50 years ago, small towns and farms were what one would see in putnam county, ny...lots of grouse, cotton tails and stocked pheasants...then the turkeys showed up...and then came the coyotes
What do you make of that, professor? There were lots of grouse there and no coyotes.
I think the Nutty Professor will be in typical denial about what Ed says. He will never admit that Ed is much smarter and more observant than him.
There's a chance that there might have been a small population of coyotes in Putnam County 50 years ago, but not yet well established or a real threat to small game.
It appears that most eastern coyotes probably first appeared in Northeast Pennsylvania in the 1960's, and they migrated there from Canada and then upstate New York. It seems likely that the Eastern Coyote is a hybrid sub-species that resulted from cross-breeding with Gray Wolves in Canada. They are generally larger than western coyotes. One mangy male I shot a few years ago measured 56 inches from nose to tail. Many are larger. From northeast Penna., they gradually migrated south and west. I never saw any sign of coyotes in several Central Penna. counties while I went to Penn State, but they are certainly there now. I never saw or heard any sign of them in Northwest Penna. until the early 1990's. Prior to that, we had a pretty good population of ruffed grouse and turkeys too. Soon after I saw their tracks and began hearing them howl at night, I also began finding piles of grouse and turkey feathers and bones, along with coyote tracks. And it didn't take long until there was a very noticeable decline in numbers of birds, cottontail rabbits, and other small game animals. Cottontails are prolific breeders, and used to be seen everywhere. I ate a lot of rabbit stew when I was in school and money was tight. Now you can go weeks without even seeing one. Coyotes undoubtedly contributed to the failed efforts to re-establish ringneck pheasants, so they are very rarely seen except where they have been stocked.
There was no shortage of similar reports and complaints from other hunters. Ed's observations are accurate, and reflect those of most Pennsylvania hunters. I know some guys who enjoy hunting coyotes with hounds, but nobody else is happy to have them. Personally, I believe that grouse co-existed with wild turkeys much better than they do with coyotes, because when turkey numbers really exploded in areas where I hunt, there were still good numbers of grouse. But we know that turkeys do compete with grouse for food, and that they are nest predators that will eat game bird eggs. However, the arrival of coyotes put a hurt on turkeys too. Human population in Pennsylvania has only increased by about 1 1/2 million people since the 1960's, and most of that growth has been in urban areas. So habitat loss in rural areas is not nearly as bad as in many other states.
