Well, apparently the stuff is hitting the fan a little bit wrt the coyote problem here in Madison. Two family pets (both dogs) have now died and there is now a public meeting scheduled, where I assume nothing will be done.
This article was on the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal today. An alderman is quoted a few times in there, and I assume the complaints of the people in his ward are what made him get on the stick to organize the meeting, where wildlife people from the Wisconsin DNR, City of Madison and UW will be attending.
The whole theme of the article is living with the coyotes. There is not one single mention of shooting or trapping them, the time honored way to rid yourself of a pest. I couldn’t ever imagine the council of the city of Madison approving a hunt for them. So reproduce, they will.
I was floored by this quote from the article:
While they say they feel badly for the families that lost their dogs, wildlife experts say coyotes are likely here to stay and that removing the animals is not an option because more coyotes would simply move in. Instead, said Doug Fendry, a wildlife specialist with the DNR, residents can take a number of steps that will reduce run-ins with coyotes. The most important of those measures, he said, is not letting small dogs or cats outside unattended, especially in neighborhoods known to be home to coyotes.
So OK, lets just let them reproduce unstopped on the assumption that more will come in. No wonder there is such a problem with these damned dogs around here. Attitudes such as these will cause the problem to get much larger. Hunting and trapping are the real way to rid yourself of the pests.
I wonder if the experts think that we should no longer have the annual deer hunt (which is barely keeping the deer population manageable) since more deer would simply move in.
The article does mention that the coyotes are keeping the insane turkey population (I see them all over the place in Madison) in check now, and I have learned that they eat goose eggs, which is also good as we have boatloads of those around now crapping on my sacred bike paths.
Cross posted at LITGM.
UPDATE: D’oh!
Now this is the new coyote quote of all time:
CeAnn Lambert, who runs the Indiana Coyote Rescue Center, insists the animal posed no threat to divers.
“The coyote would have acted just like a dog,” she said. “It would have clung to the person trying to save it.”
In my state there is no limit on Coyotes if you have a valid hunting license.
Same here in Wisco John. But try to get a permit to discharge a weapon in Madison…not gonna happen.
The size of the dog doesn’t matter. Coyotes work in groups; they will call a dog out and ambush it. A jacketed .22 round on a 30-06 cartridge will pretty much eliminate the coyote out to about 350 yards but you wouldn’t want to employ that in urban areas. Perhaps you could set live traps and release the coyotes in a contained area like the Madison council chambers,
You need more predators, not fewer, and bigger ones wolves and cougars. Eventually you will have to go about armed, but that is a good thing. Another possibility is the return of city walls. I think that would be kind of cool.
Here in Colorado we are living in what the future has in store for you in Madison…..three people have been attacked by coyotes in the Denver area since December.
http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/40178827.html
We’ve had similar incidents in the Colorado Springs area.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20070705/ai_n19360154
Wildlife officials here have the same advice as those in Wisconsin…..dumber than dirt, in my opinion.
Interesting articles Mike. It would suck out loud to get attacked by a coyote – if you can fight them off, you automatically need to go through the full rabies treatment, I would assume, not to mention you could be infested with fleas, ticks and who knows what else that those damned pests carry.