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 ...
That sounds awful-I haven’t seen that livestock problem here-livestock must be confined to your property with a fence-if your cows/goats/etc get seen out, you get fined bigtime.
I live on a cliff over the water-which is patrolled and tested every day by fish and game for not only livestock crap, but pesticides and weedkillers that are used by people who ignore their deed restrictions. Those fines run as high as 10K, for obvious reasons, but the iodine tablets are a good thing to keep anyway.
Here, it is generally accepted that a city consisting of subdivisions with homes on less than 1/2 acre-30 miles away in SA, “city” lots are 1/4 acre or less, except in la-de-da gated neighborhoods. Cities have grocery stores, lots of commercial properties, etc. Obviously, except for a couple of greenway areas, SA is not a wildlife habitat area for anything but squirrels and birds.
That is why I don’t live there-I like it in the country where I grew up, but it is not for everyone. The nearest city-type groceries are at the general store, 5.6 miles away. There isn’t even a post office within 16 miles.
Lots out here are mostly 1 acre or more-and since early 2000, any new ones platted have to be over 2 1/2 acres-it has been one lot, one dwelling, no exceptions for over 30 years. This area is resource-conservation oriented-there are also two large state designated wilderness areas in close proximity-you cannot build within several acres of them. So, I definately live in the territory of the wild animals-state fish and game and natural resource commission says I’m welcome to live here, hike, bike and enjoy, but the critters were here first. Pets running loose teach the predators to be lazy (they normally eat deer, birds, varmints etc), and to hang out near humans for easy meals of what my daughter calls soft, slow city pets. They also lose their fear of humans, which makes them dangerous.
A neighbor who moved here from the city loved letting her two standard poodles run free-thought it made them happy, even though she was fined twice, and told they would end up eaten by predators or being shot by a rancher for running livestock. She ignored the sheriff, and soon after, one of the dogs fell victim to the resident mountain lion, and she demanded the game warden shoot the cat. She was told to get over it, mountain lion was here first and let that be a lesson in “real” country living.
She was also told that if the remaining poodle was caught running loose, it would be picked up and re-homed with someone who would keep it safe. As I said, living in the boonies it is not for everyone-the rules are different where humans are not the only ones who matter.
The problem is the government goes too far one way- then too far the other. No common sense, no happy in-between.
My dog is a Siberian Husky-not exactly a guard dog, and I do not have pets to have them tempt predators, then save me from them-that is what my pistol and can of pepper spray are for, and they will be more effective. Dog stays home, in front of the TV watching Animal Planet when I’m not there.
If I’m unarmed, a pack of feral hogs, a full grown mountain lion or even a pack of feral dogs would make short work of both my 70 lb. dog and my 108 lb self before anyone could help-hogs packs and mountain lions have brought down large men in other places. If I don’t have the sense to safely hike in the woods, then I really don’t have any business walking across the road here.
Up until the 80s many people trapped and shot varmints all over NM; coyotes, fox, bobcat- furs were worth some money and regulations were few. Fur prices plunged, regulations grew and nearly everyone quit trapping and varmint shooting it just wasn’t politically correct- anti fur people caused money to dry up and too many laws to break. People were keeping the numbers down but other people changed that. Now we have large groups of people that don’t want the “cute” varmints killed, instead they want to feed them- yes we have idiots around here that put out dog food for coyotes, skunks. I bet idiots around Santa Fe are doing it too and there are more idiots there. Population of varmints has exploded and people are moving more and more into their habitat.
New Mexico is a “fence out” state which means you must fence cattle, sheep, horses, etc. out. From the NM Livestock Board:
http://www.nmlbonline.com/documents/fencing1210.pdf
Also, national forests, including wilderness areas, allow cattle grazing. There are very few streams that are not polluted, at least somewhat, by livestock in the forest.
The picture of a cowboy driving an old pickup with his dog beside him, and a rifle in a rack behind him is not just for show out here. If they see a coyote on their land, they will shoot it.
I mentioned the rats and other varmints earlier-any time someone screws with the natural balance of things, chaos happens-I was told by a neighbor whose family has ranched here for 100+ years that once, hunters wanted all the coyotes and mountain lions killed off so they could have more deer to hunt.
