Why are coyote populations difficult to control?

Date: August 31, 2017

Source: Wiley

Summary:

Conventional wisdom suggests that coyote control efforts actually result in an increase in the number of coyotes due to increasing litter sizes and pregnancy rates among individuals that survive. New research published in the Journal of Wildlife Management demonstrates that while litter size and pregnancy rates tend to increase somewhat after heavy trapping pressure, overall reproductive capacity of the population declines.

Continued 

Hey, that's my cappuccino! Coyote captured outside lower Manhattan cafe

April 25, 2015 2:44 PM

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A coyote is shown after being captured by the New York City Police Department in New York April 25, 2015. …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Police captured a young, female coyote outside a cafe in a residential area of lower Manhattan on Saturday, the latest in a series of coyote sightings in New York City, where an increasing number of the predators are making their home.

An emergency operator fielded a 911 call early Saturday morning reporting a coyote sighting at North Cove Marina near Battery Park City, said Detective Annette Markowski, spokeswoman for the New York Police Department.

Armed with a tranquilizer gun, officers spent an hour trying to corner the animal near a cafe with an outdoor seating area. Eventually they "contained, darted and secured" the animal, police said. It was placed in a cage and transported in a police cruiser to Manhattan Animal Care and Control for examination.

Continued ...

Coyote on the loose after police hunt in New York's Upper West Side

Wily canine evades police helicopter as experts warn feral populations set to expand across America's urban areas

By Our Foreign Staff

12:17PM BST 24 Apr 2015

A large, feral coyote is roaming the streets of New York's Upper West Side, evading police hunts and causing fear among the affluent neighbourhood's residents.

Wily Coyote Photo: NYPD

The animal was first spotted in Manhattan on Wednesday. Taking no chances, police dispatched a helicopter to track it down, but had to give up after three hours when the wily canine took refuge in the thick foliage of Riverside Park.

"The coyote is deeply nestled in the brush," the NYPD tweeted. "Operations have concluded."

“It’s real big,” an officer told the Daily News. “It’s a pretty good-sized coyote.”

It remains at large, and was spotted again on Thursday morning. Reports on Twitter suggested the animal had wandered as far south as 60th Street.

Continued ...

Coyote Shot For 'Sport' and Killed By Dogs | Graphic Video

http://www.livescience.com/46313-coyote-shot-for-sport-and-killed-by-dogs-graphic-video.html

Urban Coyotes Never Stray: New Study Finds 100 Percent Monogamy

ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2012) — Coyotes living in cities don't ever stray from their mates, and stay with each other till death do them part, according to a new study.

The finding sheds light on why the North American cousin of the dog and wolf, which is originally native to deserts and plains, is thriving today in urban areas.

Scientists with Ohio State University who genetically sampled 236 coyotes in the Chicago area over a six-year period found no evidence of polygamy -- of the animals having more than one mate -- nor of one mate ever leaving another while the other was still alive.

This was even though the coyotes exist in high population densities and have plenty of food to eat, which are conditions that often lead other dog family members, such as some fox species, to stray from their normal monogamy.

To cat around, as it were.

Continued: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120925142549.htm

Cat mutilations likely work of coyote: BCSPCA

The culprit responsible for a spate of mutilated cats in suburban Vancouver is more natural than evil, says an internationally-known forensic veterinarian who has looked into the case.

After months of speculation, the B.C. Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced Friday they believe the killer of the cats is another animal, likely coyotes.

It was feared the grisly remains were the work of a disturbed human.

Melinda Merck, who has worked on a similar case of cat mutilations in Florida and also helped out in the investigation of the massacre of sled dogs in Whistler, conducted necropsies on 40 animals — 20 cats, eight birds, one rabbit and a dog leg.

“A lot of the findings that we see with predation are different than what we might see with human involvement as far as mutilation,” said Merck.

“The findings depend on the type of predator, it can be a domestic dog or it can be a more of a wildlife predator.”

Some of the cats were found in two pieces, as if sawed in half, but Merck said it would not be difficult for a coyote to perform the damage.

The SPCA has closed the book on the case, but the RCMP still thinks human involvement may explain why some of the cats ended up in strange places, such as under a missing cat poster.

