News From The Homefront
Hi All ~ Many readers have forwarded me this recent article regarding Wildlife Services. Thank you! It’s a great article. Those of you who’ve read The Daily Coyote know that Mike has worked for Wildlife Services, however, two months ago, Mike made the decision to end his career with Wildlife Services. While he still believes in protecting livestock, he could no longer support Wildlife Service’s current methods and practices which result in nothing more than the mass genocide of coyotes.
May 2nd, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Thanks for linking to that article, I hadn’t seen it. We have coyotes living on the small mountain right behind out house, steps away from residential neighborhoods. They’ve never been a problem. We hear them yipping and have seen them on our street, on occasion. They just make me smile. It makes me so mad when the government gets all high and mighty and insists they know best when nature’s been getting along just fine for millenia.
May 2nd, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Even wildlife organizations seem down on coyotes. I saw in a publication from one I belong to a map showing that 100 years ago coyotes were mostly in the West and Southwest, but currently are present in all of the continental United States.
I think coyotes have spread so fast because they’re smart and adaptable. They move into niches abandoned by larger predators like wolves and cougars.
Anyway, thank you to Mike for having a conscience!
May 2nd, 2012 at 3:53 pm
As the coyotes move further and further east into the heavily populated suburbs of the East Coast, there’s nothing that Wildlife Services will be able to do! There will be no fly-over killings, snares, or poison traps spread in any area filled to the brim with people and pets! The only thing that will kill coyotes in those areas will be cars! It’s the ultimate cunning… move to an area where hunting of any kind is illegal!
My hat’s off to Mike for seeing (and acting on) the error of Wildlife Services way.
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:07 pm
First, bravo to Mike for following his conscience. Sounds like Wildlife Services is seriously out of touch, if their policies are costing them someone with Mike’s experience.
Second, has he passed any of his experience and ethic on, to people he’s trained and worked with? From what you’ve said of him, Mike has a valuable (in terms of land / animal management) skill-set and background. With him gone, Wildlife Services has lost an asset they may well regret.
Has he considered writing a book?
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Good for Mike.
I am so angry that I have few words to express right now….. well, not on a blog.
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Mike made the right decision.
I read the article and have plenty to say, but none of it is even remotely diplomatic or repeatable.
May 2nd, 2012 at 7:00 pm
thank you for sharing the link to the article. i echo ‘bravo’ to mike for his decision.
May 2nd, 2012 at 7:44 pm
I hadn’t seen that article before, but after reading it, I was very glad to know of Mike’s decision to leave.
May 2nd, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Good for Mike !!!
May 2nd, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Shreve, Glad to hear this… yes it is unimaginable that approach to coyotes. It has nothing to do with wildlife or rangeland management. Its pure ego and redneck politics as far as I’m concerned. We can not continue for long as a species if we continue this approach to things. As someone who studied wolf and canine biology for a good part of my life it is common knowledge among scientists that reason for the spread of coyotes was the demise of the wolf. Bring back wolves, as in the Yellowstone area and the balance is restored.
May 2nd, 2012 at 10:51 pm
When will we learn to leave the natural order of things alone? Humans seem to think we can come in, kill off things we find disturbing our egocentric utopia and it will have no ill effect. Then when it doesn’t work out the way we are expecting it too we try and try again. All we end up with is a bigger catastrophe. And then the vicious cycle begins all over again.
I am glad to hear Mike is no longer working for this mess of an agency.
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:00 pm
What a mess! Just why would they kill foxes? They aren’t big enough to take down a game animal of any kind and I ‘ve never seen them hunt in packs. They do help control the rodent population as do most, if not all, of the other predators mentioned.
In Texas there is an awful over population of deer that has resulted in scrawny, starving animals, especially during the past few years due to the drought. About 15 or so years ago, the state legislature there decided that there were too many deer so they opened up some of the state parks for hunting on certain days. In the same session, they increased the bounty on wolves and coyotes. Brilliant!
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:04 pm
I also have to wonder how much it costs to keep a chopper or plane in the air for an hour to hunt and shoot the predators. It would be interesting to find out and look at that number in comparison to the cost of the number of calves or sheep that a predator might take in its life time. Yes, I know that big game is being used as most of the excuse this time and I don’t know how you get a number/cost for game.
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Thanks for the article – very informative! I’ve long been opposed to this kind of killing of coyotes and wolves. I try to recognize regional differences but still feel nature has to balance itself. I learned some interesting things in the article. And Mike, I’m glad you are in a position to make the decision you needed to make – it’s not always easy.
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Good for Mike! Some days I am so sad that we shipped our wolves to Yellowstone. Here in the grasslands of BC it’s a good day and a blessing when we see coyote, or bear or deer. They are our brothers and sisters. Creator has a plan for everything and humans just want to mess with it. Sure makes me glad I’m Canadian.
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Laney ~ We are ALL guilty of it. The human addiction to and dependence on energy/electricity/fuel is the biggest killer of life on this planet.
