Deer have been all but wiped out by wolves in the western upper peninsula. In fact wolf season opened on the same day as deer season to maximize the wolf cull.
Here in southern Michigan we're swamped with the 80lb coyote/wolf hybrids. They don't appear to take too many deer but they take a toll on housecats and small dogs. There is even talk of allowing a coyote hunt in the park in the city near me. Black bears have been sighted in the area several times in the last few years.
30 years ago turkeys were virtually non existent in this area but they've really made a comeback. I see flocks of 50 or 60 of them all the time now. I took this picture of turkeys while rolling down the highway on Christmas morning. There were probably 4 times as many spread across the field.
Cool picture! I hear wild turkeys a lot here, but I seldom see them, except now and then when I go hiking close to the river, at a distance. They have made quite a comeback here, too after being overhunted for several years. I haven’t had wild turkey to eat in a long time-the taste of the meat makes even turkeys bought from a farm seem like cardboard.
Out here, a dog or cat left outside is a dead one before long-if the coyotes or hogs don’t get it, the mountain lion will-and if a dog runs loose and survives-the fine starts at $500.00.
The problem of coyote/feral dog hybrids was studied a few years while back, and apparently the resulting hybrids have no fear of humans-like a domestic dog, and unlike a wild canine, which makes them prone to attack humans and other animals.