I am saddened to write that the first two young fox pups that were brought to Fox Wood this spring had to be euthanized. Their Momma and a dead litter mate were found in a den by a concerned farmer. The two hungry pups, along with the deceased mom and pup were brought to us Sunday night April 9th. Monday morning I submitted the deceased adult and pup to the County Health department for rabies testing. The adult came back positive. Because of the fact that momma probably licked and cared for her pups before she died, the chances that they would also come down with rabies is very good. Wednesday evening the remaining two pups were humanely put down by a local vet. They will also be submitted for rabies testing. Rabies in Western New York Red foxes is not nearly as common as it is in Raccoons. Some folks will be needing their rabies post exposure shots for sure. Rabies is a horrible disease and not worth taking chances with. I will keep posting when results for these two come back.
Author: Elise Able
Cougars in New York- Truth or Fiction?
Another winter has passed and no cougar tracks in the snow, yet some people claim to have seen them and believe that they are living among us. There are many legends of local Western New York cougars. I first heard about them when a neighbor had a rifle by his door. Curious, I asked “why the rifle?” He responded “Well, didn’t you hear? A farmer down the road shot a cougar. It killed one of his cows, so he staked it out the next night and two came back. He shot one and the other one got away. It had a DEC tag in its ear. The DEC was going to fine him, but then they realized that it had been killing the farmers cows, so they just told him not to say anything. The DEC guy told him that they released several breeding pairs in the area”.
“Now why would they do that? I asked, curious.
“To control the deer population” He responded.
Since then I have many variations on that theme, varying from “50 pairs of cougars released” and “to control the coyote population” being the reason they were released.
Sightings of the cougars always come in the summer- never the winter. No hunters ever report seeing the cougars while out hunting deer, and certainly none have shot one. No tracks in the snow either. Wouldn’t there be tracks? Do cougars migrate south with the birds or Is there another reason they don’t leave tracks in the snow?
Why aren’t typical “cougar kills” ever found? They must be eating something .
Where do all of these cougar sightings originate? What are people really seeing? Any ideas? I think they are seeing deer, domestic cats, and coyotes. One lady thought she had one in her barn laying in her hay. She is a pretty astute animal person and she insisted she had seen it up close and it hissed at her and then ran in big bounds. Intrigued, I checked it out and found it to be a coyote with Sarcoptic mange.
Could cougars control coyotes? Nope.
Would they control deer?
No
Could it be just another folklore story that is fun to tell?
Probably.
Most likely.
I don’t believe a State can just re-introduce a species like this, there are way too many hoops to jump through. Look at all they are going through just trying to reintroduce wolves into other areas of the country. There are lots of public meetings, etc. Cougars aren’t free either and one would think a “cougar stocking ” program would be quite expensive. What would New York want to do something like this for? There is an Internet hoax that shows a fellow with a huge dead cougar in his garage. The text in the e-mail says it was a “friend of a friend” who shot the cougar locally- it describes the cougar stalking a neighbors cows, etc.. This is a real photo, but the story is fabricated. The cougar was actually taken out west. Another photo that has been circulated shows a cougar on someones deck. The the photo is real, but it was taken out west, not in Steuben county as described in the e-mail. That particular photo has actually circulated for years and was seen in several other states before it circulated in New York. They even go on to say that the sighting was confirmed by a “DEC guy” Yet, no legitimate names ever surface.
Lets see how many cougar stories crop up this summer. It will most likely be the same story that involves a cow farmer and a cougar that was shot with a tag in its ear, just a different county.
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Motion Camera Records Coyote Activity- Is It Real Or A Hoax?
New Yorkers have often been referring to “a guy” who set up a camera near a coyote den and supposedly recorded a female coyote bringing an obscene number of fawns to the den during a certain time period. The story varies on a number of facts, depending on who is telling it and their audience.
The facts that vary include: The location of the den, the number of fawns supposedly dragged to the den, the number of weeks the camera recorded the supposed activity and the relation of the camera-man to the story teller. The relationship however never gets closer than “a friend of a friend” or “My Uncle”. One variation of the story even listed “The DEC” as the camera folks. An interesting fact though is that no such alleged photos ever surface. It is a fun story to tell, I am sure, as the listeners are sure to be very interested and probably say “Wow”! and then scoff and say “See, we KNEW the coyotes were killing all the deer!” Sometimes the story varies even more and it becomes “a friend of a friend found a coyote den while he was hunting and it was stuffed with fawn heads!” This is how a hoax is perpetuated. Fun, amazing stories to tell and the coyote is once again the bad guy. I would be fascinated to see authenticated, real photos of a coyote den stuffed with fawn heads, or authenticated photos of a mother coyote bringing back this obscene number of dead fawns to the den . Yet, no one can come up with a real name, a real location or any proof that this ever happened. I am hoping that some day some one can bring me to an active den site so that I can set up a camera and records activity such as this – without momma coyote moving her pups as soon as she smells the human presence.