Jackie ~ about $300/hour for plane, $700/hour for helicopter. And you can put a price on game – the Game & Fish do each year when they sell hunting tags!
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:43 pm
Shreve, it is true. I don’t like it and yet I participate. Daily. But I certainly don’t condone the mass killing of coyotes, wolves or any other animal that is inconveniencing the human race. With that, I draw the line.
May 3rd, 2012 at 12:03 am
um, there is no line.
May 3rd, 2012 at 6:47 am
I applaud the decision that Mike made and am sorrowful for the plight of the coyotes.
May 3rd, 2012 at 10:13 am
Just had the chance to finish reading the article, and saw I recognized one of the California counties mentioned (San Luis Obispo). I lived just over the neighboring county line for many years, and know this region of central California very well. My parents’ property in southern Monterey county was home to bobcats, foxes, jackrabbits, deer, cottontail rabbits, skunks, quail, an occasional bear or cougar, and more birds than I can name.
I’m heartsick to read of the possible wildlife “control” (slaughter) going on in that beautiful area, and glad I don’t live there any more.
May 3rd, 2012 at 11:09 am
We use completely different words to explain what we do to protect and extend human life. The story is really the same.
May 5th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
A lot of people in the Rocky Mountains states use elk and deer for free meat. That kind of explains the extermination mentality to mountain lions and wolves. Makes for pretty damn smart mountain lions and wolves.
I’m baffled why that would include coyotes, which are carrion and rodent eaters. I think the problem is the lack of education in the USA that encourages reasoning. We have too many people in who want to be told what to think, and as a result, actively limit their point of view to avoid the work of reasoning.
I hope Mike becomes a teacher. Lesson number one will be how to recognize useless bullshit – it starts with telling and not listening. Animals survive by listening.
May 6th, 2012 at 10:24 am
Our Fish and Wildlife Department here in Alberta is a joke, they would rather kill then protect. They call it wildlife “management” fancy name for murder
May 7th, 2012 at 12:55 am
North Dakota is notorious for killing coyotes. Anybody out here who “claims” that coyotes are preying on their farm animals can shoot or trap them. They don’t need a permit. Coyote hunting is also popular and legal here. Even the Fish and Game dept. uses airplanes to kill them. In North Dakota, it is against the law to have a coyote for a pet. Last year I got a year old coyote from an man who raised her but couldn’t keep her where he was living . She was very tame, healthy and beautiful. I live way out in the boonies, and didn’t think having her would be a problem. I didn’t let her run loose, so she never bothered anyone or anyone’s animals. However, I have a nosey neighbor (who loves to hunt them), and he turned me in to the Game Warden. They came out to my house one day and told me I couldn’t keep her. I couldn’t do anything about it, but I begged them to at least try and take her to a zoo. They said they couldn’t do that and that they would have to euthanize her, which is what they did. And then on top of that they tried to fine me $1,300 for having her. The judge, however, did sympathize with me and lowered the fine to $100. This whole thing has made me sick. I hate the Fish and Game Dept. for what they did. They didn’t have to kill her, and I hate myself even more because I feel responsible for her death. Fish and Game doesn’t give a darn about wildlife. They should, but it is obvious they don’t.
May 8th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
It’s not just in the western states that authorities are having trouble finding their ethics concerning fair and humane treatment of wild animals. Here in the Northern part of Georgia we have more than our fair share of coyotes. They are so cleverly elusive but you know they’re around.
Out here in the country I hear them working their territory at the end of the back pasture, by the creek in the woods and over the hill to the tune of about 50+ acres. A small territory compared to the vast western parts. I see signs on telephone poles posted by people who are missing their little dogs and cats and I think to myself, “the Coyotes got your little dog.” Crafty, stealthy and patient. They have actually, very recently, picked off one of my own. Sadly, Cody, my best and most favorite barn cat was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Having been a “Charlie fan” for a couple of years now, I struggle with watching the impact their insatiable feeding habits have around here because, after all, coyotes need to eat too…but I swore if I knew which one it was that got Cody I’d shoot it, and I’d NEVER want to hurt an animal…any animal. I see the coyotes surviving on what they can and, although I’m all for the circle of life and nature’s order, they are becoming a real problem. Neighbors want to set traps, the guy across the street bought night vision goggles and stayed out all night waiting for them. I could almost hear the coyotes laughing at him while they watched him from the ridge behind his house.
The Humane Society won’t do a damn thing but says that if you trap one you have to kill it. So that’s what people do, provided that they can afford a 200$ live trap and have no soul. Most of the stories I hear are that people are taking matters into their own hands. They buy chickens at the grocery, inject them with anti-freeze and hang them off the back of their fences as bait. A horrible fate for the poor thing that eats that. Or, they actually do shoot one and hang the carcass off the fence for the other coyotes to see.
The Department of Agriculture got so many calls and complaints last spring about the coyotes picking through garbage and small animals that they actually put out a notice saying that to protect humans and other life they were considering releasing Wolves into the North Georgia Mountains! Have you ever heard such thing?! I think that has got to be the most irresponsible act of government officials in a very long time. What are they thinking?! I’m sure they felt like they must do something to try to placate the human population but Good Lord! Wolves? I think there’s going to be a much bigger issue if that happens. Wolves will kill your kid, not your cat.
