Wildlife in our gardens

The biggest problem with our coyotes is that I live in a city. No guns allowed for shooting wildlife in your back yard. Our ponds and marshes are protected. We are also overrun with deer. Our area is not rural.

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In our area coyotes keep mice and rats in check so they are a good thing. Everything is in balance here but yes they certainly will eat cats, small dogs etcā€¦ we accept things.

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@clarkinks- I have plenty of snakes here for thatā€¦ @mrsg47ā€¦I get the whole being in the city thing. You canā€™t just go shooting things with people around. I do believe though that you see those animals in the city because they are overpopulated and can get an easy meal in the city. The biggest problem is when they start losing fear of humansā€¦People get hurt then. We have people here that feed the bears though they can get a HUGE fine for it then they have to call wildlife for a Nuisance bear then the bear has to be shot with a Dart and repopulated in the Ocala National forest and now the forest is over run with bear where people take their kids to campā€¦ Vicious cycle started by Humansā€¦ Donā€™t get me wrong. I love all the animalsā€¦They just canā€™t lose their fear of humansā€¦They will be dangerous then.

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Iā€™m having trouble following your logic. Kill all the coyotes and wolves, then when the deer population explodes, kill them too.

I think coyotes may be a little different in different places. We see them every night and they eat opossums, raccoons etc. as well itā€™s just nature and I donā€™t interfere. We grew up with a system already in balance if the coyotes population goes up disease wipes them out. If cat population goes up coyotes wipe them out. If deer population goes up mountain lions eat them if there is not enough coyote. You get the ideal. The significant difference we have is that our rodent population cannot be controlled by snakes alone because we raise grains here. The leftover grains increase rodent populations. Bobcats etc. help to control rodents. Our rabbit population is huge.

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Coyotes are welcome in my neighborhood.

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I never mentioned wolves. Ever. I never said kill ALL the Coyotes. I said Hunters are conservationist. There is no logic to kill all, kill all, kill all, furthermore that isnā€™t even remotely what i said. I did say they need to be harvested just as many other animals do for the best environment for them and us. Ordinarily in a wildlife population only the strong would survive. In some animal populations they will even kill there own when weak. But that would be without a human population. With a human population and with us being ever more increasingly encroaching on their habitats it needs managed. That does not equate to Kill, Kill, Killā€¦ that equates to proper harvesting. In every state we pay hundreds if not thousands of specialist to figure that all out for us. Sometimes i agree sometimes i donā€™t but I ALWAYS adhere to the laws in every situation. I am well enough acquainted with wildlife individuals to understand the need for seasons. For instance. The population of Alligator here in Florida was so heavily harvested at one point you couldnā€™t even hook an alligator while fishing without concern you would be prosecuted. They totally protected them. Now the population being bigger than it ever has been and many more humans in Florida ( BTW if there is water here there is an alligator no matter where you are) the Fish AND Wildlife has established a season and issues tags and manages the harvest. Wise in My opinion.

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Bears are a dangerous animal. They WILL attack and kill humans. I get nervous when Iā€™m in their vicinity

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Yes they will and i never mess with them. I have been very close to them at night time and they have always run. I will not take any chance though. I carry a weapon big enough to kill a bear if it were to be to aggressive. And i hope i am quick enough because bear are MUCH faster than most people realize. Regardless of what you think of my conversation here I have a VERY healthy respect for all animalsā€¦ Some maybe even more than others. I know people who think itā€™s cute to have a raccoon as a pet? I think itā€™s foolishā€¦But thatā€™s just me. Alsoā€¦We only have Black bear. No Brown. They are known to be much less aggressiveā€¦I will still never take the chance. The strength of a bear is incredible.

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Sorry, just to add. I have absolutely no experience with wolves. But from what i have read they are nothing even remotely like coyotes. They hunt completely different, live completely different and breed far less than coyotes. I may even be wrong about some of that but I do know they cannot be compared in any way , shape or form.

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Many people here feed the coyotes, that is the biggest problem. They are being encouraged to go into a neighbors yard and take what they want. They have no fear. Its all maddening !:face_vomiting:

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Iā€™ve watched people on TV here whining about the Bears and Coyotes eating there pets and then the TV show plays videos of them feeding the animalsā€¦Itā€™s pure madness. There was a guy over in Orlando that thought the Peacocks would be so cool to feedā€¦They literally eventually ran him out of the neighborhood because he would not stop even after seeing the tens of thousands of dollars of damage they did to houses, yards, screened enclosure, pools etcā€¦It was purely Unbelievable

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Yeah, Iā€™ve seen with my own eyes how our big bobcat has done massacres ā€“ just snapped necks and moved on. He probably wasnā€™t interrupted every single time, so thatā€™s not hunger. Thatā€™s one bobcat Iā€™d like to wear as a winter hat!

His scat and prints were always obvious when he was nearby. Itā€™s been ages now, tho. Maybe he died.

Hey, I think Eastern coyotes might be more skittish than Western because of their wolf blood? Just a theory, but mine do always run to the woods if you catch them outside of them, even with my dogs on leashes. My new neighbor swore one big guy here was an actual wolf, but no :slight_smile: Just a big ole grey coyote!

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I have a lot of experience with western ā€œblackā€ bears. The smaller ones that are around 28-32" at the shoulder check in about 400 lbs. When Iā€™m in the wilderness I give them a lot of respect ā€“ and steer clear of their huckleberry patches!

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These encounters in the dark leave a lot to imagination but here is a picture from a smartphone of an animal in the dark. Iā€™m out there with them all the time late finishing things up and never fear any of the wildlife we have here. Not to say you should not respect them but I donā€™t make a big deal out of an encounter.
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In areas close to or in Arkansas and Missouri etc I donā€™t have that same confidence and have been there plenty working cows etc. Bears, hogs, numerous panthers etc change things. Obviously the animal in the picture is not something I could make out in pitch black but something I thought you all might enjoy seeing through my eyes. People not from here are terrified sometimes at these encounters. Our largest predator is rare and there are no confirmed attacks ever in modern times https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/predator-hunting/confirmed-mountain-lion-sightings-rise-in-missouri-kansas/ . Coyotes in Kansas are harmless to humans http://www.wildlife.k-state.edu/species/coyotes/index.html

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A honeybee on the ridge of our rear fountain, with its proboscis (mouth-tube) in the water :slightly_smiling_face:

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If they kill raccoons and possums, they should be honored guests.

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dutch-s ,

I shouldnā€™t have said ā€œyour logicā€ and ā€œwolvesā€ in the same post. My apologies. I was extrapolating, and sounds like you donā€™t approve of that.

With respect to coyotes however, you did say ā€œcoyotes are very high on my list for eradicationā€. I think to most people that means to kill them all.

I can understand how this could be important in your area :slightly_smiling_face:. In my area opossums do little crop damage and drive out rats (sworn enemies), while the racoons keep the winter grub population under control. I donā€™t mind them one bit.

They donā€™t climb your fruit trees and strip the fruit, or crawl under your deck, die and rot?

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