t present shooting opportunities.
How many dogs do you have? I don’t know about coyotes that much but will a pack of them try to harm/kill your dogs if they outnumber them?
Eastern coyotes are essentially a hybrid of the little wiley coyotes of the southwest and Canadian wolves. Frequently underestimated is terms of size. I’ve got trail cam pics of them where you argue whether over whether it’s a coyote or wolf based on ear shape and butt size. Whatever they might be, they’re bigger than most German Shepards, which is bigger than many folk would tell you Eastern Coyotes are.
Show me what they can do in the snow.
Yes, unfortunately. They can even take a fairly large dog if it is weak or old.
My dog goes into stealth mode when there is a pack of coyotes near the house. For anything else he barks up a storm.
Yeah these things are no joke, a canadian pop star was killed and eaten by a pack of coyotes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Mitchell
“
As whitetail predators, coyotes may be more destructive than ever.
“
Here in Mid-Missori (Columia, MO), the coyotes seem to be on the rise.
We livc on the southwest side of Columbia with an adjacent multi-acre
undeveloped field.
Occassionally, maybe once every two weeks, we are treated to the howling
of a pack of what we can only presume to be a pack of coyotes.
We have local deer...but lately haven’t seen them much.
Given the harshness of our “global warming” winter (guffaw), the deer
may be on the downturn.
Although I have some testosterone, I no longer walk my brother’s
Australian Cattle Dog in that area for fear of encountering a pack of coyotes
(no matter how generally timid coyotes are reputed to be).
A local talk-radio show host mentioned that while riding by
a park area about 3 miles from our home at about 5AM...
he was spooked by hearing the howling of a pack of what he presumed were coyotes.
I don’t worry that the local coyotes wil attack humans...but if hungry enough
during an extreme winter...who knows?
All over the Northeast there are "No Hunting" counties where the deer population has just exploded. Some nights literally dozens are maimed and killed on the roads, and many struggle off to die in the woods.
Nature abhors a vacuum. Enter the coyote, coy dogs, those BIG Wolf/Coyote hybrids, and every once in a while, the elusive puma. Not too proud to feast on carrion, these guys can run down a deer quite efficiently, too! Even black bears are in it for the leftovers! Badgers, wolverines, vultures ... having a field day and picnic, thank you!
Nature red in fang and claw. If you doubt my naturalist bonafides, here's how I can prove my theory. If there's a Democrat in your neighborhood, trap him, truss him, smear him with bacon fat, and use him as bait for your trail cam. Check the camera daily. Your fatter Democrats can often be put out for 2 or 3 nights. For wolverines and such, the riper the better.
Back about 1990 I stopped along a highway on the Mass/Conn. border to check what appeared to be a dead dog in the road. My 120lb Shepherd was banging up against the sides of my pick up when I stepped out and approached the “dog”. Turned out to be a fat coyote better than sixty pounds I would guess. He must have had a nice life raiding garbage cans and chowing down cats all along the Connecticut River prior to being smacked on the highway. As I hauled his sorry ass off to the side of the road I recall thinking “man this is one big coyote” while my dog roared at me and him from the truck.
I should mention that (IIRC) Discovery Channel had a documentary that
showed something like 2,000 coyotes lurk in the Chicagoland areas.
One strayed into a conveience store near downtown Chicago.
(and didn’t apprear to be deranged or suffering from a neurological
defect like rabies).
Next time I see a coyote though, I'm going to drop it.
Our basset got ripped and had to be stitched about four years ago, but we think that was probably a fisher cat. The coyotes hung out for several years in our woods until they moved on to another feeding ground. We have plenty of deer in the neighborhood, a good sized flock of wild turkeys, and lots of other animals.
I suppose the coyotes probably could take on the dogs if they were hungry enough to feel the necessity, but they’d much rather tackle something less challenging if there is any choice. As it is, they avoid the dogs, and they pretty much avoid the five acres our dogs roam in and mark. We have a shepherd/hound mix, a basset, and a bloodhound who died last fall. The shepherd/hound is a pretty fierce fighter if she is challenged, and the basset gets in low and can do a pretty good job, too.
We have bears who wander around the woods, too, but they also prefer to avoid the dogs as long as they are not challenged.
I guess the coyote orders out.
My neighbor lives on 23 acres of wooded land in Mequon (SE Wisconsin) just outside Milwaukee. She’s spotted wolves runningn her land.Since she owns a German Shepherd and a yellow Lab, she knows the differrnce between a wolf and a big dog. She won’t report it to the DNR because she’s afraid that they’ll declare her land a wolf habitat!
My neighbor lives on 23 acres of wooded land in Mequon (SE Wisconsin) just outside Milwaukee. She’s spotted wolves runningn her land.Since she owns a German Shepherd and a yellow Lab, she knows the differrnce between a wolf and a big dog. She won’t report it to the DNR because she’s afraid that they’ll declare her land a wolf habitat!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.