Research is one thing but just how many of these predators should be released? And who is responsible for the loss of property that these released animals have caused?

Excellent video! Would you mind if I linked to it?

BTW they are on the move in Hotlanta as well, I have a couple jobs for them this week.

Good post, Mike. I know Stan and of course, everyone knows that Rob Erickson was responsible for the majority of this early study.

It's bad enough that we've never had city coyotes, but how long will it take before we have city wolves? At what point will someone

figure out how to make a trap that will catch as many dollars worth of coyotes/wolves as squirrels? I have personally thrown away

more dollars in coyote jobs than I care to admit. By the way, are you still a Wisconsinite? The last game was sad for Bear's fans.

Yea Paul, I'm still in Wisconsin. And yes, the Bears still suck wind as they always did. I did this shoot because they promised that they would keep it real, and not a walt dizney version of a poor homeless coyotes world. I think they made me look like a rock star! And they also did a pretty good job on the rest of the film.

MChewk, I'm not sure the coyote study is on-going but I do remember how thorough it was. They found out more about urban coyotes than

ever before. I recall in one case something like 90% of the coyote complaints were actually just one very brazen animal. When he

finally got run over, the calls suddenly stopped. Those large tracts of woods in Illinois make for perfect cover.

Paul I just get concerned with the idea that there are coyotes being released... instead of CONTROLLED.

Great video, lots of information to be used. HSUS has taken most of it and is running their direction with it pretty hard. I use some information from it to help me remove coyotes in urban areas.

This is one of the longest running studies (Stan's) ever done on urban coyotes that yielded a wealth of knowledge. Coyotes have
and will continue to live and exploit urban and suburban areas the way skunk and raccoon and opossum do. Studies like this highlight
just how many coyotes can be in an area without but a few causing actual problems.

I've worked with local villages that track their complaints and there when you map them they are generally one or two animals causing problems
while the rest of coyotes area conducting "coyote business" the way they always have.

The general issues we all know are leaving unattended pets outside where they are easy game for any predator. Out here we have as many calls for
hawks and birds of prey taking small dogs and cats as we do for coyotes and I live in a great area for urban and suburban coyotes with river and mountains on both sides of our city.

We have the contingent that believes we should "kill em all" and we have those who believe we should "save them all" the logic lies in the middle and always has. Certain situations will require removal, the bulk do not in the least.

Their long running study is one of the best examples of urban wildlife research ever conducted in the states.

****

Mike, I didn't watch the video with audio yet, just skimmed it and recognize Stan's footage, did you splice yours in or was this a joint effort that he collaborated on with you to produce?

****

How about a couple of scenarios just to make this fun.... (these are calls I've had for urban coyote in my area)

1) Gentleman calls - "I would like to have a coyote removed from my property."

I respond "Okay, tell me a little bit about what you are dealing with and where you live."

He tells me where he lives which is about 100 yards off the Rio Grande and is an area of suburban farms with alfalfa
and irrigation ditches and expensive horse farms.

I say "So what has the coyote been doing that you've seen that concerns you."

Him "Well, when I go out with my dog I notice it looking over here from the neighbors field which is about 100 yards away."

Myself "Has it ever made any gestures toward you or your dog in terms of moving toward you in any aggressive manner?"

Him "Well, no actually it has never come over while I've been out with my dog and I always go out with my dog."

____ So what would you do? A) Setup to go remove the coyote? B) Other?


*****

Next Case - Female caller - "I'd like you to come catch all of the coyotes in my neighborhood"

(lives in a large HOA again in quality habitat for everything from mountain lion to squirrel)

Myself - "what is going on that your concerned with"

Her - "coyote jumped the fence and killed my one and only dog" (a toy poodle)

Myself - "my sympathy for losing the dog, understand how that must make you feel toward the coyote
in your area, do you plan to get another dog?"

Her - "no but I want those *&%* gone from my neighborhood!"

_____ So what do you do? A) Go set traps and catch em all? B) Other?


Last Case - "I just got out of my vehicle coming in from out of state and as my dog was peeing on a tree (shepherd sized dog)
a coyote tore out and grabbed it by a back leg and then as I ran over it ran away. I'd like to see about having them removed."

Again a few questions are asked, I find out she lives in Oklahoma and only comes over here seasonally so her dog isn't on site
normally and this was their first trip over this year.

A few questions with board members of her HOA I find out that someone from the neighboring HOA has been tossing chicken to
the coyote and her pups which live under the culvert that leads into her property. The other thing I find out is that the whole neighborhood
she lives in pretty much have dogs and walk the landscape daily and no one has had a negative interaction of any kind with small or large
dogs that are there all year.

I needed HOA permission to do anything no matter what and they were having a meeting so I went and gave them a coyote talk (powerpoint etc..)
and asked the room of 40+ residents who has seen coyotes while walking or living here? All hands went up.

Who has had a negative interaction with the coyotes meaning felt threatened or they went after your dog? 2 hands (the one with the out of state dog)
go up. Out of you how many have had positive interactions or neutral, meaning you saw coyotes but nothing bad happened you just passed each other.

All hands including the out of state lady went up.

*****

In the end this if you look at canine behavior was ma coyote who lived under the driveway with young pups (weeks old) seeing a foreign canine for the first time marking its territory and went out and nailed it in the tail (not the neck, important detail) and then turned and left. The dog needed a few stitches but was none the worse for wear, the owner of that dog and the HOA decided they would just use education within their HOA to make sure folks weren't feeding them and when a known den site was identified they would as a community make sure everyone knew its location and if need be to haze it into using another area.

The coyote incidentally moved her pups that day and no other incidents have been reported by them.

