Free Republic

Featured video from CTVNews.ca Two young girls who fought off a coyote that jumped their fence and attacked the pair in their Oakville, Ont. backyard tell their story.

Hybrid offspring of coyotes and wolves have spread south along the eastern seaboard, a new DNA study confirms. Scientists already knew that some coyotes, which have been gradually expanding their range eastward, mated with wolves in the Great Lakes (map) region. The pairings created viable hybrid offspring—identified by their DNA and skulls—that have been found in mid-Atlantic states such as New York and Pennsylvania. Now, new DNA analysis of coyote poop shows for the first time that some coyotes in the state of Virginia are also part wolf. Scientists think these animals are coyote-wolf hybrids that traveled south from...

Carlos Martinez Gutierrez got caught smuggling three Mexican children into California. Now, his travails have reached the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the court agreed to hear Gutierrez's case and another that raise questions potentially crucial for other children of illegal immigrants. If Gutierrez wins, some immigrants may find it easier to avoid removal and stay in the United States.

"The Obama campaign is launching a new website to handle misinformation against President Obama," reports the Hill. "In an email, Obama's reelection campaign manager, Jim Messina, announced the formation of AttackWatch.com": "Forming the first line of defense against a barrage of misinformation won't be easy," Messina wrote in a fundraising email to campaign supporters. "Our success will depend on a team of researchers and writers to stay on the lookout for false claims about the President and his record, bring you the facts, and hold our opposition accountable." The site features ominous red-white-and-black graphics and a form called "Report an...

Workers at Maryland's Prince George's Hospital Center have adopted a mythical creature as their new mascot. The creature has been spotted in the woods where smokers take breaks since the hospital banned smoking June 1st, but no one knows what the animal is, so they've named it Prince Chupa, after the chupacabras - the legendary cryptid rumored to exist in parts of the Americas and suck the blood of livestock. "It's a kangaroo, dog, rat mixed," X-ray technician Joe Livermore said. "It's got a rat tail and a head like a deer. I don't know what it is." People started...

A young coyote is eluding animal-control officers in Seattle even though its head is stuck in a jar. The Seattle Times reports that animal shelter officers tried to track down the 3- to 4-month old pup on Friday in the woods of the Rainier Beach neighborhood. But even without eating for a while, the pup had enough spunk to scurry away. Seattle Animal Shelter supervisor Ann Graves says officers are concerned for the pup because its head has been stuck in the jar for about a week now. Graves says shooting the coyote with a tranquilizer remains an option, but...

This fall, we are moving from the city to the country, and I've been told by all my new neighbors that coyotes are a problem.What I want to do is bring them down quickly when they are in the house and yard area (about 7 acres). I'm not going out to the far reaches of my 100+ acres of woodlands to look for them, and I really don't care about messing up the pelts :-).Other considerationsThis will be my first long gun. I've strictly been a handgun range shooter up till now.I don't need to go to the cheaper side...

RYE BROOK, N.Y. - A teen and a toddler have come face-to-face with a coyote in two separate incidents within about an hour in a New York City suburb... In June, the town of Rye - about 3 miles from Rye Brook - had two coyote attacks within four days. A 3-year-old girl playing in her backyard was jumped from behind by a coyote, and a 6-year-old girl was mauled by two coyotes.

According to the First Law of Cartoon Physics, “when a body is suspended in air it will remain suspended until it becomes aware of its situation.” (See William Geoffrey Shotts at gshotts.com.) I would add as a corollary that, a few seconds after the body in question notices that it has run clear off a cliff, it will begin to fall. Wile E. Coyote demonstrated this numerous times in his campaigns against the Road Runner. My high school physics teacher hated cartoons precisely because they taught so many wrong lessons about the physical world. He was right of course. Nonetheless,...

Governors are jogging with their dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks dog. California: #1. Governor starts to intervene, reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural. #2. He calls animal control. Animal control captures coyote and spends $200 testing it for diseases and $500 upon relocating it. #3. He calls veterinarian. Vet collects dead dog and spends $200 testing it for diseases. #4.. Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting bite wound bandaged. #5....

