Coyotes

Coyotes

         A coyote yipped last night and then a whole symphony
of cohorts chimed in as the pack chased their prey. The yowling and yipping was
so loud I thought the pack must have been driving something right through my
back yard! This wasn’t so implausible because a few years back a few coyotes
drove a doe right up to my porch in broad daylight, not giving up the chase
until I stepped out and hollered. The doe was winded and not in any shape to
run much longer so she simply lay down in my yard and rested.

         Years ago here in God’s Country (Upper
Michigan) there was a bounty on coyotes because it was assumed they killed deer
(they really do because they are carnivores) and there were hunting groups that
trained dog packs to hunt them. They hunted at different times, sometimes
during a weekend day or a week night. I only went on one or two such hunts and
then only as a spectator because I was a guest and didn’t want to get in the
way. The group hunts bagged a fair number of coyotes and besides the bounty
money the pelts were sold and all the funds were used to maintain the dogs and
other expenses such as vehicle gas.

         Over the years the bounty was removed
and the reasons given varied from coyotes weren’t killing that many deer to the
hunters might mistake a wolf for a coyote, wolves being re-introduced in God’s
Country and protected by “Law”. Coyotes weren’t protected but the hunting of
coyotes dramatically decreased over the years. Trappers took over coyote duty
for the pelt sales and that is about how it is to this day.

         Today there are more deer, more coyotes and more
wolves and there is even a wolf pack just north of my area. I’m not certain
what that means but I don’t think it’s all that great when taken in context.
For instance, the deer are smaller and big racks are fewer. The coyotes are
somewhat bolder and do attack pets like small dogs. I’m not sure about the
wolves but I’ve heard both sides of the story and, here again, the people who
say they know claim wolves don’t kill many deer but I wonder about that since
wolves are top predators and can easily drag down an elk, moose or even a
buffalo (in Yellowstone) under the right circumstances, so why wouldn’t they
dine on fine whitetail venison?

         I have nothing against wolves or
coyotes as a rule but I believe that too much of something can be a bad thing
at times; perhaps this includes these predators and we should use some common
sense in the management of such animals. I wasn’t consulted when the plans to
re-introduce wolves were formulated but I’m certain a lot of experts were so
the wolves were planted. A prime example of predator-prey study is our famous
Isle Royale Park in Lake Superior. Without man’s help a small population of
moose and wolves lived on the main island (Note: There are actually quite a few
smaller islands in the park area) and for years it was assumed that the two
opposites kept each other in check so the number of moose never exceeded a
certain average number as did the wolf population.

         This all changed recently when the
wolves started sickening and dying off (in-breeding?) leaving only two wolves
to hunt the moose. The moose basically had no predators so they rapidly grew in
number, also much to the bewilderment of scientists and wildlife managers who
saw the moose food habitat being decimated by the expanding herd. Once again
man rushed in and decreed that wolves needed to be re-introduced to regain the
previous equilibrium but that won’t help the declining habitat for the moose so
we are still waiting for a permanent solution. The Michigan DNR and other
agencies have decided to slowly release about 20 wolves onto the island over
the next several years to help stabilize the situation.

         I never hunted coyotes and have only
run across a couple in the daytime while I was in the woods but the ones around
my house seem abundant enough so I think that is enough for now. I suppose if a
coyote attacked my dogs or wandered in foaming at the mouth I would definitely
shoot it but I have no plans to hunt them for any other reason.

Chris