Saw a Coyote? on our Land

[Scott85]

That's a useless and untrue old saying. There are places where hunger is real and where they are simultaneously destroying not only their local environment, but the effects extend beyond their borders.

Are you talking about DC ?

 

[farmer2009]

That's a useless and untrue old saying. There are places where hunger is real and where they are simultaneously destroying not only their local environment, but the effects extend beyond their borders.

I must agree with the last half of your statement. As sad as it is. My remark was looking at the nation as a whole. We are not a hungry country while there are pockets of hunger out their most in this country has never known hunger. This is the basis of my comment. The ones doing the development and destruction are not the hungry ones they are the well fed ones.

 

[dave1949]

Are you talking about DC ?

Nah. I pretty much agree with Raspy (John) that we send the wrong people there through our lack of personal involvement, or failing to take the time to fully comprehend the issues and possible solutions.

We are probably all guilty of accepting statements at face value that come from directions we sympathize with. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time and effort to sort out what is true and what is not.

As the issues become more complex, the subject breadth and knowledge required to evaluate those statements is expanding, probably beyond the time and energy that most people have to give to the effort. And that is assuming people begin with some basic understanding of science and have reasonable reading comprehension skills.

 

[dave1949]

I must agree with the last half of your statement. As sad as it is. My remark was looking at the nation as a whole. We are not a hungry country while there are pockets of hunger out their most in this country has never known hunger. This is the basis of my comment. The ones doing the development and destruction are not the hungry ones they are the well fed ones.

I think I understand the gist of the saying. When basic survival requires all of a person's efforts, then the niceties of coyote management and biodiversity are not likely to get much attention. I don't disagree with that aspect of the saying. That's just reality.

 

[westcliffe01]

In the meantime, while we wait for a miracle in Washington (not going to happen so long as people on welfare get $60k/yr in benefits, we have unionized government workforce, defense industry needs the war on terror, alphabet agencies need to justify their existence)....

I say let the ones who are bothered by the predators shoot them. Let the ones who don't mind them carry on. Killing every coyote that sets foot on the sheep farm is not going to result in their extermination. That 100 acres is surrounded by 300+ acres of corn and other grain fields with not a single residence in sight. Most of our home grown meat comes from massive feed lot operations. Very little land is used for free range livestock anymore, except by deliberate choice of the rancher with the full understanding of the economic impact of doing so. If it was up to me, feed lots would be outlawed, as would the caged poultry farms. If one wants to talk about cruelty on an industrial scale, there it is. The problem is that people like that cheap food and do not care about the wretched lives the animals lived.

The sheep on the farm may on average only live for a year and a half or 2, but they live the way sheep were intended to. The coyotes, until the moment they encounter a 95gr bullet at 3200fps, have also lived the way coyotes were intended to. Shooting at and killing the coyotes sends the accompanying coyotes the message that they are not welcome and they are fast learners. This is a never ending circle. The surrounding 300 acres will continue to produce replacements and particularly the older ones are ultimately attracted to the prospect of killing an abundant supply of incredibly stupid sheep. Then it is time for them to go.

When do-gooders step in and want all shooting outlawed, that is when these kind of businesses fail. When people finally realize there is a major problem, then it is OK to shoot them from helicopters or poison them on a massive scale, as long as the people doing the work wear a badge....

 

[TomSeller]

We the perfect kind of coyotes. I almost never see them but I see their scat and see where they clean up dead wildlife all the time. I know they eat more than their fair share of field mice and the like. As I have mentioned before, my key is that I leave the wary ones alone so they establish the territory. As a result I have not had to do anything about coyotes nor have I lost any livestock to them in over 10 years. I like to have wildlife around and I appreciate an animal that can make a go of it in the world we as humans are consuming.

 

[westcliffe01]

Tom, do you have neighbors ? Perhaps they are the ones who keep your coyotes wary. Lack of aggression from you would generally mean that their behavior towards you would change in an unfavorable manner. Coyotes follow the same general dominance behavior as typified by the wolf, so your experience is atypical. Given that our coyotes will cover an area up to 5 miles in diameter, the way they behave depends on their encounters with all of the people within that zone.

 

[Daver1963]

Last Sunday night I was in the hot tub relaxing. I was getting up to move to another spot and saw a four legged creature in tan & dun colors trotting between my shed and the patio (where the tub is). It was heading toward the patio toward where Clyde's outside bowl is and instantly my mind went
Not Clyde - he's in the house
Not the neighbors dogs, wrong colors
COYOTE!!!
I clapped my hands multiple times really fast which stirred up the steam coming up from the tub and when I could see through the mist again I didn't see it anywhere. I grabbed my robe and towel and in the door I went. The wife suggested I needed to keep a rifle with a high capacity magazine handy for my next trip to the hot tub.
Clyde now sleeps inside.

 

[Sodo]

The wife suggested I needed to keep a rifle with a high capacity magazine handy for my next trip to the hot tub.

wow you guys know how to relax

 

[TomSeller]

Tom, do you have neighbors ? Perhaps they are the ones who keep your coyotes wary. Lack of aggression from you would generally mean that their behavior towards you would change in an unfavorable manner. Coyotes follow the same general dominance behavior as typified by the wolf, so your experience is atypical. Given that our coyotes will cover an area up to 5 miles in diameter, the way they behave depends on their encounters with all of the people within that zone.

I do and we have then same philosophy. I am certainly not worried about unfavorable coyote behavior. They are coyotes not grizzlies.