Coyote Attack In My Neighborhood

beauregaardhooligan · 02-15-2008, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud

what competition for food did we kill off? wolves, maybe?

That is correct, also panthers/mountain lions/cougars. Wolverines, badgers, fischers, mink, weasels, and birds of prey also compete with coyotes and have all been practically exterminated so that coyotes can become dominant.
As far as cats go, as a member of Audobon I am very aware of the fact that cats, both feral and domestic, are decimating the birds. The thing about domestic cats that is particularly aggravating is that most hunt and kill because they like to, not because they need something to eat.

TheMercenary · 02-15-2008, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beauregaardhooligan

That is correct, also panthers/mountain lions/cougars. Wolverines, badgers, fischers, mink, weasels, and birds of prey also compete with coyotes and have all been practically exterminated so that coyotes can become dominant.

So you are saying that those animals were exterminated "so that coyotes can become dominant." That sounds a bit purposeful, so I don't buy it. They may have been killed and an incidental event was the proliferation of the coyote in those areas where certain animals lived as all the animals you listed do not have as wide a range as the coyote. Who knows? Maybe the coyote is more like a roach, adaptable and reproductive.

beauregaardhooligan · 02-15-2008, 02:36 PM

Bad choice of words on my part Merc, but the result was the same.
We didn't intentionally kill the other predators so coyotes could become dominant, just as we didn't intentionally poison bald-headed eagles with DDT while trying to kill mosquitos. The end result is the same.
Killing off wolves and cougars *may* have protected some kids and livestock, but it has allowed deer populations to explode to the point where you can't drive down the road without hitting one, or plant a garden without them eating everything. Deer are starving because there are so many of them and not enough predators to keep their population down.
*It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!*

02-15-2008, 02:36 PM	#3
beauregaardhooligan Elite Elitist Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 323	Bad choice of words on my part Merc, but the result was the same. We didn't intentionally kill the other predators so coyotes could become dominant, just as we didn't intentionally poison bald-headed eagles with DDT while trying to kill mosquitos. The end result is the same. Killing off wolves and cougars may have protected some kids and livestock, but it has allowed deer populations to explode to the point where you can't drive down the road without hitting one, or plant a garden without them eating everything. Deer are starving because there are so many of them and not enough predators to keep their population down. It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!

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