Comment

Comment by Tony Cooney on March 17, 2011 at 5:45pm

Bears to blame for Nfld. caribou decline: minister

Monday, December 6, 2010 | 3:29 PM NT CBC News

Coyote worries in Western N.L.
Coyotes have colonized the island of Newfoundland since wolves were eradicated decades ago. (CBC)Newfoundland and Labrador's environment minister is rejecting calls to increase the bounty on coyotes, saying bears — not coyotes — are the primary reason why the province's caribou population is in decline.

"We did look at the issue of increasing a [coyote] bounty," said Charlene Johnson. "We did look at other jurisdictions, and the literature shows that bounties aren't an effective means of coyote management."

Johnson was responding to a petition circulating in western Newfoundland. It says coyotes are a threat to the province's caribou population and calls on the provincial government to increase the bounty it pays hunters for coyote carcasses.

Johnson said coyotes react to threats in their environments by having larger litters.

"If you disrupt the normal breeding activity of the coyote, they can then, in turn, breed more pups," she said. "So, if they feel that their general biology is changing and they need to increase their population, they can have litters as large as 14 pups at a time

Johnson said the government is three years into a five-year study of the caribou population and preliminary research shows black bears are a bigger threat to caribou than coyotes.

"The real issue here is calf survival," she said. "Our science shows us that black bears are the primary cause of caribou calf mortality on the calving ground. No doubt coyotes do kill caribou, but they rely primarily on rabbit and moose and [the carcasses of] dead moose."

In Labrador, coyotes are not such a large threat to caribou because wolves still exist in that region and keep the coyote population at bay.

Comment by Tony Cooney on March 17, 2011 at 5:01pm

Up the coyote bounty before it's too late

Published on September 7th, 2010 Northern Pen Letters to the editor


Dear Editor,

This past June, I spent 10 days on the Northern Peninsula visiting communities from Deer Lake to L’Anse Aux Meadows. My main purpose (besides taking in the breath-taking scenery) was to question the local residents about the coyote-caribou situation.

During my conversations, some interesting information came forward:

1. Two guides, each with 40 years experience in central Newfoundland, reported that they did not see a single caribou in the 2009 season.

2. Every pond, in the Rocky Harbour area, gave up at least one caribou carcass at spring thaw.

3. Two separate incidents of coyote attacks on adult bull moose were witnessed at Main Brook and Straitsview in the past year.

4. A sealer reported that a colleague had shot a coyote on an ice floe last year.

5. In every town and village that I visited, people voiced their concerns about the safety of their children playing outside in the winter. Reason? Coyotes had been observed within the town limits. Pets have gone missing.

All of these observations are symptomatic of the proliferation of the coyote.

Now for my questions:

First question — The woodland caribou numbers are down. Why?

Invariably, the first word spoken was “coyotes” with one person combining this word with the idea of fluctuating population cycles.

A conservation officer (CO) offered a more convoluted answer. “The decline of the caribou is occurring all over the world. This is not unique to Newfoundland. The wolf was extirpated a long time ago from this island. They aren’t involved. The bear population is increasing and they get a few caribou. Then, there are eagles. We have a coyote population. However, the main cause is brainworm which was brought in by Dr Grenfell’s reindeer.”

Here, folks, are all of the spin cards that the authorities will use to explain away the problem. Let’s focus on the brainworm card.

The reindeer arrived in 1908 and were absorbed into the caribou population over time until their numbers were estimated at 90,000 individuals in 1996. This happened over a period of 88 years in spite of brainworm.

A new predator entered the ecosystem in 1985 – the eastern coyote. Over the next 11 years, they established themselves, aided by the fact that no open season was declared on them.

Government census numbers tell us that the caribou population fell from 90,000 in 1996 to 37,000 in 2008. That is a decline of five per cent each year.

Licence allocation numbers indicate that the population has fallen further to 22,170 caribou for the 2010 season. That’s a 20 per cent, per year, drop in each of the last two years.

The rate of disappearance of the caribou is accelerating towards extinction.

Second question - Will the $15.3 million program to study the coyote-caribou relationship solve this problem?

The predominant answer was “no”. One person described the program as a “farce”. The CO was allowed to take the Fifth Amendment.

Third question — How will the people of Newfoundland react with the demise of the caribou?

The general response — Anger.

Ladies and gentlemen. We have a new animal to add to the endangered species list. It’s called an incumbent MHA on the government side of the House.

“It’s easy to criticize. How about a solution,” you may ask?

Simple, a $100 bounty is placed on all island coyotes, effective immediately.

This is nothing new for your province. You have used very generous bounties before when there was an outbreak of rabies in foxes. It worked. Do it again.

You have less than 1000 days to solve this. Millions of dollars in future revenues hang in the balance.

To conclude, allow me to digress.

A successful basketball coach in the USA, Pat Riley, was once asked by a sports writer: “What is the difference between a good player and a great player?”

His answer? “All the great players listen.”

Sincerely,

John Kaufmann, BSc

Brantford ON

Comment by Tony Cooney on March 11, 2011 at 1:12pm

 
Is Wile E. part wolf?
By DEANA STOKES SULLIVAN, The Telegram

In the 27 years since their arrival, coyotes have been the topic of fear, argument and speculation. Newfoundland wildlife officials plan to add more facts about the genetics and dietary habits of the eastern coyote to the debate before much longer. Among those facts: a possible link between our newest resident and the wolves of Eastern Canada.

The coyote is believed to have first arrived in the province in the spring of 1985 when three animals - initially reported as wolves - were spotted coming ashore on the Port au Port Peninsula after crossing pack ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Fall start

A research program is planned to begin this fall which will include looking at the interactions of coyote and caribou throughout the province and the predation rate on caribou.

Wildlife biologist Mike McGrath, who works in the science division of the Department of Tourism, says hopefully this research will clear up speculation about the impact the animals are having on caribou populations and other wildlife.

The division is planning to hire a graduate student from Memorial University (MUN) to assist with the research.

"There have been some unconfirmed reports of predation on caribou on the Avalon but we haven't had a chance to assess that in any real scientific way," said McGrath. ". We know that they are killing caribou but we have no idea of the magnitude."

McGrath said Newfoundland can't rely on research from other regions because this province is the only place in North America where caribou and coyote populations overlap in the absence of wolves.

In Nova Scotia, the coyote's primary prey are snowshoe hares and white-tailed deer. There's speculation that since Newfoundland doesn't have the deer, the coyotes are replacing them in their diet with caribou.

"But we have no idea if that's happening or what magnitude that this is happening," said McGrath.

Wildlife officials also hope to learn more about the genetics of the coyote in Newfoundland.

There is a belief that the breed here - the eastern coyote, scientifically known as canis latrans - are a hybrid or cross between coyote and wolf.

Robert Chambers, emeritus professor of wildlife ecology who has been studying coyotes in New York for more than 30 years, wrote an article in the New York State Conservationist in August 2000, explaining the animal's origins.

Chambers noted that Peter Gaskin, a scientist with Jefferson Community College, analyzed skull measurements of a series of eastern coyotes collected in New York in the 1930s and the late 1960s and found that the majority were intermediate between western coyotes and wolves, with a few suggesting ancestry with dogs.

Chambers said similar claims were made by Ontario biologists of the presence of wolf-coyote hybrids from the Frontenac region.

Through DNA analysis, geneticists reported in 1990 that coyotes and wolves had hybridized across southern Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

For that reason, the eastern coyote is often referred to as the "brush wolf."

McGrath said he's aware of these claims and it's possible that the coyote in this province does have wolf ancestry.

"As the coyote moved eastward and hit Ontario and places like that, I think there was some interbreeding with wolves so they are a little larger than the coyotes out west," said McGrath.

"I guess that's the main factor - and they're preying on larger prey."

McGrath said the province is planning on doing some genetics work with MUN, beginning this fall, to further clarify this issue.

He doesn't believe, however, the genetics of the eastern coyote in Newfoundland is dominated by wolf.

"There might be some wolf blood in them, so it's a question that we're trying to resolve. The coyotes in Newfoundland are behaving quite similar to other areas. They're not forming large packs," said McGrath, who doubts that the species will eventually replace the extinct Newfoundland wolf.

Wolves prey on larger animals such as moose, he said, but there's no information to suggest that the coyotes in this province are attacking moose, with the exception of probably ill or weak animals.

Coyotes on the island are normally spotted in pairs, not in packs, said McGrath. The only exception to this is during late summer and early fall when a female might be observed with her pups.

While the province doesn't have any information on the coyote population, McGrath doubts that it's as high as some estimates. Some people have speculated there could be as many as 10,000, but McGrath said, if there were that many, there would be a lot more sightings and reports of people hearing them.

"In Nova Scotia, you won't see a lot of coyotes, but it's more likely you'll hear them (howling) in the nighttime," he said.

Also in high coyote populations, red fox populations decline dramatically and that's also not the case in Newfoundland, said McGrath.

"Our red fox population is quite healthy and robust at this point in time. Usually what happens in other places, the coyote replaces the fox and just by looking at signs and tracks in many areas of the province, they haven't done that yet."

