Coyote concerns

From the Colorado DOW - at the end are some tips re:coyotes
Scroll down to find the coyote article

http://wildlife.state.co.us/NewsMedia/PressReleases/

4/29/2010
Division of Wildlife
Coyote Activity Increases in Spring

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is asking people to take precautions when living or recreating in coyote country. From coyote attacks on pets to aggressive coyotes approaching people, the Division is receiving increasing calls about coyote activity. .................................

This coyote hysteria is nonsense. Coyotes are not agressive toward humans or dogs. This is the same type of hysteria that eliminated wolves in America and Europe. It is hysteria myth.

Coyotes can be aggressive toward dogs, and have been in this area before. In Westminster this spring, coyotes were thought to have killed 10 dogs alone the one greenbelt that runs behind/between the houses, and countless cats.

But you go ahead leave your animals out all night and excuse me if I choose to not do so.

My dad grew up on a ranch in South Dakota, and coyotes regularly kill dogs if they outnumber the dogs. Also, do you really believe the attacks on humans, mostly children, are fabricated?

What I find fascinating about coyotes is that while ranchers and others have gone gangbusters trying to annhilate them, those coyotes manage to just keep breeding, replacing and exceeding their prior populations.

If you have ever lived where there are no coyotes, the deer overrun areas, destroy vegetation, and become ill and malnourished. As with everything, coyotes (predators) have an important role in the ecosystem.

Satchmo, tried as they might (shooting, trapping and poisoning) coyotes have always adapted. Hence the "wily" reference.

When they get to close, I fire a couple of rounds into the air and we don't see them for a few weeks.

Be careful that you're not standing under those rounds when they return to earth . . .

Satchmo wrote: What I find fascinating about coyotes is that while ranchers and others have gone gangbusters trying to annhilate them, those coyotes manage to just keep breeding, replacing and exceeding their prior populations.

If you have ever lived where there are no coyotes, the deer overrun areas, destroy vegetation, and become ill and malnourished. As with everything, coyotes (predators) have an important role in the ecosystem.

Yep, they can become a problem. On the Mississippi river, right in between the Quad Cities, there is Arsenal Island. It is a military base, and a lot of the local deer, fleeing city folk, have ended up on that island, since there is a lot of land. Every couple of years they do a special hunt on the island to thin down the herd, because there is not a single predator out there.

Coyotes are important, but there's more than enough prey this year, so I'll just keep up with scaring them away from the house. Unless, of course, one can manage to catch and eat the damn ground squirrel who lives under the deck and taunts my dogs.

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