I suspect this whole story is concocted by hunters and coyote haters that are trying to pressure lawmakers into implementing a year round season on coyotes. Please folks, don’t believe everything you hear. Be sure to tune into tomorrows blog.
A Tale of Two Sheep Farmers
This is a true story about two sheep Farmers in the Western New York area. The original report was on WKBW News (Channel 7) about 5 years ago.
The first farmer raised lambs for market until , he claims, “the coyotes put me out of business”. He called the news and they made a big story of how the coyotes ate all of his lambs, and ewes too. Poor old guy had to go on welfare or something like that.
The second farmer had one of the largest sheep operations in the area. He had not lost a single sheep to coyotes, domestic dogs or any other predation in many years – well, since he had purchased his Livestock Guardian dogs, to be exact.
Hmmm… I just happen to know the first farmers place by heart, as I like to drive the back roads. In fact, I drove by it again today, which is what prompted this post. I was reminded of the place when there were sheep (before the “coyotes killt -em all…”). The sheep were out in the pasture on this very rural road, with no house or barn in sight. In fact, the nearest house or barn is at least 3/4 mile away. The sheep were in a twisted wire fence that was falling down, and it was surrounded by woods on all sides. I never once saw anyone tending those sheep. I never saw the sheep being brought in at night.. they were always out. I happen to know a little about sheep and this particular farmer. He was an old-timer that didn’t believe in “feed and stuff like that”. Feed was a waste of money as he figured they had plenty of pasture to eat. Bringing in the ewes during lambing was too much work for him and they had their lambs outside in the field- in all weather. Wet, cold- you name it, they were out there lambing. Anyone who knows sheep farming knows that ewes should be brought in to lamb, and the sheep should be brought in at night too. A good farmer also knows that good nutrition and parasite control are essential to sheep farming success. This old fellow practiced none of that. He also never guarded the sheep, never had any guardian animals, such as dogs, llamas or donkeys out with them either. They were basically out there to survive all on their own. Yet he blamed the coyotes for the deaths of the sheep and the demise of his business. I blame the farmer for the demise of his own business. The good sheep farmer practiced good farming methods and fed his sheep well and guarded them well with those dogs. His ewes had strong healthy lambs and they had steady rates of weight gain. He is still in the sheep business, and doing quite well.
What can be learned from this true story ?
There is no substitute for a good livestock guardian dog, and good nutrition and good husbandry practices are essential to successful farming. Good strong fences and bringing livestock and poultry in at night are a necessity. Coyotes are a non-issue where good farming practices are used.
Are Hunting Dogs Chasing Your Wildlife Too?
Are we being scammed and our property violated by the people who say they hunt coyotes with dogs to keep their populations in check? Should we really be thanking these guys? They think we should…
Radio collars are placed on their hunting dogs and then the dogs are set loose by their owners (or sometimes “dog renters”) into the woods to chase and kill coyotes, and on the way, foxes, opossums, deer- anything that is unlucky enough to be in their path. Usually this activity begins on a neighboring property where the hunters are allowed to conduct this activity. However, as the prey scatters and the dogs hone in on one unlucky victim, the dogs run amok through your property, my property and everyone else’s property. At first, you may not be completely aware what is going on. Your only clue may be the pickup trucks with dog compartments, or a cap and a few men with antennas (and guns in the trucks) standing along the road, tracking the course of the barbaric chase. The goal is to wear out the intended victim with successive releases of fresh dogs. The coyote is the target, and the animal will either be chased until it collapses with exhaustion and the hunter can walk right up to it and put a bullet in it, or the coyote is torn to bits by the dogs.
Is there not a more constructive hobby that these men can find? Did they ever think of taking up skiing, or photography, woodworking or something else constructive or gee, spending time with their familes? I have trouble using the word “Sport” here, as they call it. Killing our coyotes for sport is just plain creepy. The coyotes are ours too. I don’t want mine killed, do you?
