Coyotes...
A Newcomer…. By Johnny Cone
I
saw my first Florida coyote in Levy County in the early 1990’s. I was heading to my hunting lease near Cedar Key. I first thought it was a dog standing in the dark beside the road in the middle of nowhere. But as I slowed down thinking it might be someone’s lost hunting dog, I saw the unmistakable long bushy tail and pointy nose. Although I had only seen them on television and books, I immediately recognized it as a coyote. When I got to camp I mentioned seeing the coyote to a couple of the guys I hunted with. I got some skeptical looks. So I dropped the subject. A few years later, I was turkey hunting during spring season in Polk County. I was working my call with high confidence that my clucks and purrs would be irresistible to a Gobbler I knew was in the area. When I caught some movement behind a stand of palmettos I was sure the Gobbler was coming. But instead of a gobbler, a coyote came around the palmettos. I watched him a brief moment, sure he was looking for the hen turkey that had been calling. I slowly raised my shotgun and sent a load of number 4’s his way. At that point all I really knew about coyotes in Florida is that there had been at least two but now one of those was no more. I had been running around the woods of Florida my entire life and had never seen a coyote until these two crossed my path. These days, coyotes are a common sight throughout Florida, occurring in wooded, rural and suburban environments, as well as within the city limits of major cities. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, coyotes began appearing in Northwest Florida in the early 1970’s and have been expanding their range since that time to include the entire state. A 2007 FWC report documented the presence of coyotes in all of Florida’s 67 counties. How they got here in the first place has been open to debate. Many scientists feel that they arrived via a natural eastward migration that has been occurring since the decline of the Red Wolf. Additionally, some coyotes may have been brought in from western states over the years and released. Released coyotes have been documented in Gadsden, Liberty, Columbia and Polk
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January 2011
Counties. There is an instance from quite a few years ago in which a fox hunter in Polk County released coyotes, thinking he was replenishing a depleted fox population with animals sold to him as “black fox.” It is almost a given that coyote numbers will continue to increase throughout the state. Coyotes are considered a generalist species. Unlike most other carnivores, coyotes will eat whatever is available. They will feed on virtually anything including wildlife, feral animals, domestic pets, road kill, carrion, garbage, livestock, fruit, vegetables and even insects. Coyotes have been documented to raid endangered sea turtle nests on panhandle beaches. In some areas they can be a major predator on deer fawns and turkey poults, potentially outcompeting native predators and putting a huge amount of pressure on prey species ill equipped to avoid this nontraditional predator. The extent of their impact on agricultural operations is unknown at this time. Experience with coyote losses among the agricultural community is quite varied. Richard Lingenfelter owns and operates Lingenfelter Groves on the edge of the Green Swamp, growing organic Amber Sweet oranges. A few years ago coyotes began to show up on his property. They took a liking to Mr. Lingenfelter’s oranges and began eating the fruit right off the trees. To date, Mr. Lingenfelter has killed a total of 31 coyotes, including two all black specimens. Dave Beerman, a Ranch Manager at the Stokes Ranch, first began seeing coyotes in the early 1990’s. They have seen sporadic calf losses due to coyotes over the years. As a matter of note, Dave says that calf losses have been more noticeable among calves born to first calf heifers. Lyle Combee commonly sees coyotes at his operation. Recently he and Bridget Carlisle were watched by a pair of coyotes as they took soil samples. Although Lyle has had some cases in which coyotes have drug off a calf that died from other causes and had a case where coyotes repeatedly attempted to unearth a dead cow that had been buried, he has experienced very little in the way of direct losses from coyotes.
Chad Jackson, a Herdsman at Rogers Brothers in Highlands City, saw a few calf losses to coyotes a couple of years ago, but has not had any in the last couple of years. When it comes to the question of how to control coyotes, or if it should even be attempted, several things must be kept in mind. While coyotes may be one of the most adaptable animals on the face of the earth, they have also experienced more control efforts than just about any other species. They have been shot, trapped, poisoned, hunted with dogs and from helicopters, and have even had biological methods of control attempted on them. Despite this, as a species they flourish. Their numbers remain strong in their traditional range in the western United States and they have expanded their range to include most of North America. Their expansion aided at least in part by the decline of other species of predators in much of their new range. Another documented factor in the coyote’s success is that when a local coyote population is under stress from control efforts, they produce larger litters and may even breed more often. When control of a coyote or group of coyotes becomes necessary, the species receive no protection from the State of Florida. They can be shot or trapped with a live trap. However, live trapping can be extremely difficult, due to the intelligence and wariness of the species. There is a reason they are often referred to as Wiley. If needed, a gun and light permit can be applied for from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Once obtained, a gun and light permit allows land owners to use a spotlight at night to aid in locating and shooting them. Leg hold traps are illegal without a special permit from the Executive Director of the FWC and poison may not be used under any circumstances. Other methods can be used to discourage coyotes from causing damage. Livestock guardian dogs are used with good success in some situations. Several breeds of dogs were bred specifically for the task of guarding stock and are well suited for use against coyotes. These breeds include Anatolian Shepherds, Great Pyrenees, Akbash, Kuvasz, Marem-
ma, as well as other similar breeds. These dogs live with and basically become part of the herd. Donkeys and Llamas have been used in similar fashion with some success. While dogs and other guardian animals work on smaller operations, they are often impractical on larger operations. In those cases one method that may discourage coyote livestock predation is to ensure there is plenty of “easy” food around for the coyotes. This is accomplished by leaving plenty of cover and habitat for smaller animals such as rabbits, field mice and other small animals. Planting a food source favored by small herbivores to further encourage their presence could help as well. A coyote expends much less effort and faces a greatly reduced risk of injury feeding on small animal as opposed to attempting to take livestock. If there are plenty of small wild animals around, chances are they will feed on those rather than taking livestock. This may sound a bit off the wall, but coyotes themselves might at times act as a deterrent against other coyotes preying on livestock. Something that was repeated numerous times in researching and interviewing for this article is that if the coyotes that are present in a particular location are not causing livestock loss or crop damage, the best advice was to leave those coyotes alone. Coyotes like most canines are highly territorial. A breeding pair will stake out and defend a territory from intrusion by other coyotes. Those “other” coyotes may not share the resident coyotes on their views of what is and is not a good food source. Additionally, young coyotes learn much of their hunting skills and feeding habits from their parents. So the offspring of non livestock killing coyotes stand a reasonable chance of not getting in the habit of taking livestock. Like them or not, coyotes have become part of our state and are here to stay. Time will tell if they become a serious problem or remain a sporadic nuisance. Who knows, maybe coyotes will develop a taste for the Burmese Pythons, Gambian Pouch Rats and Nile Monitors that have invaded our state. That would be a fair trade.
INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
January 2011
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