A 9-year-old wire fox terrier named Ronnie was named local rescue organization spcaLA's Hero Dog of the Year in a ceremony held Tuesday. Ronnie -- who lives with owners Janis and Eric Christensen and their two other dogs in the Orange County town of Rossmoor -- placed himself between a coyote and Janis, who was holding another of the family's dogs, when the coyote jumped a fence into the Christensens' backyard last August. The coyote bit Ronnie, leaving him with two puncture wounds to the shoulder; Ronnie bit back and then chased the coyote until it disappeared from view

AUSTIN, Texas — Pistol-packing Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a message for wily coyotes out there: Don't mess with my dog. Perry told The Associated Press on Tuesday he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries while jogging to take down a coyote that menaced his puppy during a February run near Austin. Perry said he will carry his .380 Ruger - loaded with hollow-point bullets - when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He'd also seen coyotes in the undeveloped area. When one came out of the brush toward his daughter's Labrador...

AUSTIN -- Pistol-packing Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a message for wily coyotes out there: Don't mess with my dog. Perry (R) told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries while jogging to take down a coyote that menaced his puppy during a February run near Austin. Perry said he carries his .380 Ruger -- loaded with hollow-point bullets -- when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. But when a coyote came out of the brush toward his daughter's Labrador retriever, Perry charged. "Don't attack my...

When a young woman is killed by coyotes on a busy trail in broad daylight, how worried should we be? IN THE FALL OF 2009, Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folksinger from To­ron­to, was touring the Maritime Provinces of eastern Canada in support of her critically acclaimed first album, For Your Consideration. With a free afternoon between gigs in Nova Scotia on October 27, she pulled into Cape Breton Highlands National Park and set out along the heavily visited Skyline Trail. The temperature was in the high thirties; birch and maple leaves would have crunched beneath her feet. Less than half...

A U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer was shot and killed in middle Georgia by a hunter who apparently mistook the ranger for a coyote. Officer Christoper Arby Upton, 37, was on routine patrol in the Ocmulgee Bluff Equestrian Recreation Area in Jasper County on Friday when he was shot by Norman Clinton Hale, 40, of McDonough. The incident happened about 11 p.m. in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest near Monticello, according to a statement from the USDA Forest Service. Hale and another man were hunting coyote in the area. Hale and his hunting partner called 911 and reported the incident,...

NEW YORK, - Experts said three coyotes spotted on a New York college campus in Manhattan are just the first pioneers of a likely continuing migration. The predators were spotted Sunday morning on the Columbia University campus and a responding officer confirmed one as a coyote, New York's WABC-TV reported Monday. Campus administrators sent e-mail alerts to students warning them to keep an eye out for the wild animals. Stanley Gehrt, an associate professor in wildlife ecology at Ohio State University, said coyotes are often seen drifting into cities. "It's not uncommon at all, and it's going to increase in...

NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- New York parks officials say a coyote captured in the Harlem neighborhood was the third one spotted in the borough of Manhattan in the past decade. Police said they received a call about the coyote wandering the streets about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. An emergency service unit tranquilized the animal and took it to the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo, CNN reported Thursday. "The coyote is under evaluation and observation," society spokeswoman Mary Dixon said. Dixon said the animal, a female between 1 and 2 years old, will eventually be sent to a...

Last year, after nearly a decade of development effort, the U.S. Navy put its high-speed anti-ship missile simulator into service. This was the GQM-163A Coyote SSST (Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target), which is a 31 foot long, 800 kg (1700 pound) missile with a combination solid fuel rocket and ramjet propulsion. It has a range of 110 kilometers and, because of the ramjet, a top speed of over 2,600 kilometers an hour. The Coyote is meant to give U.S. warships a realistic simulation of an attack by similar Russian cruise missiles (like the Klub.) At least 39 GQM-163As are to be built,...

People Say Animals Are Preying On Larger Livestock. People living in major Valley neighborhoods... that coyotes have all but overtaken their neighborhoods. Don Hoopes and his 7-year-old son Jordan have a new ritual every night. They need to make sure all their animals are tucked safely inside, now that they know what can happen if they don't. Neighbor Richard Tate said, "I saw one yesterday morning trying to attack dogs in broad daylight." Tate's had a couple sheep slaughtered by coyotes already. He said they even tried to go after his ram. Tate said , "My concern is that if...

A PROMISING young Canadian musician has been attacked and killed by coyotes while on a tour promoting her new album. Taylor Mitchell, 19, was considered a rising star of the folk music scene, having just earned a Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination. She was hiking alone on the Syline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park when a pair of coyotes attacked her. Tourists rushed to her aid when they heard her screams and found Mitchell bleeding heavily from mulitple wounds "all over her body", according to The Canadian Press. "She was losing a considerable amount of blood from her...

