Coyote's in the news again

[Guest IBC]

a 6 foot fence is scaleable for a coyote ... if you really want to coyote proof your yard you also need to put a fence going into the ground as they are good diggers as well. They are definitely one of the smarter animals ... they have been observed using well thought out plans in hunting ... one coyote was observed waiting outside a mousehole when it started raining. The coyote knew the rain would flush the mouse to the surface and when it did ... FREE EASY FOOD.

If you take proper precautions (tight fitting lids on the garbage and in cans not bags, not throwing food into your yard for other animals, not providing a source of water (a pond in an unfenced yard) or small animals being allowed to run free 24/7 (small dogs outdoors all day) and you will have minimal if anything to worry about. If you are serious about keeping coyotes away from your yard (and driving the neighborhood dogs nuts) get some big cat urine and pour it around the property. A coyote wants nothing to do with a cougar. Knowing someone who used to take care of some big cats on a private farm ... he never had issues with coyotes, his neighboring farmers loved him for this as they had no issues raising their livestock (sheep and chickens for the most part), there was a very minimal coyote presence at any of the surrounding farms.

[hammercarp]

It is well known how smart a coyote can be when it comes to getting food. They have long known that coyotes and badgers will work together to catch ground squirrels.

I have read here how a few simple precautions will help to prevent coyotes from preying on your pets or possilbly small children. Then when you start to list the precautions they are neither simple or inexpensive. Eastern coyotes have evolved to cohabitate with people. If we all carried out these precautions I wonder how far a hungry coyote would go to get a meal.

When it comes to animals like the coyote preying on people pets I think fear is the best answer.

[Dan Andrews]

I just told my neighbour that next time he walks his Yorkie, he should bring it's enclosed pen with it

[trfish]

A coyote bold enough to attack a dog in an owner's hand is an anomaly. Like I said before, such animals should be dealt with by animal control. However, any coyote that unafraid of a person has obviously come in contact with people before and seen that we pose no harm; that is unacceptable. What we can do, instead of freaking out, is to take measures to avoid creating animals like that.. which means to keep the garbage tightly sealed, limit all food association with us, and most of all, not directly feeding them. I am certain that this would be enough to limit coyote-human issues to only random incidents.

[hammercarp]

A coyote bold enough to attack a dog in an owner's hand is an anomaly. Like I said before, such animals should be dealt with by animal control. However, any coyote that unafraid of a person has obviously come in contact with people before and seen that we pose no harm; that is unacceptable. What we can do, instead of freaking out, is to take measures to avoid creating animals like that.. which means to keep the garbage tightly sealed, limit all food association with us, and most of all, not directly feeding them. I am certain that this would be enough to limit coyote-human issues to only random incidents.

Killing a coyote that is a threat to your pet or children is not freaking out it is common sense.

[phiphntek]

I've been attacked by a muskrat in NOTL.

I was traumatized

Did the muskrat attack occur after the bars closed?Did the attacker drive up in a BMW ? If so, it wasn't a muskrat.It was a cougar wearing a muskrat coat.

[trfish]

Killing a coyote that is a threat to your pet or children is not freaking out it is common sense.

You yourself said fear is the best answer. It most definitely is not. Fear is irrational.. especially in a situation like this. Any coyote that is actually a threat to your pet or child should be dealt with, I absolutely agree with that, but being in fear because of a random incident is ridiculous. There is absolutely no common sense to conclude that coyotes are now going to attack small pets and children all of the time with the owners right there. Most coyote are still afraid of humans and if we don't give them a reason not to be, it will remain so.

The coyote that attacked the yorkshire terrier in the owner's hands is a problem animal that obviously should be dealt with, I have to problem with that. What I do have a problem with is equating a small number of problem animals with the overall population. There is no common sense in that whatsoever.

[hammercarp]

You yourself said fear is the best answer. It most definitely is not. Fear is irrational.. especially in a situation like this. Any coyote that is actually a threat to your pet or child should be dealt with, I absolutely agree with that, but being in fear because of a random incident is ridiculous. There is absolutely no common sense to conclude that coyotes are now going to attack small pets and children all of the time with the owners right there. Most coyote are still afraid of humans and if we don't give them a reason not to be, it will remain so.

The coyote that attacked the yorkshire terrier in the owner's hands is a problem animal that obviously should be dealt with, I have to problem with that. What I do have a problem with is equating a small number of problem animals with the overall population. There is no common sense in that whatsoever.

I am sorry if I was not as clear as I should have been. I believe we should make the coyote fear us not us fear the coyote. You can help this along by killing the bold ones . By removing them from the population you take their genes out of the pool and they can't teach other coyotes to be bold. The bold coyotes will make more bold coyotes. I bet you right now that there are people in The Beaches in Toronto secretly feeding the coyotes because they feel the poor creatures have been forced out of their natural habitat. What a joke.

[trfish]

Ok, but this has already been agreed on. When a coyote does something that bold then it should be dealt with. That much has been determined. However, I think that this issue has become an overreaction. Besides killing the random problem animal there is little else to do besides the things pointed out as precautionary measures.

[Dan Andrews]

Animal control has stated that there is nothing they can do.

2 coyotes attacked the Yorkie

I believe people in the park are feeding all the wildlife. That can't be stopped. I wish it could. People don't realize that feeding the deer in their backyards means they have to cross that busy road to get there and back. Coyotes will get executed and wild turkeys will get poached

[Dan Andrews]

Rural coyotes old news

Posted By PAUL MORDEN, THE OBSERVER

Posted 1 day ago

Coyotes may be a new problem in Sarnia but they're old hat in rural Lambton County.

Sheep and other livestock producers have long been dealing with the threat coyotes pose to their animals, and Bill Duffield, who raises sheep in Plympton-Wyoming, believes Queen's Park could be doing more to help.

"Down in Brigden area I know some people have been losing some sheep to coyotes," Duffield said.

"I haven't seen any, but I hear them."

The threat from coyotes is a ongoing issue for livestock producers, according to the former president of the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency district that includes Lambton County.

Duffield said it would help farmers if Ontario matched the action of other provinces that pay trappers to control coyote populations.

"It keeps the numbers quite low."

He added Ontario also doesn't allow some type of traps and snares used successfully in other provinces.

Not all coyotes attack livestock, Duffield said.

Many are more likely to go after rabbits, groundhogs and squirrels, when there are plenty of smaller animals around, he said.

"If you can use those traps and snares," Duffield said, "you actually get the coyotes that are causing the problems."

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But, he said, lobbying by animal rights groups has convinced Ontario's government to not allow the more effective forms of trapping.

Livestock producers are also worried about recent provincial legislation making it illegal to allow animals to fight other animals.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is calling on Ontario's Attorney General to confirm the provision doesn't apply to dogs that guard sheep herds.

Duffield said he supports protecting animals from cruelty, but added, "You've got to be realistic about these things."

Duffield said that on top of those issues, the amount of financial compensation offered in Ontario when livestock farmers do lose an animal to a predator, like a coyote, is 20 years out of date.

"These coyotes are even pulling down young calves," he said.

But, Duffield said, getting the provincial government to listen to the concerns of livestock producers can be a challenge. Farmers make up a very small portion of the population these days, he said.

"You're going to go with the other 98 per cent," Duffield said, "which is city people."

Coyote troubles in both Sarnia and the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto have been in the news lately.

Suggestions that the Beaches coyote be caught and relocated outside of the city generated a concerned response from Bette Jean Crews, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

"Urban residents cannot simply dump their problem on rural and agricultural Ontario by releasing trapped coyotes," Crews stated recently.

She added urban communities should deal with their coyote problems themselves, just like rural Ontario residents do.

"Welcome to our world," she stated.

The federation recently released recommendations for action on predators, including coyotes.

Those recommendations include offering training to farmers on how to catch predators, funding for research into new fencing technology and improved compensation for livestock losses due to predators.

The federation says predators are a reason why Ontario's domestic sheep industry currently supplies less than half of the province's growing demand for lamb.

A 2006 farm census found there were about 5,000 sheep and lambs in Lambton County, according to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Article ID# 1526193

[Dan Andrews]

http://www.forterietimes.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1518529

Town gathers experts to have discussion on coyotes

Posted By Kris Dubé

Posted 6 days ago

People simply need to be more careful, because coyotes are here to stay.

On Wednesday, the Town of Fort Erie held a roundtable discussion with several experts on the specific species, which has been receiving a lot of attention locally after three residents' dogs were killed two weekends ago.

At the meeting, the Fort Erie SPCA was represented, along with two members of council, the Niagara Regional Police, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and a handful of others.

According to provincial law, coyotes can be hunted all-year round but must be done so by someone with a hunting license, or by a registered trapper bound by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. Homeowners with their own hunting license can shoot them but it has to be in defense of property.

The general consensus around the table was that the public needs to be more aware of precautionary measures that need to be taken, to prevent coyotes from coming onto urban properties in search of food.

The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) provided everyone at the meeting a list of things residents should do to. Securing your garbage to minimize attractants to your property, putting up fencing or using deterrents like motion-activated sprinkler systems are all included in the list of suggestions.

One measure everyone strongly agreed on is that people should not leave food out for any wild animals, because the more they are fed, the more comfortable they become in that area.

Lesley Sampson, of Coyote Watch Canada says when people become more educated, tragic incidents like what happened locally recently can be prevented.

"We need to provide this information so people know what to expect," said Sampson.

Randy Norris has been hunting coyotes for over 20 years and has noticed a trend over the last ten years. More coyotes are traveling in larger packs instead of one or two on their own. He attributes this to their habitat getting smaller, and are therefore living amongst each other and being more social with outside packs.

"They've adapted and they've become a different animal now," said Norris

Stewart Frerotte, of the Ontario Fur Managers Association has been hunting coyotes for 40 years in Fort Erie. He agrees with Norris, saying people need to realize coyotes will only get more comfortable with their urban surroundings if they continue to find sources of food.

