I was waiting for some friends to meet me at the head of a trail in Wheaton early this spring when I spotted what looked like a stray, light-colored german shepherd. Its long nose and downward pointing tale made me stop short. Was that a coyote? Before I could get a closer look to see if there was a collar around its neck or any other signs of domestication, the animal headed off into the deep woods and my friends arrived. We began our hike in the other direction and I was left to wonder what I had just witnessed.
A short time later I put out a journalist’s all call on several listservs around town: had anyone else seen a coyote lately? Where and when, and would they be willing to talk about it with me?
The reactions were interesting. I had expected a bit of fear, and actually wondered if I was going to cause anxiety by even asking the question. What I got instead was a buoyant enthusiasm more akin to Elvis sightings. Several people told me they thought they had seen one out their kitchen window, or while taking out the trash early one morning. Even more people sent messages back saying no, they hadn’t seen coyotes but they hoped those darned predators were out there feasting on the deer.
“Now I think people know they’re here,” Rob Gibbs told me later when I called him on the phone to talk about the topic in detail. “They aren’t shocked anymore.”
Gibbs, who serves as the Natural Resources Manager for Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) here in Montgomery County, has given several presentations on the topic for organizations such as the Neighbors of the Northwest Branch and the Friends of Sligo Creek.
As a regular part of his talks, he explains that the 35 pound coyotes which we are likely to see here in the Eastern US differ slightly from those that live out west. “As coyotes expanded their range east through Canada and the Southern US they occasionally interbred with wolves” says a M-NCPPC brochure on the topic.
Gibbs remarked that his agency wasn’t getting as many calls about coyote sightings as they used to, and also mentioned that there don’t seem to be more up county or down.
“We aren’t seeing other animals getting attacked or anything like that,” he said. “They’re sort of living in the shadows for the most part.”
Although many hope their frustrations with backyard suburban deer might be resolved by the presence of a large predator, it doesn’t seem to Gibbs or other area biologists that this will likely be the case.
“Looking at the data,” said George Timko, Assistant Deer Project Leader with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, “we don’t see any impact of coyote on deer populations.”
The reason, Timko explains, is that the animals are opportunistic, eating everything from grasshoppers to cantaloupes, and even trash. For a short time each spring, they will prey upon fawns, but not in large enough numbers to change populations.
Maryland’s Annual Deer Report for 2008-2009 notes that decreases in deer numbers in the Western part of the state are more likely due to changes in hunting rules. “The vast majority of white-tailed deer give birth to fawns within a two to four week period in May and June, which overwhelms predators like coyotes and bears. During that time there are far more fawns on the ground than can be consumed by predators.”
Carol Bannerman, the Public Affairs Officer for the Wildlife Services office of the US Department of Agriculture in Riverdale, Maryland, works for an office that keeps careful track of predator nuisance calls. Calls about coyotes increased during the 2007-2008 time period. But Bannerman noted that the following year the calls decreased significantly in the state. She cautioned against using such numbers as a way to measure coyote populations.
It could be, she hypothesized during a recent phone call, that one of those reported sightings might be from someone who saw many coyotes at one time, for example. Or it could be that people are getting more and more used to the predators and just simply aren’t calling to report their sightings as often.
There has been, she said, a rise in concern about predators on farm animals such as lambs. “The question is,” she pointed out recently, “what is the animal?” It is not always clear whether the animal which has preyed upon the farm animal is a coyote.
Gibbs and Bannerman both expressed concern for the future relationship which might develop between Eastern coyotes and humans. The danger, it seems, is what might happen if the animals begin to associate people and their houses with food. This could have a very negative impact on coyotes and people both.
For this reason, the M-NCPPC is asking everyone to avoid feeding coyotes, either intentionally or unintentionally. They urge home owners to not leave pet food bowls outside, and keep garbage in tight lidded containers. They also say that dogs should always be walked on a leash for their own safety and that cats should be kept indoors. M-NCPPC also asks residents to always supervise children when on trails.
Frankly, there are many good reasons beyond coyote management to follow those guidelines. Rats love pet food, raccoons love our trash cans, and cats prey far too often on songbirds to live outdoors. And, as Bannerman points out, the chance of mixing saliva with one of those animals increases for your pet when you don’t follow those guidelines. So putting aside coyotes, this means that the risk of accidentally transmitting diseases to your cat or dog could increase dramatically.
As far as not letting children run ahead on the trail, this is always a good idea. Toddlers can quickly pick up poisonous mushrooms, run into patches of poison ivy or encounter dangers on the trail.
I look at the toddler years as a time when kids should be having fun *learning* how to be safe in the woods at the side of their parents, not miles ahead on the trail, out of sight. That is always true, whether coyotes are out there or not. I wouldn’t let my kids under five run miles ahead in the city, either. I use the same kinds of parental common sense in both places. I doubt that anyone who loves the outdoors would say that the dangers at this point outweigh the benefits of getting outside.
And what about the coyote I might have seen in Wheaton this spring? Rob Gibbs was dubious.
“We’ve had calls about a stray dog hanging around in that area frequently,” he said.
Why do I feel kind of bummed about that?
I’d love to hear about your coyote sightings, even if they are somewhat iffy. If you think you saw a coyote out there in our area, let me know where and when the sighting occurred. (On the other hand if you’ve seen Elvis, you are on your own.)
For more information, including where to report a nuisance sighting visit: www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_wscoyote.pdf.
