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."
I just did some net research, and apparently they can be found throughout the state. It turns out that they have also interbred with the red wolves that we've spent so much money trying to reintroduce in the western part of the state (Great Smokies), thus screwing the pooch on another government program.
I run across Coyotes a couple times a month at our Mountain home in Lake Arrowhead, CA. They're more afraid of me than I am of them...
...maybe they're toying with me.
I have compiled a list of coyote attacks on children. It is by no means complete, but what I have been able to find on the internet and with the help of people emailing me accounts.
OK, it's time to bring out the big guns. You convinced me.
***Is Ruy Dias de Bivar the brother of Rodrigo Dias de Bivar?***
In historical terms they are the same person, El Cid. Unfortunatly someone here at FR already grabbed the El Cid name so I use the alternate.
We went down Hwy 76 (south of Mountain Grove Mo. last week and saw about 15 coyotes haging on the fence.
i grew up with coyotes on the farm. we used to see them mostly at night, in packs. they'd come thru' the corrals looking for small animals.
in california is see them often in the daytime alone. i met one on a mountain, she was coming up one side, i the other.
also in packs they'd chase rabbits and house cats at night, coming right through the apartments chasing cats.
in los angeles they are brazen. they've been known to take a poo-dog right off its leash from the woman walking it.
Thanks for the info, I was just searching around the net, and it sounds like historically (1800's-early 1900's), that wolves in established populations would have excluded any coyotes being present (they kill each other), and that coyotes have been able to migrate eastward into the eastern US (crossing Miss. river circa 1940) b/c of their toughness, b/c there are no longer any wolves to stop them, and b/c we aren't actively hunting/poisoning them. (from what I've read, it sounds nearly impossible to simply hunt them out of a territory- but they have a weakness for smelly lures, and could be poisoned more effectively).
As an aside, apparently the coyotes are absolutely awful for the fox population, killing them occasionally, and outcompeting them generally. Anyway, interesting stuff.
You're going to need a nice fat scope, I guess!
Leupold Vari-X III Gold ring 3.5 x 9. It does the job.
L
'cause it's cheap. And they don't mind following a blood trail for 8-10 miles (it's easy on open ice). I wonder what the score is in favor of the polar bears, though.
It's all about averages. A well placed shot with a .22 LR will certainly do the job, but if you don't hold quite right it may make a mess and result in a long and unpleasant tracking job.
Especially with vermin (where I'm not worried about spoiling meat), I'd rather make sure of my kill.
IIRC, the leopard got the drop on Akeley. He would much rather have shot him from a safe distance! (He was with the old Museum of Natural History, wasn't he?)
"Her mother was half coyote and half german shephard, from the foothills near Glendale, mentioned in the story."
LOL. So are you and your family part of the problem, or part of the solution?
Pretty congested here, but still rural. Lots of pets- everyone has at least 2 dogs, usually more. Tons of feral cats and the rabbit population has exploded lately. Brush is so thick we have to hunt deer with dogs because you can't get thru the woods. On the other hand- everyone has lots of guns!
The reason they're bigger than the western coyotes is because they've crossbred with wolves. BIG. The pics I've seen of western ones look like large foxes. Ours are literally the size of really skinny German Shepards. Lots of places for them to hide- lots of small towns with lots of dense woods in between.
They got the poor beastie out with a tranq. Me, I don't mess with crows...
Besides all the woods, we're surrounded by salt marshes. Lots of rats, muskrats, nutrias, turtles,etc. The coyotes that have beeen spotted were really close to town. Maybe they don't like the mosquitoes, flies, ticks, alligators,etc any better than we do!
Back in the early 70's in Nevada, I used to drink beer with a US government trapper. He regularly would fly as a shooting passenger in a light, fixed-wing aircraft and was paid to shoot yippee dogs. (I guess this story makes me an "oldest" FReeper???)
One that would be, and is lost on the great majority of sheeple.
Here where I live now....you have to be sneeky to call them up and fling lead.
In So Cal..when I lived there. They were bold, and had very little fear of humans.
FRegards,
Here's your best answer Rex....
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