Originally Posted by keith
Originally Posted by GLS
And sometimes that isn't enough. The book, Coyotes of the South, reported that game biologists conducted a study at the Savannah River Plant (known locally as the "bomb plant") wherein intervaginal transmitters were inserted into pregnant does so that biologists could home in quickly to the site of birth to determine fawn survival at birth. There were extensive losses due to coyotes as established by DNA analysis on the fawn remains. Over 500 coyotes were removed from the area of study. After the removal, the rate of fawn predation pretty much remained the same as other coyotes quickly moved into the area.

50 years ago, hunters in the western states were killing and poisoning coyotes. And eastern and southern hunters weren't even having this conversation. In addition, avian predator numbers were still relatively low due to decades of trapping, shooting, and even States paying bounties to keep them under control.

The bounties on hawks and owls stopped before I was old enough to hunt. Trapping declined greatly too, for various reasons. And watching the spread of the Eastern Coyote leaves me convinced that they all did not move east and South naturally. Call me a conspiracy nut, but the big explosion in coyote population came as the number of deer/vehicle collisions got really bad. I truly believe that either Game Commissions or Insurance companies, or both, embarked on introducing coyotes to control deer reproduction by decreasing fawn mortality due to predation. There is even evidence that they are hybridized with wolves. One mangy coyote I shot a few years ago in my field was just shy of 5 feet long from nose to tail. My friends who formed a local coyote hunting club have shown me pictures of coyotes that are large enough to kill most hunting dogs.

We have seen that an established coyote population is very efficient at killing fawns. Problem is, they are also very efficient at killing everything else from mice, to game birds, to rabbits, and even smaller predators such as fox and feral cats..

This wouldn't be the first time well meaning biologists have introduced an invasive species, and the experiment went wrong. You will never get them to admit this either. I will try to do my part by putting a bullet in every coyote I possibly can. But our best hope is for some virus or disease that kills coyotes, but not our dogs. Hawks are another problem. There are enough of them that I have no problem with those who shoot, shovel, and shut-up. They are not endangered, but our Game birds are barely hanging on, even with supplemental stocking.

Keith, up here there is a ton of DNA evidence confirming coyote/wolf crosses. No one is theorizing about the possibility. In fact, IIRC there was an instance of a woman being killed by a coyote (guessing 5-8 years ago) in Newfoundland. DNA testing of the carcass confirmed it was a hybrid.


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