Hey, there! Log in / Register
Coyotes strike fear in West Roxbury; will somebody do something before some yutz pulls out a gun?
By adamg on Wed, 05/23/2007 - 2:55pm
Fearless Carl Stevens of WBZ radio hounds a baby coyote on Baker Street in West Roxbury:
Also see: Coyotes continue to plague West Roxbury neighborhood:
Police were scouring a West Roxbury neighborhood Wednesday morning after 2 coyotes were seen near an elementary school. ...
Will have to ask Junior Reporter Kidlet today - that's her school. There probably hasn't been this much excitement there since the Dead Robotic Goose scare back in aught-five.
Earlier:
Deer in Rozzie Square.
Coyotes in the Arboretum.
Did the coyotes in the Arboretum eat a deer in Stony Brook Reservation?
The coyotes of Newton have tasted blood (pretty much a short saunter from Newton down to Baker Street).
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Baker Street
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OgwETZKNPZc
Coyote 101
I live right next to the Middlesex Fells reservation. My area has been home to an increasing number of coyote families, and we have taken measures to protect our children and pets and to coexist with the creatures.
1) We don't bother to report sightings if the coyotes are just being coyotes. On our street, where six houses directly abut the woods, there is a general consensus that the human response to coyotes carries far more risk than the coyotes do. People are more aware and educated about them than they were 5 years ago, but we know they are here to stay anyway - getting rid of a couple creates room for more. The last thing we want is some street-trained city cop playing Wild Bill Coty and taking out pets and children in the woods.
2)Secure your garbage. They will come for it, and come for more. Securely strap down lids and tie up the cans EVEN if you have them under a porch. Do not leave pet food out, or any other obvious food sources. Furthermore, don't feed their prey - squirrels, chipmunks, etc.
3)Coyotes versus skunks and racoons. I'll take the coyotes if they keep the stinky and ringtailed population down, thank you.
4)If you can't keep your cat or dog in, keep them in at night. My cats pull jailbreaks at night (one can actually open windows and a sliding door!) if I don't let them out in daytime. I feed them when I get in from work. This has trained them to come in in the evening, and they are in for the night.
5) Coyotes fear humans and avoid us. No need to freak out, just calmly walk away. Teach your kids to be neither curious or fearful, and to make a calm and graceful exit.
6)When our children were little, we showed them pictures of coyotes and drilled them on what to do if they "saw a dog like this in neighbor's yard". They were to walk slowly into the house and shut the glass door. They did this drill a couple of times - off leash German shepherds and a husky - but I was glad they got the clue because, well, off leash dogs can actually be more dangerous than 'yotes.
This is not the last you will see of Coyotes. They are adapting, they are migrating. Move all you want, they'll make more. Time for us to adapt, too.
The more I watch that video ...
... The more I keep hoping the mama coyote would have snuck up on Stevens and bit him where it would do the most good, because it's obvious the poor baby coyote is desperately, desperately trying to get away from the crazy man with the booming voice and the camera.
It's also true that coyotes and other wild animals
can and do become "human-condiioned", meaning that they lose their fear of humans. The fact that there's an increasing number of coyotes that're showing up near densely populated residential areas in both urban and suburban areas is, imo, strongly indicative of that. All one or two people need to do is to feel scraps of human food to coyotes, or squirrels, or whatnot, and that perpetrates the cycle.
It's also true that as many more people either opt to move farthur out into rural wooded areas that're yet unspoiled by humans, or to just plain hike/go camping out there, that beast vs. human incidents will increase.
Well...
You can put me in the "yutz" category. Even in Roslindale, if a coyote had come into my yard where my kids play, it would have been promptly put down, provided I had a clean shot at it.
I'd deal with the wrath of Mumbles after the fact. Keeping my kids safe is my number one priority, way ahead of "protecting furry carnivores".
As to this comment...
"...getting rid of a couple creates room for more."
Leaving them alone means more coyotes in the same congested space. On what planet does killing animals increase their population?
And, this...
"The last thing we want is some street-trained city cop playing Wild Bill Coty and taking out pets and children in the woods."
...is one of the most ridiculous comments I've read in a long time. Like it takes years of specialized training to knock off a coyote with a scoped .22, a rifle that can shoot dime-sized groups at 50-yards all day long, easily.
Define "clean shot". Is
Define "clean shot". Is there such a thing in Roslindale, one of the most populous sections of boston, one of the most populous sections of the U.S.?
I'm not a hunter ...
And I wouldn't want to see them traipsing around the neighborhood, but there are some pretty "rural" areas in Roslindale - and not just up at the Arboretum.