Originally Posted By: cookstaxiTo answer the question...No, but that's only because there's not enough incentive for people to reduce their #'s. Put a bounty on their hides big enough to make it worth peoples time to get them by any means, whether they enjoy it or not, or whether it's legal or not, & see what happens to coyote #s.
PEOPLE GIVE ANIMALS WAY TO MUCH CREDIT! I agree that coyotes are one of the most challenging animals to hunt, or trap, but under the right circumstances humans could put them on the endangered species list. Think about it...If you could make more money killing/trapping coyotes than you could at your regular job, how long do you think it would take to see a dramatic reduction in the coyote population?
Same thing with hogs, people say they're unstoppable. Put a big enough bounty on their nose, & they'll disappear in a hurry.
While I firmly agree that everyone is deserving of their own opinions, I'm going to have to politely disagree with your above quote.
And NO, I'm not trying to create a peeing contest, so please be as polite as I am being.
Back in the 1870's this nation actually tried to eradicate the coyote, believing it to be nothing but a livestock killing varmint. At that time, not only was the coyote population CONSIDERABLY smaller than it is today, the coyote also was almost entirely found in the Western half of North America.
It is a scientific fact that we used any form of killing we could at the time...hunting drives done by up to 50-100 people in one 640 acre section, on foot; "sport hunting"; trapping; various poisons; bounties (which considering the cost of $1 back then compared to today, was quite different).
It was even encouraged to "dig out" dens in the early spring, right after birthing, & kill as many newborn pups as possible.
None of these things made much of a dent in overall coyote populations.
For more detailed scientific data, please refer to the Predator Biology subforum, under Coyote Behaviour [sp], & read the data in the thread "Coyotes in Kansas", which not only discusses coyotes in Kansas, but also discusses studies/facts/legislation in other states, between 1875-1970.
My dad had a copy of this book when I was growing up. (he probably still does)
And I used to read it "religiously", so to speak.
That was 30+ years ago.
Since Yellowhammer was kind enough to put the link on the Biology subforum, I go read parts of it there from time to time, now.
I think there's a lot of things in the Biology subforum, that are useful & interesting, that most people here just seem to ignore.