*****

Everyone I work with knows that I will remove a coyote lethally when the need is there, however though I am a wildlife management company to me that means I look through and understand all of the facts and biology of the situation along with any politics. I make my decisions based on this, not based on thinking I must get out of the truck and kill something to resolve the problem.

I've had a municipal contract with lots of skunk complaints this year, first year for this type of contract. Nearly all of the complaints stem from harborage or food issues (feral cats especially) that can be remedied and the skunk issues cease.

Many people seem to believe you can kill your way out of any situation, the facts are that if the problem still exists in terms of human provided food or shelter, the issue will always recur.

We all know this. I love wildlife, have fished, hunted and trapped since I was old enough to walk with my grandfather and my dad and friends along the way. I didn't open my company to just let the homeowner dictate the result, my job as a professional is to assure that I'm making the right outcome to satisfy the need.

Too many of our callers believe just seeing an animal constitutes a need for removal or "relocation." We have a society that is largely lacking in knowledge of what is just outside their door, they likely know all about bengal tigers and jaguar and african wildlife, but most know jack about what is right there on their little postage stamp and that I believe is part of our job to educate them.

This doesn't mean you can't step in and lethally remove something, happens every day of course all over the country, just saying it doesn't mean that it is always the best and most needed method to resolve the problem.

Ultimately this is a business and an industry and thus the bottom line for most folks is going to be what is the quickest trip from point A to point $ and I understand that need to feed our families and grow our businesses.

Sorry again Mike, way off topic.... and maybe a rant I've stored up for some time...

Justin

Justin, since coyotes are not native to my area I am solidly of the "kill them all" camp with one major caveat, if it were possible. Being a realist I know that a) it is not possible and b) no one would accept the return of red wolves in their place. It is what it is and like it or not we deal with it.
I try to teach the deal with the problem animals and keep the rest of them at bay.

They weren't "releasing" them from outside areas (not bringing them in)... they were catching those that are already there and tagging them for the study.

I've talked with some folks "inside" DNR, and they don't want to thin them out, as they are providing the only goose and feral cat control in the city. Only a few ever become problematic, and guys like Mike and Rob E are then called in to remove them.

I hear you on the non native perspective David. I think the key is always problem animals and problem people. One way or another things can be resolved and of course that is what makes this career interesting. Lots of dynamics, as well as Ron stated, much of the "support" for urban and suburban coyote is assistance with other problem native or non native wildlife.

I deplore feral cats and the folks who call wanting a coyote removed because it ate their cat or one of the ferals they are feeding get a polite but adamant no.

Coyotes are as a species one of the most visible examples of ability to adapt and overcome we have in our wildlife, I will always have respect for them whether I'm needing to remove one or I'm educating people on living along side this Mesocarnivore.

Big part of my career was spent radio tracking them in national forest and ag land complex in MI. Controversial but awesome animal.

Justin has probably heard this before, but this is for the rest of you. We had absolutely no coyotes prior to about 1968. I saw the

first one in our area ( And was promptly told by all the local farmers to "stay out of taverns!" ) Just about a year later, I caught

the first one in our area, in a fox dirthole. Now Justin and I are friends and I am not disrespecting him one bit, but my feelings

about coyotes couldn't differ more. We were told by the DNR "Canine Experts" that coyotes would be a great thing! They would hold

down the deer population. Baloney; they eat all the road kill, so they don't get their teeth kicked in! And then we were told that

they would kill all the bird eating feral cats. Double baloney; but we are happy to say that we do more feral cat calls than ever.

On the opposite end, these semi-tame coyotes will have there litters in culverts of roads that are used a lot and pity the poor kid

that decides to take her poodle for a (safe) walk along that road. If there was a button to press that would take the coyote

population back to 1967, you can bet I would press it. ( And HSUS would be out a fortune ) Hey, just my opinion.

Paul, you'd have to beat me to the button.

Justin, I deal with your first scenario quite often: "But he's watching me...and my dog!" I establish that the (songdog/fox) is watching from afar and nothing else - no aggressive behavior, stalking, etc. Then I say "Unless it's within season, I can't go after it just 'cuz it's there. Let somebody else get fined or lose his license."

Non native specie?

"An introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental."

I'm not aware of the coyotes spread being caused by humans.

Coyotes are present throughout the country and need to be managed. To me, taking the nuisance animals out of the population makes perfect sense. Who gets to say which animals are nuisances? People do. If a home owner says the animal needs to go I usually agree.

I'm very interested in urban and suburban coyotes. They are a great business opportunity.

Very good video Mike. Your rock star quality shines through.

Not in Illinois they don't. We have criteria that must be met before we can trap or control any nuisance wildlife. Not a fan of big government, but sensible management is a good thing. If someone is leaving pet food out at night and they experience a raccoon "problem", our regional biologist will not allow trapping unless the people end all feeding after dusk for 2 weeks. If the problem persists, we can trap. DNR takes the approach that wildlife should not die (can't relocate coons here) due to circumstances created by poor human behavior. Same is true for coyotes. Seeing one in the yard or walking down the alley isn't a "problem" and no action is necessary. Can't be killing everything because of what they "might" do. BTW... the "problem" coyotes CAN be trapped, but specific targeting is required and takes very experienced trappers to do it.

Ever hear of the live market? The first coyotes to make it to Alabama came in the back of a pickup.

Yep and I assume that is true in a lot of other areas too. I was referring to NH.

I do like the way NH views nuisance wildlife. No hoops the jump through. If a person says it's a nuisance, it is.



There's never a reason to be killing "everything" but there is often a reason to kill some things.

In human/animal conflicts, humans should win.