“From a policing perspective our files aren’t closed at this point,” said RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen. “There’s a few outstanding incidents where there could quite possibly have been and quite likely was some post death-human involvement in regards to how and where the remains were found.”

Continued:  http://www.theprovince.com/news/mutilations+work+wild+predator+SPCA/6789192/story.html

Wolf shot on Newfoundland and New Brunswick canid confirmed as a wolf

Wolf probably crossed sea ice from Labrador
May 2012. DNA tests have confirmed that a hunter shot a wolf of Newfoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula in March. The hunter was shooting coyotes but realised, after shooting the animal, that it was too large to be a coyote.

New Brunswick wolf
DNA tests have also shown that another wolf was shot in April in New Brunswick, the first seen there for 150 years. Again the hunter was shooting coyotes and only realised after the event that the animal was very large for a coyote.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/newfoundland-wolf.html

Was canid shot in New Brunswick first wolf for 150 years?

Wolf in New Brunswick?

April 2012. On April 6th a licensed varmint hunter in New Brunswick, in Caraquet, ‘harvested' (Why do they always use these euphemisms? They mean shot) what he believed to be a large coyote. The animal weighed 66-88 pounds. Due to the relatively large size of the animal, there is some speculation that it may be something other than an eastern coyote. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has collected a piece of tissue from the animal for DNA analysis to determine its species genetic profile, the results should be available in 4 months.

Background
The eastern coyote colonized eastern North America in the 1950's, a result of a natural expansion of its original range from the mid-west. During the eastern movement coyotes interacted with both red and grey wolves and interbreeding occurred. Analysis of DNA from eastern coyotes in 1992 indicates that wolf DNA is common throughout the eastern coyote populations, suggesting that hybridization between wolf and coyote was widespread as the coyote moved eastward. This would explain why eastern coyote subspecies are significantly larger and heavier than western coyote subspecies.

It has been speculated that this animal may have either captive or domestic origins, or in other words, it may have been intentionally held captive and/or be the result of intentional hybrid breeding between a dog and a wolf..

Coyote hunting - Only allowed 51 weeks of the year
In Canada, varmint hunting season for coyotes runs from March 1st until September 20th. The coyote may also be hunted as a small game animal from October 1st to the end of February, and trapped as a furbearer from October until March. There is no bag limit for this species.

The last recorded export of a wolf pelt from New Brunswick (origin unknown) occurred in 1921, although it is expected that the wolf was extirpated (locally extinct) from the province by 1860. There are currently not any known populations of wolves east of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/brunswick-canid.html

Urban coyote’s feasting on cats

Studies show outdoor cats are popular prey for coyotes
March 2012. American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the leading bird conservation organization in the United States, advises that as coyotes continue to move into and around large cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Los Angeles, and others, owners of cats should think twice before letting their pet roam free outdoors. Studies show that outdoor cats make up 13-45 percent of coyote diets in those environments.

A study just published in the spring edition of The Wildlife Professional, focuses on the urban coyote reality and references sightings of the carnivore in Central Park and Manhattan. While coyote attacks on humans are rare, the study says that when human attacks have occurred, "...there is a correlation between high percentages of anthropogenic food sources - such as dog food, trash, and domestic cats." It states further that reducing such incidents might require removing all exterior food sources, including cats.

According to one widely-cited scientific study on cat mortality from coyotes, Observations of Coyote-Cat Interactions by Shannon Grubbs of the University of Arizona and Paul Krausman of the University of Montana, coyotes regularly feed on cats. This study was published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, and chronicles researchers tracking coyotes in Tucson, Arizona, where 36 coyote-cat interactions were observed of which 19 resulted in coyotes killing cats.

13 - 42% of meals were cats
Other studies have found that approximately 13% of a coyote's diet consists of cats. However, in the Grubbs-Krausman study, of the 45 instances where coyotes were observed feeding, 42% of the meals were cats. The researchers concluded that any cat outside is vulnerable to coyote attack, and recommended that cat owners keep their cats indoors.

Trap, Neuter, Release
This finding raises questions about Trap, Neuter, Release programs (TNR), where feral cats are caught, neutered, and then released back into the wild. ABC has consistently raised concerns about TNR programs because these cats kill hundreds of millions of birds each year, and also because TNR programs do not provide a humane solution for the cats themselves.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/coyote-cat.html

Coyote runs into home near Battle Ground .