Meet the world's toughest coyote. Daniel East and his sister, Tevyn, were driving at night along Interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah earlier this month, when their car slammed into a coyote that scurried in their path, reported Rex Features. Believing there was no way the wild animal could survive the 75 mph collision, the pair kept driving for eight more hours to their destination, where they finally inspected the damage to their car. But it did manage to survive being dragged for 600 miles. "Immediately I saw a ton of fur and said, 'Sis, don't look, this is bad,'" David...

Daniel East and his sister, Tevyn, were driving at night along Interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah earlier this month, when their car slammed into a coyote that scurried in their path, reported Rex Features. Believing there was no way the wild animal could survive the 75 mph collision, the pair kept driving for eight more hours to their destination, where they finally inspected the damage to their car.

Jessica Simpson's beloved maltipoo Daisy was grabbed by a wild coyote that then vanished with the small dog, the singer wrote via Twitter Monday night. "My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR!" she Tweeted. Simpson, 29, has offered a reward to anyone who can reunite her with her 5-year-old, caramel-colored dog.

(Washington, D.C. July 2, 2009) Coyotes regularly feed on outdoor cats, according to a scientific study Observations of Coyote-Cat Interactions by Shannon Grubbs of the University of Arizona and Paul Krausman of the University of Montana published in the Journal of Wildlife Management. The researchers tracked coyotes in Tucson, Arizona and observed 36 coyote-cat interactions, of which 19 resulted in coyotes killing cats. Other studies have found that approximately 13% of a coyote’s diet consists of cats. However, during this study, in the 45 instances when coyotes were observed feeding, 42% of the meals were cats. The researchers concluded that...

GULFPORT — The dog was going nuts. Each time Jo Hastings tried to calm her muscular Staffordshire terrier, it would lurch madly at a fence bordering mangroves. Finally Hastings squatted down, peered through the fence and discovered she was only inches from a coyote, who returned her stare before skulking into the woods. "There ended up being two of them, and they kind of looked at me like I was bothering them,'' she said. "It's not like they were skittish or anything. They were kind of like, 'Yeah, whatever.' " The uneasy standoff in the manicured confines of the Pasadena...

BOSTON -- For the second time in less than a week, a family pet has been killed by a coyote in Georgetown. A Clark Street resident said he saw a coyote come onto his porch on Sunday night and grab his cat, the Newburyport News reported. Just four days earlier, a Jack Russell terrier was killed by coyotes as its owner walked it in the Georgetown/Rowley State Forest. In June, a woman reported being surrounded by coyotes while she walked her dogs in the woods of nearby Groveland. She was able to get out of the woods without being harmed.

The Pomeranian, who Osbourne, the former lead singer with British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, called Little Bit, was attacked on Tuesday. It is believed the 60-year-old 'Prince of Darkness' and his wife Sharon were watching the Michael Jackson memorial on television when the attack happened and did not hear the dog's yelps. The couple's daughter, Kelly Osbourne, said in a Twitter message that her father - who has a history of animal abuse including biting the heads off live bats and doves - "is devastated – she was his other woman."

Several cats have suddenly gone missing in one north Long Beach neighborhood and its feared coyotes may be to blame. Lisa Kamieniecki says she watched a coyote kill her 14-year-old cat named "Bear" around 4 a.m. Saturday morning. The coyote dropped the cat's body when her husband scared it off, Kamieniecki said. She says two coyotes returned minutes later. Kamieniecki called Animal Control, who told her that coyotes commonly feed at that time. But, if the animals make a daytime appearance or don't seem to fear humans or cars, that's something Animal Control would investigate, according to John Keisler, Manager...

For two and a half days after Andrade's abduction, the kidnappers -- including a man whom Andrade later said had been a friend -- deprived their victim of food and water. Through the door of the closet where he was held, Andrade could hear the cries of other victims being tortured in the house, the report said.

An aggressive coyote snatched a Chihuahua off a walking path within feet of the pet's startled owner and ran off with the helpless dog. The woman rushed home and told her husband, who called police; the remains of the Chihuahua were later found in the Englewood park. The Colorado Division of Wildlife is trying to track the coyote, said spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill, because the attack occurred so close to the dog's owner in a heavily used public space. "We'll be tracking it over the next few days, trying to identify the right animal," Churchill said. If wildlife officials positively identify...

