Coyotes vs. Cape George

A wildlife specialist spoke about coyotes at the latest Board meeting. It was a fascinating talk with some common sense suggestions for keeping pets safe, reducing attractants, and confronting coyote aggression.  A question and answer session followed.

I vaguely remember someone wondering if a "trap and relocate" effort would rid Cape George of this "dire" menace. The answer was "no". Other coyote families would move right in.

What struck me though was another resident who suggested shooting them. I thought at first she was probably joking. She wasn't. Not that I could detect anyway...

Her solution: shoot these opportunists who make an occasional meal of pet food left outdoors and are prime suspects in pet disappearances.

Yep, get out the shotgun and have at 'em. Except the use of firearms is prohibited in Cape George... Whew! The image of geriatrics shooting off shotguns at random hours still leaves me uneasy.
 
Coyotes can pose a danger admittedly...even to humans in rare cases. However, the level of anxiety here surprised me. Potentially, I suspect local cougars could be much more of a threat. Particularly to pets or small children. And on wooded trails even to a lame geriatric or two...

Cougars seem to be rarer, far more elusive, and less vocal though. They're also essential in controlling deer populations. So they are unlikely to rate a Cape George Board discussion item any time soon.

Then there are raccoons which are also known to devour pet food, drown dogs, hiss and snarl aggressively, transmit various diseases, and can cause nasty bites. But, they seem to get a pass too. I guess it pays to be a little less noisy at night!

The speaker covered the basics but here's a far more interesting take on coyotes. The bottom line is coyotes are resourceful creatures and an essential part of the ecosystem in keeping rodent and rabbit populations in check.

They're amazingly resilient too. If they can carve out a niche in big cities like L.A., the alarmists at Cape George don't have a prayer of stopping 'em.

Here's an excerpt of the actual article:

 I've studied coyotes for more than 35 years,
 and along with research and performed by my
 colleagues, we've discovered that talking
 about "the" coyote is misleading. The moment 
 one begins making rampant generalizations 
 they're proven wrong. For example, in some 
 areas coyotes live alone, in other locations
 they live with their mate, while in others
 they live in groups that resemble wolf packs 
 -- extended families of different 
 generations. In these packs there are 
 "aunts" and "uncles" who help to raise 
 youngsters. Coyotes are sometimes 
 territorial and sometimes not. In a 
 nutshell, coyotes are quintessential 
 opportunists who defy profiling as 
 individuals who predictably behave this way 
 or that. And, this is one reason why they 
 are so difficult to control. 

 Killing does not and never has worked. When 
 a space opens where a coyote had lived
 another individual simply moves in. Usually 
 the offending coyote is not identified. And 
 it is ethically indefensible to wantonly 
 go out and kill coyotes because they try to
 live among us, arrogant big-brained 
 invasive mammals who have redecorated the
 homes of coyotes and other animals and then
 conveniently decide that they have become
 "pests" when we don't want them around any
 longer. The Texas governor's utterly
 unacceptable actions come as more cities in
 the Denver and other metropolitan areas are
 realizing that the best way to address
 conflicts with coyotes is to examine our own
 behavior. Confrontations with coyotes can
 almost always be traced to irresponsible
 human actions including allowing dogs to run
 free off leash and feeding the coyotes,
 either intentionally or unintentionally. And,
 it's pretty easy to clean up all of these
 problems and coexist peacefully with coyotes.