As citizens gathered in Otisfield, Maine, a small, quiet Western Maine community, authorities handled concerns from the town’s residents about as well as one might expect these days. They were told coyotes don’t bother people, that rabbit populations were low and that it was mating season. Combine that with the ever present blame that it’s the people’s fault for….for…..for…..well, living, and what did the people learn?
Here’s some short quips on what people were told:
“they can learn to coexist with the varmints.”
“Eradication of coyotes in Maine is impossible”
“keep the animal wild and to support the protection of coyotes”
“not feed coyotes”
“coyotes going after large animals was very unusual”
“there is little game wardens can do”
“I don’t believe there’s anything else we can do. It’s up to you folk,”
“safe to go out into the woods, despite the coyote population.”
“You don’t have to worry about coyotes chasing you out of the woods for a meal. It’s just not going to happen.”
Oh, my! Residents deserve to be told something better than that. The coyotes that are prevalent in Maine are larger than what most people picture in their minds when they think of coyotes. The cartoon Roadrunner comes to mind. The reason for that is that it has been readily established that Maine coyotes have wolf genes in them. The wolf gene doesn’t just add size to the animal. It creates in them a different killing instinct and thus Maine’s coyotes are readily taking on larger animals, i.e. deer, horses and cows.
Telling people to “keep the animal wild” is really kind of a silly notion that by not feeding, having pets outside, growing livestock, putting up bird feeders and doing what most Mainers do in the course of their lives will somehow keep a coyote “wild”. I’m not even sure what that means. A coyote is driven by instinct and the forces of nature. If a coyote gets hungry it goes and searches for food. Not unlike the couch potato watching a football game, when he heads to the kitchen looking for food, if he can’t find it, he may have to jump in his car and head for the nearest convenience store.
Talk about passing the buck! “There is little game wardens can do”? Seriously? Seems as though I was reading recently a story of how a couple wardens in far Northern Maine were shooting about every coyote they saw and were told to stop by their superiors. This is an anecdotal reference as I cannot confirm the story but stating there is nothing wardens can do is a cop out. Did someone not get the message to the Maine Warden Service that Maine has a serious deer management problem and coyotes are part of that problem?
As hunters and trappers began complaining to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife about coyotes, the response was quite similar. They were told if they didn’t like the coyotes go kill them. As didn’t happen in this meeting in Otisfield, it would have been nice had a spokesperson for MDIFW or the Maine Warden Service simply stated that they were fully aware of the problem and was working on remedies BUT in the meantime we would like your help. That would go a long ways instead of hiding behind half truths.
It is time to change up the repeated mantra that it is rare that coyotes attack large animals. It is not rare and residents should be told that it is increasing. Poorly managed wildlife creates situations where too many predators can destroy an ecosystem in short order. If an area becomes overrun with coyotes and they’ve cleaned up the turkeys, grouse, rabbits, mice, moles, birds, chipmunks, squirrels, deer, etc., it’s time they headed for the nearest convenience store, which might just be your back yard. Telling people it is rare is misinforming and does nothing to educate the people so they will know what needs to be done to protect themselves and their property.
And as always we hear the same claim that it is completely safe to go into the woods. I wonder if Taylor Mitchell’s family would agree with, “You don’t have to worry about coyotes chasing you out of the woods for a meal. It’s just not going to happen.” Taylor Mitchell was a very young girl and promising musician who was attacked and killed by coyotes while hiking in Nova Scotia this past fall.
This was a rare occurrence for sure but why can’t we get beyond that? Why can’t we follow that up with an explanation about what things have to exist in our environment that would cause coyotes to attack people? To not do this is ignorant and irresponsible. I have linked to this resource countless times. It’s an article written by Dr. Valerius Geist, a man who has first hand knowledge and experience with wolves and coyotes. He shares with us some very easy to understand steps that help us recognized things around us that will help us avoid becoming an attack victim. Please read it. It is written about wolves but just as much pertains to coyotes and especially Maine’s coyotes as they are a wolf/coyote hybrid.
As you read Dr. Geist’s piece, bear in mind what is happening in Maine. A couple of severe winters, combined with an overgrown coyote population, an increased black bear population, a reduction in rabbits and other small prey and Maine has a classic situation of a lot of hungry coyotes. Geist tells us the first step in recognizing coyotes that might become a problem.
1) Within the pack’s territory prey is becoming scarce not only due to increased predation on native prey animals, but also by the prey evacuating home ranges en mass, leading to a virtual absence of prey. Or wolves increasingly visit garbage dumps at night. We observed the former on Vancouver Island in summer and fall 1999.
Deer left the meadow systems occupied by wolves and entered boldly into suburbs and farms, causing – for the first time – much damage to gardens. At night they slept close to barns and houses, which they had not done in the previous four years.
The wintering grounds of trumpeter swans, Canada geese and flocks of several species of ducks were vacated. The virtual absence of wildlife in the landscape was striking.
I can tell you from personal experience that this fall while deer hunting in Maine I marveled at the absence of any wildlife. This included rabbits, grouse, birds, squirrels and chipmunks. Rarely did I spot a chickadee.
Once this food source is gone, the coyotes will approach humans and their houses, barns, pastures, etc. looking for food. This is what’s happening in Maine now and passing the buck as to whose responsibility it is to better manage our predators isn’t going to get anything accomplished.
A retired game warden who attended the meeting stated that exterminating coyotes was an impossibility. Isn’t it amazing that it wasn’t a impossibility the first time it happened? It wasn’t an impossibility when people eradicated wolves from the west many years ago. When that happened it was blamed on man; all the hunters and trappers; those evil men who only want to kill animals.
I would tend to agree with this gentleman that it is not likely to happen under the restrictions and protections that exist for the coyote. Maine likes to brag about what a liberal hunting season they have on coyotes but fail to pass on that all the useful tools to better manage coyotes have been stripped away. We all know that trappers became very good at utilizing snares to reduce coyotes in and around winter deer yards. Not only are trappers prohibited from trapping into the dead of winter but snaring has been banned because of false claims that the snares were killing protected species, i.e. Canada lynx.
Maine has a wildlife management problem exacerbated by a couple of severe winters. The responsible thing to do would be to admit that the harsh winters brought to the forefront all the weaknesses that exist in the state’s wildlife management programs and begin a process of rectifying them instead of telling the people it’s their problem, while failing to admit that there are conditions when hungry coyotes can be a danger to humans.
It is time to make some changes in the laws that protect the coyote in order to not only save Maine deer herd but to protect people and their property. Simply telling people they’re safe and it’s their problem is reason to wonder why we need the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife or the Warden Service.
Tom Remington