BATTLE GROUND -- William Biscoe and his wife were startled out of bed Monday morning by what they thought was a dog in their house.

The dog turned out to be a coyote that had chased their cat into their home, located in a heavily forested area on Berlin Road.

Read on

Researchers Say Bear Was Killed By Coyote Bite

May 31, 2011 5:25 PM

ELY, Minn. (WCCO) – Researchers in Ely said Tuesday they have figured out what caused Lily’s black bear cub to die.

Bear Researcher Dr. Lynn Rogers said he believes a coyote pulled the cub from a tree by its leg and bit it on the head.

“About the time he would be screaming in pain from that, Lily would come running back just in time to save him from the bite to the head, which was just minimal, but enough to puncture that thin little skull,” Rogers said. “So he died from a brain infection from that, four days later.”

The birth of Lily’s cub, known as Jason, was captured by a live webcam over the winter.

Rogers said Lily, her daughter Hope and the remaining twin cub Faith are now browsing the spring greens in the woods.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/05/31/researchers-say-bear-was-killed-by-coyote-bite/

Coyote, black Lab form unlikely partnership in Duluth

A black Lab and coyote have been seen together near
Orange Street in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood.
This photo was taken in 2008. (Photo by Steve Owen)

Published March 26, 2011, 12:05 AM

People in the Piedmont Heights area of Duluth assert that a black Labrador retriever is living a wild life in the woods. And that’s only the half of it. The other half is that the canine has formed a relationship with a coyote.

By: Lisa Baumann, Duluth News Tribune

People in the Piedmont Heights area started talking after the News Tribune reported last month about a black Lab taking down a deer in someone’s driveway.

Sue Hansen, owner of Hansen’s Auto Service on Trinity Road, said she saw the article and couldn’t wait to speak with customer Andrew Frielund when he came into the store.

“I asked why he didn’t write (a letter to the editor) explaining about that black Lab,” she said with a laugh. “He said he didn’t want people to think he was nuts.”

They assert that a black Labrador retriever is living a wild life in the woods. And that’s only the half of it. The other half is that the canine has formed a relationship with a coyote.

“Don’t laugh, because seriously, they exist,” Hansen said. “They were outside on the wood line of my house tearing up a deer about two months ago.”

“They are well-documented in the area,” Frielund added.

He’s seen them twice together in the woods near the antenna farm by Orange Street. He also has seen what he believes could be their offspring — an animal he calls “the creature.”

Bunter Knowles, who lives on Orange Street near the famed ice volcano, has seen the pair several times in the past few years.

In fact, he’s seen them out his window, the coyote sleeping while the Lab stands sentinel.

“There’s no question there’s been a pair of a coyote and a black Lab traveling together. … I’ve seen them 30 yards away with binoculars,” he said. “It’s quite a funny pairing.”

When asked about it Friday, Martha Minchak, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources assistant area wildlife manager in Duluth, said she wasn’t buying it.

“There wouldn’t be a Lab and coyote running around together,” she said.

And then she saw the photos taken by Steve Owen in 2008. He was able to sneak up on the pair as they were lounging in the backyard of his mother’s house at 2328 Springvale St.

“So, I stand corrected and obviously (the dog and coyote) haven’t read the behavior books!” Minchak wrote in an e-mail. “I have no real explanation other than the coyote must have been rejected from its pack for some reason and has obviously taken up with the Lab. It seems like it’s been a successful strategy for both of them if they are catching deer.”

She also said it was possible for the two to breed.

Owen said Friday he knows the Lab is alive and well because he last saw it on Monday.

“He was lying in the grass, sunning himself,” he said. “I didn’t see any coyotes with him.”

Owen said he doesn’t believe the Lab has a human home to visit.

“He was skittish enough the day I took their pictures,” he said. “As soon as the coyote and dog saw me, they went away. It wasn’t like he wanted to come down and look for a treat.”

With an abundance of deer in the city, Minchak also speculated that the dog was on its own — except for the coyote.

“It’s more like the Lab has gone over to the coyote side,” she said.

No one interviewed said they’d experienced any aggressive behavior from either animal, and Duluth animal control officer Carrie Lane said no one has ever reported the animals to her office, whether as a nuisance or a curiousity.

Knowles said he’s been out in the woods nearly every day snowshoeing and although he thinks he hears the Lab bark at his dog, they never approach him.

“I haven’t seen any damage by them so I wouldn’t have any recommendation to make to interfere,” Knowles said. “It’s something that’s unusual … but it’s not as if I’d try to break up a mixed marriage.”

Minchak concurred.

“Before I would have said (the two together are) something from Walt Disney movies, but now I guess I’d say it’s a classic odd-couple pairing,” she said.

She said she’d leave them alone because she didn’t think anyone would be able to rehabilitate the dog.

For her part, Hansen isn’t so sure.

“I don’t like domestic dogs that have gone wild,” she said. “I haven’t walked in my woods since then. It makes me a lot more nervous in that area than I’ve ever been.”

Do you have any pictures?

Send your photos of the black Lab-coyote pair to news@duluthnews.com.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/194848/

Coyotes sighted near Manitoba school

Last Updated: Friday, January 28, 2011 | 12:23 PM CST

A coyote sighting near a rural Manitoba school prompted staff to keep kids inside on Thursday.

Officials with the Rural Municipality of St. Francois Xavier called to warn administrators at St. Francois Xavier Community School that some of the animals were seen in the area.

Staff kept an eye out for the animals but didn't see any during the morning, so the kids were allowed to go outside for recess.

But the principal spotted two coyotes in a field near the school grounds in the afternoon, leading to a cancellation of the afternoon recess, said Bruce Wood, superintendent of Prairie Rose School Division.

Although coyotes are typically shy around people, "any wild animal is unpredictable and we certainly don't want any kind of an incident with children," he said, noting that is the first time a coyote has been that close to the school.

Wood said there have been no further sightings since then, and the municipality's pest control officer is on alert.

The school also sent a note home about the incident.

Parent Theresa Montgomery applauded the school's decision to keep the students inside, but said coyotes aren't uncommon in the area.

"It's just one of the facts of living in a rural area," she said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2011/01/28/mb-coyotes-children-school-manitoba.html

Stranded Coyote Rescued

It's Christmas time, it's freezing, and transport is proving to be anabsolute nightmare. What you need it a cute story about an animal in the snow. And guess what? We have one right here. It involves a coyote (not the cutest of beasties, admittedly, and WileE. hasn't helped their PR much) and a small chunk of ice on Lake Michigan.

Stranded on the slice of solid water, it was noticed by passers-by,who swiftly called up rescue teams to save the poor furry bugger – and even attracted the attention of helicopter news crews, who recorded his eventual saviours picking him up from a boat.

At one point the coyote – which locals called "Holly" – tried to save himself by swimming out in the ice-cold water, only to realise the error of his ways and haul himself up onto another chunk of ice soonafter. Since his rescue, he's been given a full clean bill of health by a veterinarian. Wonderful stuff... now if only we could get home on time – and without slipping over. Now that would be a Christmas miracle. Read more: http://www.asylum.co.uk/2010/12/20/coyote-block-of-ice-lake-michigan-rescue/#ixzz18jVpYcNG

The 8-legged Monster Behind Chupacabra Mystery

Sightings abound of a four-legged, hairless, fanged monster that kills and sucks the blood, and sometimes milk, from livestock in the United States and Latin America. Its name chupacabra literally means "goat sucker."


There is, in fact, a real monster behind the sightings, but it has eight legs, measures at most 0.02 inches (0.5 millimeters) long and burrows into skin, rather than sucking blood. Its name: Sarcoptes scabiei, the mite that causes scabies in humans ... and coyotes.

The chupacabras themselves are actually coyotes with severe infections by these mites, called sarcoptic mange, according to Barry OConnor , an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan.

Infections in humans are usually mild, causing patches of itchy skin. Over our long evolutionary history with the mite, we have gained the ability to fight off the infections. Domesticated dogs and other animals have less experience with the mite than we do, and for them sarcoptic mange infections can be severe. But the prospects are much worse for their wild relatives who have no experience with the disease, and it often kills them, he said.

"To me, the most interesting aspect of this whole system is the fact we are talking about a human parasite that has moved from us onto other animals, as opposed to all the things that have gone in the other direction," OConnor told LiveScience.

Reports of chupacabras began in Puerto Rico in 1995, where the creature was said to stand on two legs and have spines on its back. Sightings spread, with reports of the creature being spotted elsewhere, particularly Mexico, where it was described as a four-legged animal, but still hairless and ugly. People began taking pictures, which, according to OConnor, revealed the truth.

"The photos clearly show coyotes or dogs with very severe sarcoptic mange," he said.

The mites burrow into the animals' skin causing them to lose their hair and provoking an immune response that causes their skin to become thickened and ugly. Their faces swell, and their canine teeth become more prominent, resembling fangs. Weakened by the infection, they may be more prone to attack livestock, rather than their usual prey, such as rabbits, he said.

There is evidence for other sources as well. A strange, hairless carcass found on a golf course in Texas was dubbed a chupacabra. But a wildlife biologist examination revealed a close resemblance to a raccoon. The creature also apparently suffered from several diseases that can cause hair loss.


By Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer

Strange animal found in Longview Chupacabra? (via Chad Arment)

By Bob Hallmark
LONGVIEW, TX (KLTV) - An East Texas family says they had no choice but to open fire when a 35-pound, canine-like animal started snarling and snapping at their family pet.

It was something they had never seen. Their only thought? It must be a Chupacabra.

The creature was spotted near a home on Hunt Road, in a rural area near Pine Tree.

They first saw it fighting with the family dog, but the Valenzuela family could not identify exactly what they were seeing.

"He snapped at Mohammed (the family dog) - almost got him on his back and Mohammed jumped out of the way a foot and a half almost two feet," said Tony Valenzuela. "It stands like a deer, hisses like a cat, howls like a coyote."

"There's this animal there and it's all bowed up and it's hissing - it's howling," described Teri Valenzuela.

Their explanation?

"I thought it was a Chupacabra," said Tony. "It was going after my dog. I don't know."

The Valenzuelas, like a lot of other families, have lived on their property a long time and they have seen every kind of wildlife there is, but they have never seen anything quite like it. Snarling, it was hairless and wiry, with long canine teeth, and making noises they had never heard before.

"It sent chills down my spine," said Tony. "It made loud hissing sounds. It's crazy."

"I had no idea," said Teri. "I was speechless."

Tony shot the animal after the animal fought with his dog. "I put four rounds into it and it was still alive, and the fifth shot did it," said Tony. "It's all around unusual. I've never seen anything like it."

Wildlife biologists solved the mystery. It is a coyote with severe mange. "It does distort their features and so therefore it's confusing," explained Charlie Muller, a Gregg County wildlife biologist. "Then, you hear of a mythological Chupacabra and you think that, well, maybe this is one of them."

The trusted family Boxer, Mohammed, keeps watch in case there are any more.

"When I come out at night, I'll definitely think twice from now on," said Teri.

The mystery animal's remains will be tested for rabies. The Valenzuela family dog is in quarantine until test results come back.

Muller says mange in coyotes is very common, and they are often reported as strange or unidentified animals.

Coyote lunges at two children, bites father in Rye Brook; another sighting today

By Shawn Cohen • spcohen@lohud.com • September 6, 2010

RYE BROOK — A trapper spotted a coyote alongside Acker Drive at 8:20 this morning, but have been unable to capture it or confirm it was the same one that attacked two youngsters last night — biting a father who was protecting his 2-year-old daughter.

"We're onto some coyote," said Rye Brook police Sgt. Rich Carroll. "We have troopers out looking at him. It could be the one, but we don't have names on their collars."

The first confrontation happened at 6:50 p.m. on Eagles Bluff, where a coyote lunged toward a 14-year-old boy who was playing with other children. The teen struck it in the face and the coyote ran off into the woods, police said. That boy was not injured but did have marks where the coyote made contact with him, police said.

About an hour later on Hillandale Road, a coyote lunged at the 2-year-old who was playing with her 28-year-old father in the driveway.

"The father was able to scare off the coyote but not before the coyote bit him on the back of the leg," police said in a news release.

Father and daughter sought treatment at Greenwich Hospital; the father's injury was superficial and the girl was not injured, though she too had a mark on her skin, police said.

Rye Brook police and trappers responded last night to both areas. Two trappers were out this morning when one of them discovered a coyote in the woods off Acker Drive.

The village developed what it called a "comprehensive tracking program" early last month in response to two attacks. A 6-year-old girl, Emily Hodulik, was attacked June 26 by two of the animals as she played outside her home on LaSalle Avenue in Rye. She was bitten on her shoulder and scratched on her back.

On June 30, a coyote bit 3-year-old Erika Attar on her neck and torso as she played in a backyard on North Street in Rye.

In light of last night's confrontations, the village reminded people not to leave pet food or trash outside and said small children and pets should not be outside unattended.

Feinstein said the village's latest three-week trapping program was to expire this week. "Given the incidents, we'll re-examine that," she said.

She said a hazing program, using lights and noise, had been used to make the animals fearful of humans once again.

"So far their behavior had been nonaggressive. Tonight is obviously a different situation, and a very serious situation," she said Sunday

Any coyote sightings in Rye Brook should be reported to local police at 914-937-1020.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20100906/NEWS02/9060329/1018

Chupacabra Alert: 300 Goats Mysteriously Slaughtered in Mexico

(Sept. 2) -- Shepherds in Mexico are up in arms -- or heads, as the case may be -- over a rash of beheadings inflicted on their goats, and many people are blaming the legendary predator known as the chupacabra.

Over the past two months, more than 300 goats owned by shepherds in Mexico's Puebla state have been decapitated by someone, or something, that hasn't yet been tracked down.

According to various reports, Felix Martinez, president of Colonia San Martin, recently stated that nearly 40 goats were killed near his municipality. Strangely, there was reportedly very little evidence of blood in the area where the goat bodies were found -- throwing suspicion on an unknown animal or chupacabra.

The chupacabra falls into the cryptozoological category of cryptids, a term used to describe animals that haven't yet been confirmed by science, like the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.

Chupacabra sightings often emanate from the Southwest U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America and Mexico, and the animal is thought to attack livestock, leaving behind puncture wounds after it drains their blood.

AOL News reported in July that a bizarre-looking animal, allegedly a goat-blood-sucking chupacabra, was shot and killed by Texas Animal Control officer Frank Hackett.

"All I know is, it wasn't normal. It was ugly, real ugly. I'm not going to tell no lie on that one," Hackett told NBC DFW.

Medical researchers have speculated that the purported chupacabras of Texas and Mexico may actually be coyote hybrids, something DNA tests could determine.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, groups of peasants have formed watch groups to monitor any possible chupacabra activity in their communities.

Read more at: ufodigest.com.

See video at: http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/chupacabras-suspected-in-300-goat-beheadings/19616888

(Submitted by Marije Tintin)

Dog killed by a coyote

http://wcco.com/local/coyotes.kill.dog.2.1747130.html

A sharp rise in the number of coyotes roaming the Twin Cities metro has some residents worried because the wild animals feed on small mammals, including pets. Sitting at his computer screen John Ritter clicks through half a dozen vivid photographs.

"One came from up here and the other one came from behind, so she was being circled by coyotes," Ritter explained.

His daughter Shauna recently took the family labs for a walk behind Simley High School where the ball fields adjoin nearby woods and a pond. The area has walking trails that are popular with local pet owners. Besides the dogs she also took along a camera to capture what is becoming an all too common sight -- a pair of coyotes roaming the neighborhood.

"The location of these particular (coyotes) is not good. ... Unfortunately (what we observed) came too late," said Ritter. He is feeling badly because he was unable to warn other dog walkers about his daughter's coyote encounter. Sandy Klimas lives just down the street and has used the same trails to walk the family's dog, but she says, you don't have to go far to see the wild critters in search of a meal. "We had 'em right across the street," said Klimas.

It was an encounter Monday night that has Sandy and her family mourning the loss of the family pet. That's when 4-year-old "Chico" was snatched and killed by a coyote along the trails just behind the high school. "My husband heard a fight and then silence and then another scuffle then silence. (He) found him (Chico) about an hour-and-a-half later -- kept combing the woods and he finally found him," she said.

With plenty of woods and waters throughout the metro, coyotes are finding the perfect habitat in which to survive and thrive. Because coyotes are unprotected by state law, problem animals can be killed by landowners or local police. The problem is that strict firearms and archery ordinances prohibit the discharge of the weapons in metro
communities. If problem animals need to be dispatched, it is up to local police and animal control to do the job, but for officers to spend the required time waiting for the coyotes to appear can be cost prohibitive.

The Department of Natural Resources said controlling coyotes is up to local jurisdictions. The DNR's Steve Merchant urges caution, saying, "They're going to have to be careful of local ordinances that would prevent them from using traps or firearms." But for the Klimas family, any chance of that happening came too late.

"They're not afraid. They are not afraid of humans, so it's tough," said Klimas.

The Minnesota DNR says to avoid problems with coyotes, people should make sure garbage containers are secure and get rid of bird feeders that might attract wild animals. Pets should be kept in kennels and always supervised when outside. To scare off a coyote, shout at it and make loud noises. Finally, don't feed coyotes or leave pet food outside.

Hybrid pet wolves escape and roam parts of Ohio

Hybrid pet wolves escape and roam parts of Ohio
25 March 2010
The Plain Dealer

OUTDOORS
There are wolves living in Ohio, generally hybrid wolves bred and raised here or brought to Ohio by people who want them as pets. In Sandusky County last week, a hunter thought he killed a large coyote, only to discover it was most likely a pet wolf that had probably been running wild for about six months.

Dusty Gore of Bellevue, Ohio, spotted a small pack of what he thought were coyotes while driving past York School near his home on March 15. Coyotes are a problem for rural landowners and farmers, as they kill livestock and pets. The sighting prompted Gore to return home to get his hunting rifle. Gore shot and killed the largest of the animals. Two others ran off. Coyotes seldom grow to more than 50 pounds. This animal was estimated at more than 120 pounds, and looked suspiciously like a wolf.

Sandusky County wildlife officer Brian Bury confirmed it was a wolf, and wildlife officials were sure it was an escaped pet wolf. Even though the animal was genetically close to being a pure wolf and was in prime physical condition, the last truly wild wolf was killed in Ohio in 1842. "This wolf was huge, at least twice the size of a big coyote," said Bury. "I would not want to go face-to-face with a wolf of that size and not be armed."

No one seems prepared to handle domestic wolves should they escape or be released and become wild. Wolves are not managed by the Division of Wildlife. They might be dangerous animals, but they are the responsibility of local dog wardens and law enforcement officials, said Division of Wildlife district game management supervisor Scott Butterworth.

"If an animal like this escapes and is eventually caught or killed, someone usually claims it," said Butterworth. "But if it would maul a kid, it's doubtful anyone would come forward." No one seems to know if these people-raised wolves will be a danger to Ohioans or livestock. So far, there have been no documented attacks. Like elk, exotic deer and other animals not on Ohio's official list of wildlife, they are fair game for hunters, with no seasonal hunting restrictions. In a worst case scenario, like feral pigs, they could breed in the wild and increase in number.
Wildlife officials may have tracked down the original owner of the wolf, but won't reveal the name. "A lady called us after seeing the photo of the wolf in a local newspaper, and identified it as a hybrid wolf she raised and had sold," said Division of Wildlife district law enforcement supervisor Paul Kurfis. That wolf, said Kurfis, had apparently been sold or given to yet another person before it escaped last September.

"I've had at least a half-dozen reports of wolves in a 20-mile area around Sandusky County," said Bury. "People are very irresponsible in getting these animals, then let them loose or allow them to escape when they don't want to continue to care for them.

"From reports I get, the wolves are not afraid of people or very aggressive. People have seen them eating carcasses or carrying a rabbit in their mouth. We have not heard of livestock kills, though one was spotted standing near a chicken coop. They're not malnourished."

Most troubling is that the dead wolf was spotted only a couple of hundred yards away from a school, and two others running with it had escaped. The wolf is now at a local taxidermy studio. It was reportedly 98 percent wolf with a little German shepherd and Alaskan Malamute in its genetic background.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158