The coyotes here have completed the "range expansion phase of their occupation of Newfoundland," said McGrath, now occupying all habitats.

"Now that they can't disperse any more, the only thing they can do is build up in numbers," he said. "But it remains to be seen at what density they will level out at. Their populations are still increasing."

McGrath expects it will be next spring or summer before results are available from the coyote research.

He said the province has no plan to eliminate the species and - even if it did - more coyotes would likely cross the ice from Nova Scotia and re-establish in Newfoundland.

"We get reports almost every second year of what they say are wolves or coyotes on the sea ice halfway across from North Sydney. So even if we did eliminate them, they would repopulate the island in short order anyhow," said McGrath.

In other regions of North America, he said, literally millions have been spent attempting to eliminate coyotes and all efforts have been failures.

 

Comment by kenneth Griffiths on March 11, 2011 at 10:53am

There has been siteing of them now in the town of placentia. Behind the house and hope to get one or two next weekend. They have been there for a few weeks and are coming out to the main road. YEEEEE HAAAAA.

Comment by Corey Coles on March 8, 2011 at 7:54pm

Something I found interesting that took place in Cornwall Ontario, where I use to hunt for many years.

Hunt contest kills 121 coyotes

By GREG PEERENBOOM GPEERENBOOM@STANDARD-FREEHOLDER.COM

Posted 21 hours ago

CORNWALL — A local hunting contest claimed 121 coyotes, but the relationship between hunters and other residents may have suffered collateral damage.

"It kind of hurt the (coyote) hunters," said John Gillard, a longtime South Stormont hunter who did not participate in Fence Depot's recent Coyote Wolf Hunting Contest.

Gillard was reacting to the negative aspect of local residents, often neighbours, squaring off against each other.

His nephew and fellow avid coyote hunter, Jeff Gillard, voiced his neutrality over the contest, but not over the criticism leveled at the contest.

"I would just ask the people that they get the facts straight," Jeff said, referring to the commentary that followed some media coverage.

Some of the concerns were over the use of tracking dogs on private property, fears that similar-looking dog breeds would be shot accidentally and the morals of hunting for the purpose of financial gain, not sport.

Jeff Gillard said uninformed observers raise a ruckus without knowing first-hand the benefits of coyote hunting.

The Gillards are among the most active coyote hunters and they've been recruited by some residents to keep the coyotes from their yards.

"We have women in Finch who don't walk their dogs on the trails because coyotes are running in behind," he said.

Sheep and other farmers have also complained about coyotes preying on young livestock.

"(The contest) didn't kill enough," he said, noting that his small group of hunters can get half that number in a small area.

Fence Depot ran the event Feb. 1-28 and owner John Locke said he'll do it all over again.

"I might present it in a little different way," said Locke, who noted that some opponents objected to the "fun" aspect of killing wild animals.

"But I got plenty of compliments," he said, citing the support from South Stormont Mayor Bryan McGillis and the United Counties of S,D and G.

"(South Stormont) gave us some door prizes," Locke said, for his wind-up Coyote/Wolf Fest Ball this Friday at the Spot Light Hall behind City Limits Bar.

We were getting people thanking me and that felt good."

Locke had said earlier the contest was extra incentive for hunters to put a dent in the coyote population, which has been blamed for decimating the deer herd in some areas.

Monday, Locke said the contest was also a marketing tool.

"At the end of the day, what we try to promote is that we have a big fishing and hunting store and we want the traffic.

"It wasn't a way to make money (directly)," he said, of the 105 registrations.

"The youngest who signed up was 12 years old, and the oldest was 75," he said.

The contest had several categories, including for the youngest, successful hunter, who wound up to be a comparative greybeard of 21.

There were 46 contestants who bagged one or more coyotes.

Locke said the coyote cull also attracted the interest of an unlikely observer. A New York City based photographer/journalist, Naomi Harris, accompanied a pair of hunters on a foray into the bush.

"I thought it would be very interesting, and one of the reasons I became a photographer is to learn new things," said Harris, a Toronto native who is planning a cross-country photo expedition this spring and summer.

"I plan on posting a few of the portraits on my website."

Comment by Tyson Skinner on February 28, 2011 at 5:13pm

they are very unpredictable and not to be trusted!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Tony Cooney on February 28, 2011 at 12:24pm

Coyotes crash N.L. kids camp

(Article originally from CBC news, printed 2009)

Camp counsellors in the eastern Newfoundland community of Holyrood had a camping trip last week they won't soon forget after they were visited by what they believe were coyotes.

The annual camp at the community's Centennial Field was underway last Tuesday with 30 children settling down for the night in tents on a fenced ball field when staff noticed unusual creatures prowling around.

"There were three other staff members besides myself came out to check the bathrooms and we were just standing over there, and they waltzed right out of the woods," camp counsellor Marissa Barron said.

"They were so much bigger than dogs, they definitely weren't dogs. They had very skinny legs and large upper bodies."

Deidre Badcock was in charge of the camp when the animals approached the campsite.

"We sent some more staff out then, and the other staff were approached by kind of a pair. We were pretty sure it was a coyote at that point. We'd seen two of them, rather large animal[s]."

Badcock says knowing there were animals prowling around, and not knowing how many there were, there was only one thing to do.

"We made the decision to cancel the camp-out and to shuttle the children into our ball-field canteen," she said.

"Everybody had to get in cars to go over to the shack. And then after that, we had to call our parents and it was around three o'clock in the morning then," said camper Aaron Fahey. "I was frightened a bit, but not that much."

The camp counsellors said the animals were probably attracted by the smell of food cooking.

They've been told by some they have vivid imaginations, but they're convinced that the animals they saw were definitely coyotes.

courtesy of cbc news

Comment by kenneth Griffiths on February 14, 2011 at 12:37pm

Hey tony i liked the info on the coyote, good job.

Comment by Tony Cooney on February 14, 2011 at 12:25pm

                               New Predator, New Territory
The Eastern Coyote belongs to the Canidae family, which also includes wolf, fox and dog. Although coyotes are relative newcomers to insular Newfoundland, they have quickly carved their niche here since their arrival in the mid-1980s.

•   Coyotes were first reported on insular Newfoundland when “wolf-like dogs” were seen crossing the ice near the Port au Port Peninsula in the spring of 1985. The first confirmed coyote on the Island was a pup hit by a car near Deer Lake in 1987.
•  By the mid-1990s, coyotes were confirmed throughout most of the Island of Newfoundland. Reports have also confirmed the presence of coyotes in central and southern Labrador.
Coyotes are now considered native to Newfoundland and Labrador because they extended their range naturally and through their own efforts. No other carnivore in recent years has expanded its range as successfully as the coyote, which has moved from the Midwestern United States throughout most of North America in the last 100 years.

One reason for the coyote’s success is its ability to adapt to a variety of habitats. These carnivores are opportunistic and will eat anything available, including caribou, moose carrion, snowshoe hare and other small mammals, birds, fruits and berries, garbage, birdseed, and on occasion, house pets.

                                 Identifying Coyotes

 coyotes usually have a natural fear of people, but they also possess natural intelligence and can quickly get used to life in residential areas as long as they have easy access to food. Although attacks on humans are extremely rare, they can occur if a coyote becomes too comfortable around people and starts associating humans with food.

• Slimmer and smaller than a wolf, usually weighing about 25 to 40 lb., and measuring about 4-5’ long and about 2’ high at the shoulder. Females are slightly smaller than males.
• Tawny, black-tipped, bushy tail, generally carried below the horizontal line of the animal’s back, with a scent gland located at the root of the tail. Strong-smelling urine is used to mark its territory. Coat is usually tawny gray with black tips, with white fur on its throat, belly and inside the ears. Long, soft fur is light-coloured in winter, darkening in summer.
• Legs, paws and long, pointy muzzle are reddish yellow. Unlike most dogs, the top of a coyote’s muzzle forms an almost continuous line with the forehead. Eyes are yellow; ears are wide, pointed and erect.
• Communicate using a complex vocal system; commonly two short barks and a long, wavering yodel. Excellent hearing and vision. Agile runners, reaching speeds of more than 60 kilometres an hour.
Are coyotes dangerous?
We live in harmony with most wildlife in Newfoundland and Labrador, often without even realizing it. Our forests and barrens are home to many animals; unless we intentionally seek them out, some people can go a lifetime without being aware of their presence. As long as humans and wildlife respect each others’ boundaries, conflicts can be avoided – but we all have to do our part to make sure we don’t encourage behaviour that could cause problems for wildlife.

                        If coyotes are near your home:
•  Never leave edible garbage or pet food outside.
•  Limit use of birdseed, and pick up fallen fruit around your property.
•  Keep pets indoors, or under supervision when outside. Roaming or unattended pets
are an easy target for coyotes. Have pets spayed or neutered to avoid attracting coyotes.
•  Never attempt to tame a coyote by feeding it.
•  If you are having a problem with coyotes nea

Comment by Tyson Skinner on February 13, 2011 at 10:35pm

great tips francis....im new at this so any tips are greatly appreciated. Thaks alot!!

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