CALGARY -- Coyotes had already drawn blood from Hugh Magill's cherished dog Duke when Calgary Transit driver Dawn Hagel came to the rescue. Early Tuesday morning while shuttling commuters, Hagel noticed a pair of coyotes menacing a dog that had taken refuge beneath a parked pickup truck. "I thought, 'There's a puppy underneath that vehicle,' so I immediately thought I can't leave that dog there," said Hagel, a 3 1/2-year Calgary Transit driver. She simply opened the bus door like she would for any passenger and Duke didn't hesitate to take up the invitation - scurrying aboard. "He was in...

An Allen woman said she got a painful reminder two weeks ago of the wild -- while jogging in a suburban neighborhood. The 39-year-old woman, who asked she not be identified, said a coyote took a bite out of her thigh as she rounded a curve on a popular Allen jogging trail. "I think I surprised it," she said. "That's what the problem was. It was dark, really quiet, and it probably thought I was attacking it."

A Broomfield man reported being bitten by a coyote last night. The 38-year-old man told police he was walking two dogs in the Trails Park area at about 8:15 p.m. Monday. The man took one dog off-leash and threw a dummy for the dog to chase, a police news release said. The other dog stayed with him. The man threw the dummy up a hill, and the off-leash dog chased it. At the top of the hill, the dog saw a coyote and ran after the animal. The man went to look for the dog, and a second coyote "lunged"...

Tony Sandlin, 9, and his 6-year-old brother, Vincent, were snowboarding on a golf course behind their Erie, Colo., home Thursday when a coyote came out of nowhere and charged Tony, tearing through his clothing and puncturing his skin.

Aggressive coyotes are not a new problem for people in Erie. At about this same time last year, several attacks on small dogs were reported, and one woman was bitten as she tried to wrestle her 3-year-old Maltese out of a coyote’s jaws. But the attack Thursday afternoon on Tony Sandlin was different — he didn’t approach the coyote and he didn’t have a tiny dog on hand, though he was watching out for his 6-year-old brother, Vincent, as they practiced their snowboarding skills on the golf course hill behind their house. The animal charged Tony at the bottom of...

An oldie, but a goodie. And it really captures the attitude that Mr. Obama and his supporters have regarding themselves, Liberalism and their candidate.Operation: Rabbit

An Open Letter to Sarah PalinBy Wile E. ReporterNational Political Correspondent, MSNBCNNABS(Medius Vulgaris)*Knock Knock Knock*Good afternoon, madam. Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Wile E. Reporter, investigative correspondent for an international network news gathering organization. No doubt you may have seen my award-winning coverage, assuming your igloo is equipped with a satellite dish. No, I am not selling anything nor am I working my way through college, so let’s get down to cases. You are a Republican candidate, and I am going to eat you alive. Now don’t try to get away! I am more educated, more cunning,...

Agencies, expert unite in an attempt to control nuisance animals in the Brooks community in Estero; attack was fourth on dogs since March. “For the past three months, I thought: ‘Coyotes in Florida. Yeah, right,’” Love said. “I had never seen a coyote, not even in any zoo in Florida and I’ve been here 27 years.” But, with the newfound respect for the wild animal, she was quick to add, “We’re on their territory.” And, she says people didn’t start noticing coyotes in the area until alligators were removed from a lake on the property. She believes the alligators snagged...

"Their aggressive behavior seems to be on the upswing," said Steve Martarano, a spokesman with the state Department of Fish and Game. "They just seem to lose their fear of humans." Since the 1970s, more than 100 coyote attacks on humans in Southern California have been recorded, with half the incidents involving children age 10 and younger. "If they see a young child and they have a chance, yeah they'll take it," said Kevin Brennan, a state wildlife biologist. Game wardens don't normally hunt coyotes unless they pose a threat to people. After attacks, they trap and then shoot coyotes....

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. — A coyote grabbed a 2-year-old girl by the head and tried to drag her from the front yard of her mountain home in the third incident of a coyote threatening a small child in Southern California in five days, authorities said. The coyote attacked the girl around noon Tuesday when her mother, Melissa Rowley, went inside the home for a moment to put away a camera, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in an incident report. Rowley came out of the house and saw the coyote dragging her daughter towards a street. She ran towards...