It’s a short-sighted act of desperation, yes, but what are we to do when our neighborhoods truly are being overrun with these guys? A few days after they killed Cody I found their well worn trails all around the creek, down in the flats and then wound back up to the top pasture where I found a coyote-sized hole in the fence behind the neighbors back yard about 50 yards away from their little girls’ trampoline and play set where they play with their little dog. The very next morning I watched a medium sized coyote trot under my fence (not far from said fence hole) holding a chicken or goose bigger than its own head right past my horses and out the back gate down to the creek. Poof, gone.
So peeps, what is the answer? I think Mike could have a new career as a Coyote Management Consultant, not for the government, but for private hire. A bigger and better version of critter control. Teach the general public how to thin the coyote population safely and humanely within the legal parameters. Is that possible? Until we find an answer everyone can live with, keep your small animals close. Be responsible and don’t take matters into your own hands unless you are a professional of the Mike kind. Lets’s do our best to COEXIST.
Sorry for the legnthy blog :)
May 8th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
“The intent is not to prevent predation,” said William Clay, deputy administrator of Wildlife Services. “All we’re trying to do is remove the problem animals.”
I laughed when I read this statement, as it seems to be contradictory. But then I realized that he probably means that predation by humans is OK, whereas predation by other animals is not.
May 8th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
I really appreciate what Hooves and Paws wrote. I live in North Central, GA. No one has said anything about coyotes. I do feel sorry for all the wildlife here. I sure hope someone is out there listening. There has to be some kind of solution without poisoning everything. Thanks Shreve for your website. Hug Charlie and the “kitty” for me.
May 8th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
H & P ~ Thank you so much for your words! Really fascinating to read. Facepalm re/ the wolves. I also read your post to Mike and he said without a doubt the coyote you saw is feeding a litter of pups. That if they’re packing food, they’re feeding pups (if they’re only feeding themselves, they eat at the scene, they don’t carry it to a second location). This doesn’t help your situation, obvs, but does explain it.
I’m so very sorry to hear about Cody.
May 9th, 2012 at 2:57 am
Yippie for Mike!!! The three of you – Mike, Shreve and Charlie (and Charlie’s mentor, Eli and his little black & white sister – forgot her name) – have made people see that coyotes deserve our care and our esteem. In indian folk lore, coyote is the noble jokester that cares for us and rounds us up when we stray. Have you seen Harry Fonseca’s depictions of coyote. Google him for some fun images.
June 24th, 2012 at 11:57 pm
Charlie changed us all… what a powerful being!
May 2nd, 2014 at 4:19 pm
The Wildlife Services kills millions of animals. They are one of the least transparent and destructive agencies in the federal government. I had been wondering how your boyfriend could work for these people. Hopefully, as one of the other posters wrote he passed on some ideas about predators that were more advanced than this agency seems to have. Perhaps Mike could write about these experiences and help expose the terrible anti predator policies that some federal and state agencies take. All coyotes have the potential to be as charming, wonderful, enigmatic and lovely as Charlie, we just don’t know of them because they are wild. Charlie is a good ambassador and hopefully Mike will be too. Carter Neimeyer used to work for Wildlife services also perhaps Mike could contact him. Carter wrote Wolfer. There is really no justification for the killing that goes on almost ceaselessly to “protect” livestock. A destructive mindset that needs reshaping.
May 2nd, 2014 at 4:30 pm
I see this post is old but I still wanted to respond to hooves and paws. Many people are angered that their cats are killed by coyotes but a coyote has no way of discerning that a pet is off limits and truthfully, its the per owner’s responsibility to keep your pets safe. I have had pets all my life and I know how sad it can be to loose a pet but they must be accompanied when outdoors and not left in areas that wild animals can kill them. As for cats they are the single most destructive animal on the globe. They kill hundreds of millions of small mammals, birds and reptiles. There is no absolutely no excuse to allow a cat to roam outside. Most wildlife lovers feel the same way I do. I have worked to advocate for laws to keep cats indoors, its not a question of what they like its a question of what is fair and decent in maintaining healthy habitats and ecosystems. As for the other part of your posts, its rare that coyotes would ever overrun an area, most likely you may be seeing the same coyotes. They travel great distances. Also if the members of packs are not randomly hunted and killed then coyotes natural territoriality keeps their numbers limited to the crating capacity of their habitat. Its when coyotes are shot and persecuted and hunted relentlessly and their sociality and pack structure impacted that they have to fight harder for survival. In general stable populations of coyotes learn to avoid humans when humans practice good husbandry and don’t leave out food to attract coyotes and when diversionary tactics are employed. Its really well past time to learn to coexist with wild animals and to use non lethal techniques to create safer habitats for people and predators. Unfortunately if you leave your cat out you are the problem not the coyote or fox that ate it.