JiminMD
Trail Wise!
Unrepentant Smartass
Posts: 955 
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Post by JiminMD on Aug 13, 2016 4:10:59 GMT -8
I have heard one not far from my suburban home. I don't trust any domesticated dog that I don't know, and a wild one even less. I would not activly seek to hurt one, but it does give me some pause for letting my kids be outside unattended. I don't know whether it's a few individuals or a functional pack. I don't know where any den or puppies might be. I'm firmly in the camp of "do not persecute them, do not trust them".
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Post by Lamebeaver on Aug 13, 2016 5:52:41 GMT -8
The one thing the article fails to mention is that coyotes have expanded their territory eastward into areas they previously were never found.
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Post by ecocentric on Aug 13, 2016 5:56:21 GMT -8
A result of niches in ecosystems that opened up when humans extirpated other predator species.
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echo
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Post by echo on Aug 13, 2016 7:11:14 GMT -8
Lamebeaver, it does actually mention that. "Coyotes have been living in cities in America for at least a thousand years. But in the early 20th century, as they spread across the Mississippi River into the Midwest, East, and South, they’ve taken up residence in the biggest cities in the U.S., like Chicago and, increasingly, their new frontier, New York City! It’s a place where people do not trap, poison, or shoot them. Coyotes in rural America usually live on average only about two and a half years. But in cities they’re living to 12 to 13 years old and raising pups so that many more survive. They’re doing very well living among us, dining on the rats and mice that our villages and houses produce in such abundance. As they have moved east, they have also encountered two remnant species of American wolf: the red wolves of the South and the Eastern wolves of upper New England and eastern Canada. There are no behavioral barriers to them interbreeding. So, as they’ve interbred with these remnant wolf populations, they’ve created a new predator for modern America, the “coywolf,” which is about 70 percent coyote but also has wolf genes and even the genes of domestic dogs. It’s a very exciting development.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2016 8:07:31 GMT -8
The one thing the article fails to mention is that coyotes have expanded their territory eastward into areas they previously were never found. As Echo suggests above, the article mentions the territorial expansion of coyotes in at least four different places — beginning with the second paragraph of the article. Where the article may fall short is in the conflict between wolves and coyotes. Toward the close of the article, the author quotes Dan Flores as claiming, "There are no behavioral barriers to them interbreeding." I don't believe that is true — especially in a historical sense. What Flores could have said, more accurately, is that there are no genetic barriers to coyotes and wolves interbreeding. But behaviorally, there do seem to be barriers. The expansion of coyote populations (as the article mentions) followed the removal of wolves. Previously, wolves had provided a limiting influence on coyote populations. In the coyotes' original territories, wolves and coyotes were in competition. Part of that is because of wolf pack structure (a behavioral attribute). Wolf packs seek to kill other wolf packs that compete for the same territory. That also places those packs in competition with coyotes — either as individuals or in packs. Although some geneticists consider coyotes to be a subspecies of wolves, it is their behavioral (rather than genetic) characteristics that have separated them — though the two "species" are capable of interbreeding. The strength of the article is in noting how adaptive coyotes are in replacing any decline in their own numbers: [/span] They use their howls and yipping to create a kind of census of coyote populations. If their howls are not answered by other packs, it triggers an autogenic response that produces large litters."[/ul] I am not sure of the source of Flores statements above, but I have seen similar conclusions in other research. And the indications are that the attempted extermination of coyotes is a self-defeating waste of time and resources. Despite the millions of coyotes killed by Wildlife Services at public expense, coyote populations have continued to increase. In my own experience, I see coyotes in the backcountry and along the roads, find their tracks on nearly every wildlife trail, hear their howls from my house but have never had a problem with them. But they do seem to have thoroughly baffled the human pretense to wildlife management. |
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mk
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North Texas
Posts: 1,217
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Post by mk on Aug 13, 2016 10:43:52 GMT -8
But they do seem to have thoroughly baffled the human pretense to wildlife management. That they have done this amuses me to no end. I love it when we are defeated in our attempts to manage the natural order of things. We have a small patch of "woods" about 1/2 mile from my (horribly suburban) house and there are coyotes that reside there. We can hear them howling and yipping when the train is approaching. I find it reassuring for some reason. And although they are surrounded by developments, neighborhoods and people everywhere, I can't recall any reports of coyotes ever hurting humans. Not sure they even approach them. Now your small dogs, on the other hand ... |
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Post by johntpenca on Aug 13, 2016 14:35:28 GMT -8
Was camping under the stars in Joshua Tree when I was woken up by a coyote licking my face.
Most hated animal; I think not. Politicians get my vote.
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Hungry Jack
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Living and dying in 3/4 time...
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Post by Hungry Jack on Aug 13, 2016 18:36:54 GMT -8
Most hated animal in Chicago? Rats. Nothing else comes close.
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RumiDude
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Marmota olympus
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Post by RumiDude on Aug 13, 2016 19:10:24 GMT -8
Methinks mosquitoes are (or should be) hated much more! I see where you are coming from and want to agree, but I put ticks and flies as a bit more haters than mosquitoes. They are all close though. As far as coyotes, they are a marvelous adaptive animal. In many places in the midwest, foxes were virtually extirpated, yet coyotes seemed to fly under the radar despite heavy bounties on them. Rumi |
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Post by Lamebeaver on Aug 14, 2016 5:09:29 GMT -8
Ticks get my vote as well.
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davesenesac
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Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
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Post by davesenesac on Aug 14, 2016 13:35:31 GMT -8
The most hated animal by far is the... MOSQUITO
And the second most hated animal would be the... HOUSE FLY
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Post by johntpenca on Aug 14, 2016 14:02:37 GMT -8
Mossies are lame compared to politicians and horse flies.
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T4
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Post by T4 on Aug 15, 2016 9:45:28 GMT -8
I live near a state forest and wildlife management area, and hear them occasionally. I've only actually run into them while hiking one time, and as soon as they saw me they took off. I was pretty amazed at how stealthy they were.  |
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Aug 15, 2016 10:11:43 GMT -8
The most hated animal by far is the... MOSQUITO And the second most hated animal would be the... HOUSE FLY Sand fleas absolutely suck in my book. They ignore deet and can penetrate all but the smallest of mosquito netting. |
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Post by Coolkat on Aug 15, 2016 10:22:04 GMT -8
I usually go out in the backyard at night with my dogs for a few minutes. Every time we hear them my lab-mix will start growling, raise her hackles, and start pawing the ground like she's going to take them all on. For her own good I'm glad she's inside a fenced in yard so she doesn't try something stupid.
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