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A coyote attacking some school yard kid, is so far off my radar screen of concerns, it's inconsequential. There must be literally, a thousand things that would raise my level of concern for a kid in school other than a coyote running up and biting him/her.
I would suspect there have/will be more injuries/deaths with pencils,soccer balls,bicycles,loose shoe strings,paper cuts,lightning hits in the school yard, and many more I could fill in but won't.
If your the worrying kind, there are a ton of things to wring your hands over concerning your child at school or playing outside in the neighborhood, but coyotes ain't one of them.
That may be, but this is a predator hunting board, not Walmart. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif we discuss predators mostly. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Sorry George I can't follow your logic. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
Jay, as usual excellent topic for discussion. I've always said the urban coyote is for the virtual hunter. Like the survivor series it has little to do with reality.
It's simply a fact of life or death, that if you call coyotes in or very near an urban area, they won't get killed. Nasty bylaws regarding the discharge of firearms get in the way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angry-smiley-055.gif
Are city coyotes easier to call? No question.
It has been exposed to different stimuli in his day to day life, and not many of them present a serious threat.
And before anyone gets their panties in a twist. I have called, trapped and killed plenty of both urban and wild coyotes in my short but fun filled life.
An urban coyote can be "trained" for lack of a better word.
By trained I mean conditioned to react to a certain set of stimuli. alter the situaion and the "retraining" starts.
In other words, call a coyote and present a reward, or at least engage him in "conversation" with no bad consequence, he will continue to play until he loses his curiosity. the skill of the caller plays a large role in this game.
I think Jay is on the money. We have coyote attacks every year in Alberta. Not in the wild, but in the cities. Only bad coyotes live in the city?
It isn't that calling in itself turns a docile animal into a killer, but it certainly builds their confidence and comfort level when they are stimulated and nothing negative happens. I know it works for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Go to petting zoo. Give a kid a bag of popcorn and watch what happens when the little goat realizes their ain't no more popcorn. Why do you think they have "Don't Feed the Bears" signs in parks.
Coyote is a predator. If he is made to feel comfortable in his surroundings, he will expand his options on territory , food or social status. He can adapt from the beach to the alpine.
I'm not saying it is an epidemic, and I'm pretty sure there isn't an Al Quaeda camp somewhere that is training coyotes to kill kids. But I also know if you took the homey out of the big city and put him in my part of the country, he wouldn't be a threat /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif He would be dealt with.
Those people that try to make pets or at least socialize wild animals bear soem responsibility when the SHTF.
Calling without consequences is one of the factors that leads to socializing coyotes. How big a factor I guess depends on whether it is your kid or not that gets bit. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif