COYOTES - BEHOLD

Seeing a coyote during the day does not mean it is rabid. Coyotes will roam at night but when they are hunting they prefer to see - they prefer daylight - same as you and I. Some people think that coyotes are unafraid and dangerous. They may not appear afraid when majestically trotting across your backyard, but pay attention to their actions, their eyes are seldom off your dwelling. In most sightings, if you step outside, the animal will gracefully take off. They are not exactly in love with humans. Smart Animals. Although, there are exceptions. If an animal is thirsty or hungry and there is food or water at your door - you are going to have a visitor. Some of these surprise guest may be as cute as coyotes but some smell much worse. So, a bit of caution with food is quite beneficial for yourself lest your home have an unpleasant air spray. Coyotes won't do that too you. They really won't do much of anything to you. However they will kill small animals - like cats. Also - they are wild animals - always keep a respectable distance.

An exception to the unsociable coyote rule happened to me at my Exeter, New Hampshire home. My place is within the village proper but wooded and private. Two successive summers I encountered a backyard coyote that seemed to love playing games with me. Approximately at dusk, maybe one evening or so a week, a coyote would lurk along the wood line and yip at me sitting on my back deck. I started yipping back. The coyote ran to a distant corner of the yard and yipped again. I replied. It returned to mid-yard - looked straight at me - yipped again. This repeated for five minutes before the animal bored and departed. That was because our conversation was drifting toward the New Hampshire Primary. Maine Dog!

In my youth the only awareness I had of coyotes was in western movies and nature shows. We just didn't seem to have them in New England. They are certainly here now. New England coyotes are smaller than they appear. The only weigh about 35 pounds, about five pound larger than their cowboy relatives. They appear sizable because of their lengthy legs and bushy coat.

Many folks claim that New England's coyotes are actually "coydogs." Coydogs being the result of coyotes mating with house dogs - your loving friend Rover or Jeanie. According to Kristen Rines, Wildlife Biologist with New Hampshire Fish and Game, this is a myth. DNA testing proved the belief wrong. No coydogs - sorry! Rines said that even those coyotes raised with domestic dogs don't like each other all that much. Coyotes mate in February and even if one coyote without moral values did mate with a domestic dog the offspring would likely not survive. Rines also says such an offspring would be sterile. What a waste of a wild night!

Under the best conditions about 80 percent of coyote pups "will not" survive. And, in a bad year 100 percent will die. The parents will drive surviving pups away in the fall unless food is scarce then they are allowed to stay and help the pack survive. Coyotes will eat remains of animals but mostly their diet consists of insects, fruits and rodents. Crickets are a favorite food item for young coyotes.

Considering their natural fatality rate it is amazing that there is one coyote out there for you and I to enjoy. To top the Creator's harshness, mankind does not treat the animal any better. There is no closed season for hunting or trapping coyotes in New Hampshire. Night killing is also allowed. Lights may be used. Electronic calling devices are acceptable. Baiting is permitted. Trappers are killing more coyotes than ever. New Hampshire Fish and Game reports 379 dead in a decade - then 716 in 2004 - One Year. FOR WHAT!! Have you ever heard of anyone serving coyote for diner? Coyote Derbies and killing tournaments take place in New England. SLAUGHTER FOR FUN!!! There are "guide services' that promote coyote hunts at $200 dollars per day. This little animal has hurt no one. It helps rid us of destructive rodents. It only gives beauty to the world. WHY DO WE ALLOW IT SO RUTHLESSLY DESTROYED?

"Thundering from the forest came the most violent destructive danger of all existence - Man." Civilized? - HELL NO!

WMP