Coyotes in North Pinellas are getting more aggressive - St. Petersburg Times: "The increase in aggressiveness among North Pinellas coyotes is exactly what authorities would expect from a predator that has lived for generations in close proximity to people. Based on what happened in Dunedin about four years ago and in South Florida last year, this is what East Lake can expect next:
Coyotes snatching dogs right off leashes, crashing through lanai screens to grab cats by the throat, people mauled trying to protect their pets.
Already, residents have armed themselves with sticks, golf clubs, a stun gun and, in at least one case, a cane that transforms into a sword."
----------
We have plenty of coyotes around here. A few days ago I was standing at the kitchen sink and I watched a coyote trot past the back yard with a small furry animal in its mouth. Where we live there are lots of squirrels and rabbits, so there haven't been any pets attacked. But these coyote vs. suburbanite situations are getting so common that a cartoon would be in order.
2 comments:
Coyotes can do good for the biosphere. Bear with me here for a moment. I was at a talk once by Earth First! founder and lifelong libertarian and Barry Goldwater enthusiast Dave Foreman, who is now with something called the Wildlands project. He was talking about how large predators can be useful in restoring the ecosystem. Basically in the canyons of suburban San Diego, songbird populations had plummeted. Global Warming? No. Drought? No. Fires? No. DDT? No.
Well, anyway, a number of years ago coyotes were finally allowed to recolonize the area -- no more poisoning or trapping or anything like that.
And the songbirds came back.
What was the deal here? Cats. Yes, those cuddly little things that really regard you as at best a pet rather than an owner and would bite your head off in an instant if they were ten times larger than they are. They had taken over the canyons and wiped out the songbirds. And when the coyotes came back, the cats got out in a hurry, and the songbirds were able to recolonize the area without mass feline-inflicted carnage. And the cats stayed in their human pets' houses, safer watching the birds through the living room glass than running the coyote gauntlet.
That is a fascinating story that makes sense to me. Cats are deadly little predators who seem to kill for sport even if their widdle tummies are full of canned tuna.
Post a Comment