coyote problem- poison or trap

[JoB]

erin215

“My *preference* would be rifles or poison.”

i wonder what the coyote equivalent to that statement would be ???

The coyotes have adapted well to human occupation of their territory. Perhaps it’s time that humans did a little adaption themselves.

I was in Tacoma a couple of months ago.. at their big park.. the name escapes me but it’s where the zoo is.. and discovered the overabundance of racoons on the scenic drive.

We.. my two shiba dogs and I… stopped at a lookout and decided not to stay because of a woman who felt her cute little lap dog didn’t need a leash…

as we were pulling out.. a group of raccoons crossed the road in front of us and headed towards the lookout. I stopped so i wouldn’t hit any of them and as we sat there nearly 30 raccoons crossed to the entrance of the lookout.

i looked back and saw that the woman with the dog was standing with other people less than 10 feet away watching the raccoons.. and the tasty little morsel that was her dog was still unleashed and 5 feet closer to the raccoons than she was.

i rolled down my window.. not being stupid enough to step out of the car and expose my ankles to the raccoons surrounding the car.. and hollered that she might want to leash her dog.. that raccoons in packs can be pretty vicious.

She said.. “Oh, i know” and didn’t even call the dog to her side.

I am assuming she got away with her stupidity that day since there was no big news story about a woman and her dog being attacked by raccoons in the news.. but maybe it is such a common occurrence that it wasn’t newsworthy.

BTW.. the shibas, who are extreme predators themselves.. knew enough to keep a low profile with that many raccoons surrounding the car.

You have got to wonder why most humans aren’t that smart.

if you don’t want coyotes in your yard, don’t put food in your yard to entice them.. it really is that simple.

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[KBear]

Erin, coyotes pose very little danger to children and absolutely no danger to house cats that are kept where they belong. I would venture to guess that the thousands of feral cats roaming our neighborhoods are a far greater hazard to children than coyotes. And just because we have wantonly destroyed our natural environment and killed off indigenous wildlife in the past doesn’t mean we should continue to do it.

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[Jiggers]

They just caught and killed a coyote this early morning in Magnolia. Maybe we should do the same in W.S. I guess it’s cheaper to just kill it rather than spend resources and energy in capturing it and relocating it. Or at least they could have given it a tresspassing warning and a second chance.

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[JustSarah]

GenHillOne – I agree. Trap & release it is. How’s Florida sound for the release area? ;-)

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[JoB]

SarahScoot..

they’d just hop a freight home

coyotes are very adaptable creatures:)

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[JustSarah]

JoB – sorry, I was talking about trapping & releasing the cars.

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[KBear]

You remove one car from the road and another one just moves in to take its place.

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[Jiggers]

Erin, are you hot? :)

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[funkietoo]

‘Trap, Remove, and Kill’ is not only inhumane, but a short term solution which does not solve the larger issue. ‘Trap, Remove, and Kill’ will only resolve the immediate problem (wait, what about the lady following the leash law?), and create what is called ‘The Vacuum Effect’. With less coyotes in the area, the ones that are still there will over breed in order to fill up the empty spots. The same thing happens when the ‘Trap, Remove, and Kill’ method is used with any wild/feral animal, e.g., coyote, cats, raccoons, etc. ‘Trap, Remove and Relocate’ will still result in The Vacuum Effect, plus, being a pack animal,not sure how well Coyotes do with relocation.

Seems to me that if there is agreement there are too many coyotes, the WA State Wildlife and Game Department could start a Trap-Neuter-Ear Tip-Return program. Yes…this would cost money up front, but IMO it is the most humane and best,long term solution. Since the now reproductively responsible coyotes are returned to their ‘home’, the others that are still unaltered, will not over breed because there are not ‘empty spots’. Once 70% of a species has been spay/neutered, the population stabilizes. Anything over 70% results in the population declining over time.

PS: Millions of pets are stolen out of people’s yards every year—many of these pets are used for dog fighting bait; laboratories; etc. When you are not outside with your pet, please take steps to keep them safe—like covered, [locked] outdoor cat enclosures and dog kennels.

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[mpento]

I heard about the coyote being trapped and killed in Magnolia :( I don’t have any evidence/information but I suspect this was some kind of revenge killing. I mean what danger are they to people? Probably some ex trophy pet owner who was sufficently annoying or has some political influence demanded that the beast be killed! It was probably velo_nut.

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[Wednesday]

Erin215, I’m curious what summer you think they arrived? It was ’97 when one entered the downtown federal building. Who’d ever thought that really happened. I think the Trap-Neuter-Ear Tip-Return program is the best solution I’ve heard yet. I vote for that! Too bad that wouldn’t work on Raccoons.

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[JanS]

mpento…now you just leave velo-nut out of this..he’s an innocent ;o)

As was stated earlier, there was a small dog that was attacked in Magnolia. He wasn’t killed though. AND – he was off leash and the owner was outside with him and watched as her dog ran up to the coyote. Probably thought it was another dog and decided to go sniff and be friends. Somehow, we have to understand that we have responsibilities…to keep our cats inside, to leash our dogs when outside…to not just let our beloved pets run wild, and then complain when something like this happens. And I do partly agree with you…I think that the Magnolia/Discovery Park area people made a little more noise, so their wheel got the grease.

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