I don’t want them on MY land. Are they using yours? If you confront these folks and say “get your dogs off my land, it is posted” Be prepared for this common response “Well, our dogs can’t READ.. Ha ha ha, yuk, yuk, yuk!” As their dogs race through chasing the terrorized coyote – it is impossible for you to catch them and they know it. You need to call the State Police or a Conservation Officer right then -Do it fast, and take down license plate numbers and vehicle descriptions. Chances are your State Police will respond much faster than the Conservation Officer, as their jobs are more geared for emergency-type calls. Just because their dogs can’t read, does not make it OK. Dog’s that can’t read should be on leashes, that way, they can be well aware of property lines.
POST YOUR PROPERTY!!! Also, be aware that even if your property is not posted, the State Police will tell you that if it is your property and if you don’t want someone, or their dogs on it, posted or not, they are trespassing.
By the way, these guys are pushing the lawmakers to allow this and other forms of Coyote hunting year round. So rather than ending March 26th, these guys can do this right through summer and into fall and so on. They will terrorize our wildlife in the woods and fields all the time. Young will be orphaned, all species will be chased – dogs can’t read, remember? Be sure to be aware of pending laws like this at voting time- there are groups that watch this kind of thing and ask you to vote (League of Humane Voters) . Don’t let this law slip through because you weren’t aware it was on the ballot.
As far as reducing coyote populations, that is not true at all. Coyotes respond differently to killing than other wildlife. Their populations actually increase when under pressure from hunting and killing. It is a difficult concept for most people to understand. I will go into more detail in further posts, but I will leave you with this analogy…
“Trying to reduce coyote populations by killing them is like trying to put out a fire with kerosene”
Of Pheasant Farmers and Our New York State Wildlife
A woman called me about a neighbor that raises pheasants. He gets them through a pheasant raise and release program. He likes to raise and release ASIAN (that is the key word here…) Ring neck pheasants, a non-native species that USED to inhabit and breed in New York State fields back in the early to mid 1900’s. Asian Ring neck pheasants are considered a game bird and are a favorite of the hunters. Back in the 1900’s there were large tracts of open land, largely unmolested by chemical fertilizers, pesticides, roads that cut through them, new houses and sub-divisions, hay and corn and other grain plantings. Because of the large tracts of open land, the released birds were able to breed and populate these areas. However, things changed – they changed a lot since then and most of these fields are now used by man for farming, housing, driving on, etc… So basically, the habitat that this Asian bird needed to survive and reproduce is gone. Yet, every year in New York people raise thousands of these birds and release them, hoping that THIS time they will take hold and re-populate the area.
I see pheasants now and then. Despite the fact that much of my free time is spent walking the outdoors, the only pheasants that I ever see are pecking gravel along side of the roads. One can pull over and catch them sometimes. Why is this? Because they have no survival instinct left in them – they know nothing about predators from any direction – hawks from overhead, raccoons and foxes (and of course, coyotes) from the ground. I see pheasants squashed on the road too, so avoiding cars are not in their arsenal either. Why do people still raise and release these birds in the hopes of there suddenly being a large natural population that they can once again hunt and come home with a bag full?
So what is my point and what is the coyote connection here?
My point is this: The fore-mentioned lady called me because she is upset that her neighbor protects his pheasants with a full array of traps set around the pens and property and that he also places a deer carcass on the property so that he can lure coyotes and foxes to the carcass and then shoot them- year round. That is of course, if they make it through the maze of traps. Every year I hear about another pheasant “raiser” who **protects** his pheasants with tall posts with “foot-hold traps on them so that owls and hawks that fly over and perch on the post are caught by the traps, condemning them to a slow hideous death. Owls and Hawks are federally protected birds and if the person gets caught, they are in big trouble. However the guy with the indiscriminant ground foot-hold traps and the deer carcass for his hunting pleasure year round is perfectly within his legal rights. I see a big problem with folks luring our New York State wildlife in to kill them-any time of the year, and in the name of pheasant re-introduction. The way the law reads, even though there is a coyote hunting season and a trapping season, if you feel that you or your property are threatened in any way,by any animal, you can take that animal in any manner, at any time. ANY manner. ANY time. That door is wide open. Scary, HUH?
What cost to our wildlife are these pheasant breeders and raisers? How many mammals and protected birds are killed every year by folks in “Pheasant Denial”. Attempting to raise and release pheasants is akin to raising and releasing domestic chickens and hoping that somehow a wild chicken population will take hold and we can “harvest” them and their eggs joyfully. Pheasants have little sense of survival, as do chickens, and their release will only feed domestic dogs and wild predators a nice plump, slow and easy to catch meal.