This piece was originally published in the June 2010 issue of the Voice newspapers of Silver Spring, Takoma, and Kensington. Editorial note: the photo used in this story was NOT taken in Wheaton, Maryland by the author.
A short time later I put out a journalist’s all call on several listservs around town: had anyone else seen a coyote lately? Where and when, and would they be willing to talk about it with me?
The reactions were interesting. I had expected a bit of fear, and actually wondered if I was going to cause anxiety by even asking the question. What I got instead was a buoyant enthusiasm more akin to Elvis sightings. Several people told me they thought they had seen one out their kitchen window, or while taking out the trash early one morning. Even more people sent messages back saying no, they hadn’t seen coyotes but they hoped those darned predators were out there feasting on the deer.
“Now I think people know they’re here,” Rob Gibbs told me later when I called him on the phone to talk about the topic in detail. “They aren’t shocked anymore.”
Gibbs, who serves as the Natural Resources Manager for Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) here in Montgomery County, has given several presentations on the topic for organizations such as the Neighbors of the Northwest Branch and the Friends of Sligo Creek.
As a regular part of his talks, he explains that the 35 pound coyotes which we are likely to see here in the Eastern US differ slightly from those that live out west. “As coyotes expanded their range east through Canada and the Southern US they occasionally interbred with wolves” says a M-NCPPC brochure on the topic.
Gibbs remarked that his agency wasn’t getting as many calls about coyote sightings as they used to, and also mentioned that there don’t seem to be more up county or down.
“We aren’t seeing other animals getting attacked or anything like that,” he said. “They’re sort of living in the shadows for the most part.”
Although many hope their frustrations with backyard suburban deer might be resolved by the presence of a large predator, it doesn’t seem to Gibbs or other area biologists that this will likely be the case.
“Looking at the data,” said George Timko, Assistant Deer Project Leader with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, “we don’t see any impact of coyote on deer populations.”
The reason, Timko explains, is that the animals are opportunistic, eating everything from grasshoppers to cantaloupes, and even trash. For a short time each spring, they will prey upon fawns, but not in large enough numbers to change populations.
Maryland’s Annual Deer Report for 2008-2009 notes that decreases in deer numbers in the Western part of the state are more likely due to changes in hunting rules. “The vast majority of white-tailed deer give birth to fawns within a two to four week period in May and June, which overwhelms predators like coyotes and bears. During that time there are far more fawns on the ground than can be consumed by predators.”
Carol Bannerman, the Public Affairs Officer for the Wildlife Services office of the US Department of Agriculture in Riverdale, Maryland, works for an office that keeps careful track of predator nuisance calls. Calls about coyotes increased during the 2007-2008 time period. But Bannerman noted that the following year the calls decreased significantly in the state. She cautioned against using such numbers as a way to measure coyote populations.
It could be, she hypothesized during a recent phone call, that one of those reported sightings might be from someone who saw many coyotes at one time, for example. Or it could be that people are getting more and more used to the predators and just simply aren’t calling to report their sightings as often.
There has been, she said, a rise in concern about predators on farm animals such as lambs. “The question is,” she pointed out recently, “what is the animal?” It is not always clear whether the animal which has preyed upon the farm animal is a coyote.
Gibbs and Bannerman both expressed concern for the future relationship which might develop between Eastern coyotes and humans. The danger, it seems, is what might happen if the animals begin to associate people and their houses with food. This could have a very negative impact on coyotes and people both.
For this reason, the M-NCPPC is asking everyone to avoid feeding coyotes, either intentionally or unintentionally. They urge home owners to not leave pet food bowls outside, and keep garbage in tight lidded containers. They also say that dogs should always be walked on a leash for their own safety and that cats should be kept indoors. M-NCPPC also asks residents to always supervise children when on trails.
Frankly, there are many good reasons beyond coyote management to follow those guidelines. Rats love pet food, raccoons love our trash cans, and cats prey far too often on songbirds to live outdoors. And, as Bannerman points out, the chance of mixing saliva with one of those animals increases for your pet when you don’t follow those guidelines. So putting aside coyotes, this means that the risk of accidentally transmitting diseases to your cat or dog could increase dramatically.
As far as not letting children run ahead on the trail, this is always a good idea. Toddlers can quickly pick up poisonous mushrooms, run into patches of poison ivy or encounter dangers on the trail.
I look at the toddler years as a time when kids should be having fun *learning* how to be safe in the woods at the side of their parents, not miles ahead on the trail, out of sight. That is always true, whether coyotes are out there or not. I wouldn’t let my kids under five run miles ahead in the city, either. I use the same kinds of parental common sense in both places. I doubt that anyone who loves the outdoors would say that the dangers at this point outweigh the benefits of getting outside.
And what about the coyote I might have seen in Wheaton this spring? Rob Gibbs was dubious.
“We’ve had calls about a stray dog hanging around in that area frequently,” he said.
Why do I feel kind of bummed about that?
I’d love to hear about your coyote sightings, even if they are somewhat iffy. If you think you saw a coyote out there in our area, let me know where and when the sighting occurred. (On the other hand if you’ve seen Elvis, you are on your own.)
For more information, including where to report a nuisance sighting visit: www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_wscoyote.pdf.
This piece was originally published in the June 2010 issue of the Voice newspapers of Silver Spring, Takoma, and Kensington. Editorial note: the photo used in this story was NOT taken in Wheaton, Maryland by the author.
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