"Once they've become used to eating human food, they're going to continue.”

According to the document provided by the MNR, changes in land use, agricultural practices, weather and natural food shortages can be attributed to coyotes being spotted in residential areas.

“When natural food sources such as mice, voles or rabbits are scarce, coyotes will travel great distances in search of food,” reads the document.

For more information visit the MNR at www.mnr.gov.on.ca. where you will find a list of facts about coyotes and, what to do when encountering a coyote, and other topics relating to the species.

The Town will likely be working on ways of raising awareness in the community after the information session was held on Wednesday.

Article ID# 1518529

[Dan Andrews]

Coyote attack in Niagara County

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities still don't know what prompted a coyote to attack a man in Niagara County this week, but it wasn't rabies.

The coyote was shot and killed by a police officer in North Tonawanda late Wednesday night after it bit a man walking by the side of the road.

The coyote attack was the third in three weeks in the Western New York town. Police don't know whether the same animal was to blame.

Health officials now say tests on the coyote's brain turned up no sign of rabies, which can cause animals to act aggressively.

Authorities say the coyote also took a run at police and was trying to climb the side of a patrol car when it was shot.

[Dan Andrews]

A 13-year-old girl let out terrifying "death screams" as a coyote attacked her in the front yard of her Canmore home, leaving 15-centimetre welts where the animal's teeth grazed her skin through clothes.

Sarah Dube was playing alone on Sunday, making shapes in the snow just minutes after her friends had been called home.

"I felt a pinch at my hip and that's the first I knew," she said, noting the coyote left bite holes in her jacket.

"I got up and started screaming and chased it onto the road."

Dube is one of three children attacked by coyotes in Canmore during the past week -- the only three coyote attacks reported in Alberta this year.

The attacks are the first in the mountain town, Canmore residents say.

Two other children -- aged four and 10 -- were taken to hospital just three days after Dube was attacked. A coyote stalked and then attacked them at the community's annual Skate with Santa event, where about 200 people were gathered at the Pond in downtown Canmore.

Neither child was injured on Wednesday aside from red marks and bruising, but the rare and alarming attacks have left Canmore parents on guard.

Dube's mother, Loretta Shortt, said she was shocked and upset initially and would never forget her daughter's screams, which she heard through an open window.

"As a mother, you sure know the death scream. She was terrified," Shortt, who lives in Canmore's Larch area, said.

"She won't go outside (now) unless someone is with her and it's daylight."

But Shortt is philosophical about Canmore's coyote problem, accepting the area "is their turf" and adding it's the first time she's had a problem with a coyote in seven years living in the area.

For her part, Dube says that although she no longer feels comfortable playing outside alone, she is otherwise "OK."

On Thursday night around 9 p.m., Fish and Wildlife officers in Canmore shot a coyote that was behaving strangely -- approaching an officer. On Friday, they reopened to skaters the pond where the two children were attacked.

"We confirmed there was no animal in the immediate location of the pond and are comfortable reopening for safety purposes," wildlife officer Ron Wiebe said.

Officers are not sure the coyote they killed is the same animal that attacked the children, but say it is "possible." A second coyote was also shot and killed by wildlife officers on Tuesday.

Wiebe said he believed the animal or animals involved were unusually aggressive, but could not say why, pointing out attacks are rare.

Officers have also stepped up patrols around the town, where coyote numbers have grown after several warm winters.

Canmore resident Karen Skinner, who chased away the coyote that attacked the four-year-old, said the coyote was baiting other kids toward it -- approaching at least four and lunging -- before it attacked the small boy.

Skinner ran toward the coyote after her son Justin alerted her it was lurking at the edge of the party.

"If the coyote had been able to pull that child farther away, it could have done serious damage," she said.

Skinner said she tried to spook the coyote and chase it away, but instead the animal lunged and attacked the small boy.

"The animal was tugging at the child and the little boy thankfully covered his head with his arms," said Skinner.

"It was frightening."

pbeauchamp@theherald.canwest.com

[Dan Andrews]

Don't think kids are at risk?

[AwolRJ]

I'm more worried about people harming my kids then coyotes or any other animal. How many kids are bit by a coyote compare to kidnapped or worse? I grew up in the country with Bears, Coyotes, Linx and all kinds of animals and was only lucky to see any of them a handful of times. I have seen a lot of coyotes even killed one when I was a kid. It's the people not the animals. 50 yrs ago I bet everyone had a gun and the coyotes that did this sorta thing were shot b4 they could get so brave to bite people. Now you got people feeding them, less land for them to roam and very few people hunt or have a gun, so the coyotes are getting real brave. I blame the tree huggers and the gun registry!

[FishyWishy]

Does the MNR or any other group have a census on the number of coyote in the province or by WMU, County, Town etc?

Determining this and determining a quota to be culled, hunted etc. Should be the first step in creating an animal control program.

I have seen them on the hydro line behind my house in NF and I hear them a lot at night. I bet if they attack a patron at Thundering Waters they will get some attention.