Pheasants need large unmolested tracts of field land to nest- if they survive all of the odds and nest, they are doomed as well. Unfortunately, most of the large tracts of fields are cut for hay. The hay cutting season just happens to coincide with the nesting season of the pheasants. The effects of tractors and hay cutting machines on a nest of eggs is catastrophic.
So, it is great that there are still things for kids and people to do that are good, safe, healthy, wholesome and keep kids off the streets and close to the outdoors- No doubt I am all for that, why must it include the killing of wildlife attracted by the sights and smells of this (and other) fowl that have no chance of survival upon release anyway? Safer enclosures for the pheasants while they are in captivity is simple. Educating the children (and adults) of the many risks involved in raising and releasing a non-native fowl with a very slim chance of survival is necessary. Predation of a basically defenseless bird is a simple, undeniable fact. To purposely kill predators that are preying on such a defenseless bird is senseless.
The Eradication of Hal From Central Park
Does anyone know how much money New York City spent to eradicate Hal, the lone , harmless coyote from Central Park? Choppers, police overtime, sharp shooters? Are the choppers and their pilots free and do the police and sharp shooters do this on their own time?
I have never been to New York City, so tell me, what level criminal gets this kind of attention? In other words, what crimes would one have to commit in New York City to have choppers and a police posse looking for them ?
Again, I have never been to New York City. I would love to visit. Are there rodents there? Mention was made of the possibility that Hal ate some rat poison- if he did, how did he scarf it up while he was running for his life from officials for two days- is it that prevalent and easy to find in the park? How long does it take Rat poison to kill a coyote? A week ? Surely it wasn’t part of the diet fed by the rehabilitators. We generally stick to the meat group when feeding wild canines. If Officials had left Hal alone, they could have had free and effective rat control.
Isn’t a park supposed be a place where people can catch a glimpse of something beautiful, wild and and free? Why hunt it down and kill it?
Who trained the dart gun shooters? It doesn’t sound like these guys were very qualified. There are several basic rules for shooting an animal with a dart gun
The first basic rule is: Never shoot the animal in an area where it might get lost with a dart in it. It was reported that Hal eluded officers after he was shot the first time.
The second basic rule is : Don’t dart a panicked animal. In other words, don’t shoot an animal that is full of adrenalin- the reason is that adrenalin counters the effects of the drugs used, rendering them ineffective. Chasing with choppers overhead and officers on foot qualify for an adrenalin rush for most.
What will happen next time a coyote wanders into the park- and it is sure to happen. Will they learn from their mistake and leave it alone or hunt it down with real guns this time?
Hal, may we learn from our mistakes, appreciate our New York State wildlife and treat it with more respect.
Chicago Study Says Coyotes Help Control Suburban Goose and Rodent Populations Naturally
A six year coyote study in Chicago was recently completed and is continuing. The Chicago study brings to light some good information to pass along to your towns who are implementing rat control, goose control – and coyote control- all at tax payer expense.
See link http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/urbcoyot.htm
There is some very good information in this study, regarding personal pets and the fact that people blame coyotes when their pets disappear, whether or not the coyote was really to blame.
Cars, domestic dogs, Great Horned Owls, diseases, neighbors who are tired of roaming pets in their yards…. are all reasons why pet dogs and cats don’t come home. Yet people point the finger at the easiest target to persecute- the coyote.
“…Gehrt bases his 2,000 estimate on the 350-400 “nuisance” coyotes trapped each year in the region. Coyotes get reported as nuisances when pets disappear, whether or not they’re responsible.
“There have been no attacks on people yet,” he said. “But if someone tries to protect their pet, the coyote may stand its ground and growl and bark.”
Problem coyotes are a small minority. “We’ve marked over 200, and five became nuisance animals,” Gehrt said. ….”
The major findings include:
- Coyotes help control Canada geese populations. It appears that coyotes are helping to curb the booming Canada goose population in urban areas by eating the eggs from the birds’ nests.
- Most coyotes pose little threat to humans. The problems generally start when people feed coyotes, even if that feeding is unintentional.
“A coyote may eat the food that’s left outside for a pet,” Gehrt said. “It’s not uncommon to see a coyote pass through an urban or suburban neighborhood.
“But most coyotes aren’t thrilled about being seen by people,” he continued. “Urban coyotes are more active at night than their rural counterparts, so humans don’t see a lot of their activity. In many cases, coyotes are probably doing us favors that we don’t realize – they eat a lot of rodents and other animals that people don’t want around.”