Coyotes: Our noisy, unseen neighbors

Wiley Coyote, the cartoon character, is always being banged up and fooled by the Roadrunner. In true life, coyotes are anything but as stupid as they are portrayed in those cartoons or by people who produce such idiotic stuff for kids.

The coyote of today is well acquainted with humans, and although they usually avoid a face-to-face confrontation with humans, they have learned to live in close proximity to us. They are our noisy but rarely seen neighbors. I heard my first yodel-dog tonight as I walked back to my house. They’ll tune up again about 11 p.m.

A good example of how these animals have become our wildlife neighbors is rather amazing. My wife and I looked out behind the house ;ast womter, and tracks led between the garage and the railing for our back deck. The tracks showed where the animal sniffed around under the bird feeder, and then walked across the back yard, around the end of the house, and cut down to the road and crossed.

The ‘yote was casing our joint looking for a plump kitty-cat.

This happened at night. We didn't see the coyote, but I checked the snow on the back deck for tracks. Apparently this coyote’s curiosity would take it only so far.

People misunderstand coyotes. However, we may be the best thing that ever happened to them. We clear land, plant crops, and game animals and birds come to those crops. We manage to provide a place where coyotes can check around for a somewhat steady food supply.

Do you have a house cat that has turned up missing? If so, the cat is probably gone forever. A coyote will eat anything, but one of its favorite meals is house cat. The bigger and fatter and slower, the better.

Turn Tabby loose to wander around all night, which should never be allowed, and it's likely the little puddytat will wind up a blood-smeared mess. The first coyote that spots the cat will have it for a meal unless the pet can make it up a nearby tree. Free-roaming cats are a nuisance and destroy game and song birds.

Coyotes have learned to live near humans. We don't bother them unless we spot one or two animals running together and are prepared for a shot.

It's rather up in the air right now, but only man and wolves, are natural enemies of the coyote. A wolf will kill any coyote or fox it catches, but so far there doesn't seem to be many wolves in the Lower Peninsula although they have been documented in recent years. One was caught in a trap several years ago, and one or two other wolf tracks have been found, but it's doubtful we have many wolves below the big bridge.

We have a few wolves in the northern Lower Peninsula but many coyotes.

Coyotes fear wolves, if they coexist in the same area, but fox and coyotes avoid the larger predators whenever possible.

There is no shortage of coyotes in the Lower Peninsula. They are common around Detroit, which I assume still holds a tenuous grip on the title of Michigan's largest city (it has dwindled from over 2 million in 1980 to about 900,000 in 2010. Many nights I've stepped outside, and listened to coyotes howl and yap while listening to the whine of tires traveling down the many expressways.

There are, near where I live, at least 10 coyotes that live on whatever they can find. These animals are resourceful, and the mother and father of a litter will raise their pups. The little ones yap at night during all seasons, and it's not uncommon to hear five or six in one area and another five or six a half-mile away.

A man I know shoots two or three coyotes every winter. Another kills a dozen ore more. One might wonder why. For those who know little about coyotes, consider this: They are the most active predator of wild turkeys. They can and will kill dogs and cats, and are very effective at killing and eating whitetail fawns in the spring shortly after birth.

Last spring I went for a walk to check my food plots, and found two dead fawns. Or rather, I found what remained of them. In each case, there were tiny fawn hooves on the ground and a ball of wadded-up deer hair. That was all that remained of the baby deer.

The spring fawn-drop is when many deer are killed.

If I could find two dead fawns, without really trying, I suspect it would be quite easy to find more if I really went looking into some of the bedding areas. Coyotes are curious and inquisitive animals, and they've learned to live next door to humans and prosper because of it.

And just think: some of those animals are just outside our door. It would have been a treat to see the animal but daylight sightings seldom occur.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors