Coyotes Call for Help

Coyotes have long held the reputation with humans as being cruel, sneaky, and vicious killers. They have been labeled as dog killers, sheep hunters, and cattle pilferers. Do they deserve this awful reputation or are they merely victims of a smear campaign? Turns out that coyotes might benefit the environment, and the human race, more than we ever anticipated.

People have always cast predators as the villains in the nature narrative. It is how humans catalog creatures that they fear. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, and coyotes have always worn the mask of treachery, in fairy tales and modern urban legends alike. However, in light of recent scientific evidence, this title might have been wrongly bestowed.

Environmental Helper

Coyotes are a lot more helpful to the environment than most people imagine. They are omnivores and although they favor a diet predominantly consisting of meat, they will often eat fruits and vegetables when they come across them. While coyotes have a reputation for hunting cattle and livestock, they are in fact more opportunistic hunters, preferring more easily earned meals, such as rabbits or rodents. These canines are scavengers and can often be found cleaning up after other carnivores.

Coyotes can actually be of great help to cattle owners and farmers, as they keep the rabbit and rodent population in check. Rabbits and rodents (such as groundhogs) are an issue for farmers and livestock alike. These animals not only dig burrows that farm animals can inadvertently step in and be injured by, but they eat the animal’s feed and other growing produce. Coyotes help control the numbers of these animals.

Coyotes are also being credited with the increase in the vastly depleted pheasant population. These helpful critters scare away predators who would otherwise eat the pheasants such as raccoon, minks, weasels, and foxes. They have allowed the pheasant population to begin to flourish.

Humanity's Helpful Friend

In addition to being helpful to farmers and the environment, coyotes are beneficial to mankind. They aid in keeping many animal populations in check, including the deer population. In many states, the deer population goes unchecked due to the low numbers of natural predators in the wild. The deer population is responsible for over 1 million vehicle collisions per year which cause $1.6 billion in damages and 29,000 injuries, including death, annually. Coyotes help play a role in keeping the deer population from growing out of control and starving.

Coyotes also control the numbers of diseased rodents that carry infections contagious to humans, such as plague and Hantavirus. Recently, in Argentina, a country without coyotes, there has been a deadly outbreak of the Hantavirus, which has been responsible for numerous human deaths. This disease is caused by infected rats and their feces coming in contact with humans. It is deadly and coyotes play a huge part in decreasing the populations of diseased animals that might otherwise infect humans. Coyotes keep the Hantavirus under control in places in the United States where it could flair out of control.

Loyal Companions

Coyotes are one of several canine species in the animal kingdom that mate for life. These amazing animals are monogamous, loyal, and compassionate to their mates. There have been documented cases of coyotes bringing their mates food and staying with them, keeping them company, when one of a mated pair is stuck in a leg trap. There have even been documented cases of partners trying urgently to remove the leg traps. Although coyotes do occasionally form packs, they are usually only found in families of a male and female pair. When they have a litter, they work together to feed and care for their pups. They are indeed a family and will raise their pups until they can fend for themselves.

When one is killed, these animals mourn, just as we mourn when we lose a loved one. Hunting contests and trapping often leave grieving coyotes widows, who have lost their mate. If there are pups, they are left alone to care and feed for the litter.

People are often scared of coyotes, as they are of most large predators. However, coyotes are more frightened of people and almost always flee when they encounter humans. There have been very few cases of humans being attacked by coyotes. They might find themselves inadvertently among humans, but this is only because we continue to encroach on their habitat with our building and deforestation.

Hunting Contests - Population Control or Murder?

The idea that killing contests are essentially a blood sport as well as an ineffective means of controlling the coyote population can be shocking to people. Killing contests have been around for forever and they aren’t just about controlling the coyote population. In fact, it is perfectly lawful to kill any animal that the government considers to be a varmint—this includes foxes, raccoons, bobcats, rodents, and occasionally wolves. These animals are not protected under federal law and, therefore, are at the mercy of hunters and are subject to mass murder and just at a time when the predator population is desperately trying to reestablish itself in the United States.

Scientists have found that while labeled as a way to “control” the coyote population, killing contests actually may be creating larger populations, instead of smaller ones. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it is true. Under normal circumstances, coyotes give birth to litters of five to six pups of which one to three reach adulthood. Coyotes in competition for food naturally thin the population, and the youth survival rate is slight. However, killing contests create a situation where there is less competition and numbers of youthful survivors increases. With this increased number of adolescent coyotes, a need is created to hunt larger prey animals instead of their traditional rabbits and rodents. Also, these contests do not target offending coyotes, who are the ones specifically hunting sheep or other farm animals. It is completely random and more often than not kills those coyotes who are aiding the environment rather than being intended target.

In fact, most legitimate hunting organizations such as The Orion Hunter’s Institute and International Hunters Education Association frown on the strategies used by participants in killing contests. They feel that not only do these contests paint a terrible picture of hunters in general but also, they violate fair-chase ethics. These contests are massacres, and they allow contest killers to use weapons and ammunition, not typically permitted in hunting. Their methods of hunting are often brutal and inhumane. There have been reports of hunters using armor piercing bullets. The poor coyotes do not die instantly but slowly and cruelly bleed to death. The mass slaughter of animals, not limited to coyotes, creates chaos within the environment with no limits and no restrictions and these hunters will often leave the carcasses where they fall. This is in direct contrast to the image of hunters and hunting that these associations are working hard to cultivate.

In the end, nature does not need mankind to “control” the wild animal populations. Nature can and does do this very well on its own without any interference from humans. In fact, historically, human interference has often had a catastrophic effect on animal populations all over the world, throwing nature out of balance. It is time to outlaw cruel practices like hunting contests that are just outlets for spree killing rather than actually helping protect nature. These beautiful, misunderstood creatures have a right to survive, just as we do. It is up to mankind to protect animals in nature rather than perpetrate their inevitable extinction.

References

Argentina hantavirus outbreak: 12 killed as rodent disease spreads | World | News. (2019, January 17). Retrieved January 29, 2019, from http://www.headlinenews.co/argentina-hantavirus-outbreak-12-killed-as-rodent-disease-spreads-world-news/

Coyote Carnage: The Gruesome Truth about Wildlife Killing Contests. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://e360.yale.edu/features/coyote-carnage-the-gruesome-truth-about-wildlife-killing-contests

Hausheer, J. E., Miller, M. L., Hausheer, J. E., Miller, M. L., & Miller, M. L. (2018, October 03). How Wild Predators Can Improve Human Health. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://blog.nature.org/science/2018/07/30/how-wild-predators-can-improve-human-health/

Helmig, J. (n.d.). Coyotes. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from http://www.pestproducts.com/coyote.htm

Millburn, N. (2017, November 21). Coyote's Diet. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://animals.mom.me/coyotes-diet-1632.html

Turtenwald, K. (2019, January 10). How Does Hunting Affect the Environment? Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://sciencing.com/hunting-affect-environment-11369486.html