Fortunately, because fish and game figured that if hunters with guns couldn’t compete with animal predators who didn’t use guns, they probably didn’t need to hunt that close to humans and livestock, either-so now, you can’t hunt here unless you are 10 acres or more from a property line...
Maybe somebody should explain this in a little more detail to you.
Perhaps a sketch would help.
Of course I know that, I live with one. The difference is when fur prices were high professional trappers had trap lines all over each with several hundred traps out, most of the cowboys also had a small trap line in their camp country and called and shot coyotes for extra money; that is where we got our Christmas money when our kids were little. People went out of their way to get the varmints when they were worth something. Then the anti-fur people convinced people not to wear fur so the price plunged. People still kill varmints of course, but no where near the number they used to. Shooting one on sight here and there is far different than many people actively hunting or trapping all they can get, which is what used to keep the numbers down.
Thanks for posting that-very informative-
My first husband was from your lovely state, so I do remember encountering cattle wandering in the wilderness several times when we were hiking or rock hunting, and thought that odd. I never connected it to pollution of groundwater until you pointed it out, though. I knew it was different from Texas, but that was about as far as I thought about it-we really don’t have national forests, and our wilderness areas are newer than New Mexico’s, and so designated only for the wild animals and visiting humans.
Most of those places don’t allow you to let your dog on the trails, and you can’t even take leaves or seeds from the trees or plants out of the park.area-case in point is Lost Maples, which is nearby-I go there every fall, and don’t dare even bring out a leaf.
Loose cattle have caused fatal traffic accidents on rural roads, but it is not as common as it was when I was a kid because not only are the fines ruinous to the owner of the cow, but some ambulance chaser lawyer is likely to get ahold of the family members of the deceased driver and convince them to sue the rancher for negligence.
“Up until the 80s many people trapped and shot varmints all over NM;”
I spent some time out in NE NM in the mid 70’s and recall seeing dead coyotes hung over fence posts along the roads. There were some sections where you could go miles and miles and not lose sight of one hanging before coming upon another one.
“are 10 acres or more from a property line”
An acre is a measure of area, not distance.
May I ask what you intended to communicate?
Thanks.
“If I’m unarmed,”
And with the above words, you have invoked the great god of the beasts, Gunpowder. Verily, when gunpowder speaks, beasts obey!
Living in Florida, as we do, I suggest being at all times armed. One soon becomes used to the weight and bulk. After all, if being at all times armed was good enough for the Founders, .....
We have a neighbor that still hangs coyotes on the fence, freaks out city folks...it is supposed to discourage coyotes to see their kin like that, I don’t think it really works but who knows?
That is why I don’t go unarmed if I’m going to hike for any distance from home alone-that would be foolish. I wouldn’t trust a human stranger I came across in the woods, for that matter-it does not bode well to be defenseless.
Some years ago, I asked a game warden who lives out here what the 10 acres was about, he told me it was a safety thing because there are homes and tourist trap businesses just across the fence from some ranches, which is true. I’ve no idea how they make the determination, I just know it is in most deed restrictions here.
Hunting isn’t allowed here, anyway unless it is done on one of the ranches in the area, at the invitation of the landowner-we don’t have public hunting lands in most of Texas-it is done on private land, with hunting leases, and the owner is responsible for the actions of the hunters he/she sells a hunting lease to. Are there public hunting lands where you are? That seems to vary greatly from state to state.
Eventually, they'll be going after children, winos, the elderly, any target of opportunity.
All la-la-land aside, humans are made of meat, and that looks like lunch to carnivores.
Should people be careful about where they live? Absolutely. But many times certain people, usually wacko environmentalists, just want to keep people fenced in big cities and let the animals dominate the wild. So they use the argument that humans should be restricted as to where they live and not be allowed to go into the wild critters environment. Remember, practically every place on earth was wild at one time.
P.S I live in western Wisconsin. In the past thirty-forty years this area has seen a reintroduction of wild animals that had not been seen around these parts for many decades previous. I'm talking bears, coyotes, wolves, pumas, wild pigs (from Texas), and oppossums. Are they now in my territory? (No armadillos yet..but they are proceeding northwards and have made it to Kansas).
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