CHINO HILLS, Calif. — A nanny pulled a 2-year-old girl from the jaws of a coyote when the animal attacked the toddler and tried to carry her away in its mouth, officials said. The girl was playing Friday in a sandbox at Alterra Park in Chino Hills in San Bernardino County. Around 10:30 a.m., the caretaker heard screaming and saw a coyote trying to carry the child off in its mouth, officials said. The babysitter grabbed the child and pulled her from the coyote's grasp, the sheriff's department said in a statement. The coyote then ran off into nearby brush....

Are Wolves The Pronghorn's Best Friend?Yellowstone pronghorn populations directly benefit from the presence of wolves, a new Wildlife Conservation Society study says. (Credit: Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society) ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2008) — As western states debate removing the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act, a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society cautions that doing so may result in an unintended decline in another species: the pronghorn, a uniquely North American animal that resembles an African antelope. The study, appearing in the latest issue of the journal Ecology, says that fewer wolves mean more coyotes, which...

Sorry for posting this in the main area, but I need some advice quickly. Over the past few weeks I've been having a real coyote problem. We're in the San Joaquin Valley and have always had issues with the coyotes, but this year seems to be expecially bad (even traveling in small packs, which I've never seen before). I need some recommendations on the proper weapon to deal with these varmints.

When all else is gone from this earth, the howls of the coyote will still be heard -- or so goes a proverb passed down by indigenous North Americans. It reflects the seemingly indestructible nature of the song dogs, as they are often called because of their nighttime vocalizations in desert and suburb alike. With the state's coyote season under way, hunters' skills are being tested by the elusive canines. Such hunts have been held for a decade, but the stakes are much higher this year. In the spring, two young children in Monmouth County were attacked by one or...

SAN MARCOS -- The results are in: The carcass of a ugly, hairless, big-eared animal found this summer in Cuero is not the mythical bloodsucking El chupacabras. It's just a plain old coyote."The DNA sequence is a virtually identical match to DNA from the coyote (Canis latrans)," according to a written statement from Texas State University biologist Mike Forstner.Phylis Canion and her neighbors found three 40-pound carcasses in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 90 miles southeast of San Antonio. Canion saved the head of the one for DNA testing and then to mount it for posterity, she said.El chupacabras...

For years, the vast majority of politicians in the main parties have avoided having honest public conversation about the extent and consequences of immigration. The fear of appearing racist, or giving any ground to the arguments of the far right, has left most MPs and commentators in Pollyanna territory - extolling the economic and cultural benefits of immigration and glossing over problems. That has done the nation no favours, because the consequences of rapid social change have been scarcely studied, let alone addressed. And it has increased many people's distrust of the political universe, as the gulf between their own...

About three weeks ago, South Jeffco resident Jeannie MacMurtrie made a devastating discovery — one of her cats, a tabby named Tazzy, apparently was killed by a coyote. The loss of one feline companion was hard enough to take, she said, but then last week the roving coyotes apparently took MacMurtrie’s long-haired black female cat, Boots. The family learned of their beloved pets’ fate from Jefferson County animal control officers... Since the two incidents, MacMurtrie has decided to keep her remaining pets inside, including a small female kitten that was orphaned when Boots lost her life. “We hear the coyotes...

Five-year-old Brayden Gazette was crossing a neighbor's lawn near his Monmouth County home last month when a coyote burst out of the pine woods and bit him on the head. Twenty-month-old Liam Sadler was in a relative's backyard in April when a coyote grabbed him by the neck and tried to drag him off. The rare daylight coyote attacks on humans were interrupted before the yellow-eyed beasts could kill. Nevertheless, brazen coyotes have rattled residents across North Jersey's Monmouth and Bergen Counties, where scores of sightings have been reported and where numerous pets have been killed or mauled this spring....

ESCONDIDO: Investigators have learned that a Riverside County man shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent last week was a legal resident, the Sheriff's Department said yesterday. AdvertisementBenito A. Gonzalez, 40, of Sun City, gave the agent a false name when contacted in a parking lot on Mountain Meadow Road off Interstate 15 last week, said sheriff's homicide Sgt. Roy Frank. The agent was not able to confirm the man's identity at the time and tried to arrest him on suspicion of being an undocumented immigrant. A struggle ensued, and the agent shot and killed Gonzalez in a nearby...