Taylor Mitchell Killed in Coyote Attack

[OtakuLoki]

A young, and very talented, Canadian folk singer was killed this week in a very unusual attack: two coyotes, apparently acting in tandem, attacked and mauled her on a hiking trail in Newfoundland.

Link

All the reports I've seen have been emphasizing the surprise that the wildlife authorities have at this attack. Coyotes are clever, smart, and generally timid animals. At least when dealing with humans. Unprovoked attacks against someone so much larger than the coyotes are very very rare.

Of the two animals involved in this attack, one has been killed, and it seems that rabies has been ruled out.

So, why the attack?

Obviously I can't know. And since Mitchell was hiking alone, no one knows what prompted the attack, if anything did.

One of the dirty things that a lot of people don't care to mention about coyotes, though, is that they are not aloof. While they are normally solitary animals, except when raising a litter, they don't care so much about staying strictly within their own species for breeding. For that matter, the red wolf (Canis rufus) was found to be a hybrid between the grey wolf and the coyote. In the wild coyotes have been observed to have mated and bred with grey wolves, red wolves, as well as other coyotes.

They also are quite willing to breed with the domestic dog.

Now, I really like God's Dog, but Hope Ryden is not what I'd call an impartial reporter. In spite of that she is particularly convincing when she points out that a lot of the traits that are at odds with normal coyote behavior are often behaviors that are generally associated with feral dogs. I can't swear that she's right to claim that the majority of the problems she'd seen with so-called coyotes and humans had come from coy-dog hybrids. My gut reaction is that she's likely onto something, but the evidence was not there when I last went looking.

At any rate, the point I'm trying to bumble towards is that I believe that this attack is going to have one effect, and the more logical conclusion will be ignored.

What I expect is that this woman's tragic death is going to be used as an excuse or justification for greatly expanded hunting and culling of coyote populations through North America.

What's going to be ignored is the likely contribution by feral dogs to this incident and people will still refuse to get their pets neutered.

And both these conclusions sadden me almost as much as I am saddened by the horrible loss of this vibrant talent.

[jali]

What a sad, sad story.

[Oliveloaf]

Around here (Chicago) your hear about the occasional pet dog being killed by a coyote, but never anything larger.

I always sort of assumed that a good walking stick was all you needed to protect yourself. crazy.

[Jaglavak]

Usually you don't even need a stick. I've been surrounded by packs of coyotes while sleeping on the ground before and it's never taken more than a good harrumph to scatter them. They only weigh about 20 or 30 pounds; you could grab one and use it to beat the others.

I bet she tried to run. Never do that. Pretty much anything with fur and fangs is faster than you.

However I doubt if this incident will change much as far as coyote hunting is concerned. The season is already 365 days with no bag limit. You can even hunt them at night with noggs if you want.

I don't shoot them myself. But since we've eliminated their natural predators, getting shot or starving is the fate of most coyotes. The only way around that is to bring back wolves.

[Cluricaun]

However I doubt if this incident will change much as far as coyote hunting is concerned. The season is already 365 days with no bag limit. You can even hunt them at night with noggs if you want.

Shit, we used to be able to get $10 a scalp and ears for coyotes when I was in Oregon. The Stockman's Association paid off bounties on predators and with no closed season and no bag limit on coyotes you could make a nice buck for a few hours time honking on a baby rabbit call and $10 in cartridges. You couldn't wipe out coyotes if you tried, there are more of them then there are stars in the sky.

But I too am astounded by this story. You're no more likely to be killed by foxes or badgers than you are by coyotes. They're scared of the noise that they make themselves and you can pick them up with one hand.

I live next to a quarry that seems to be home to a few, I called one in one night with that same baby rabbit call a year or so ago while sitting on my balcony. Got him within 25 yards or so before a car spooked him.

[OtakuLoki]

You couldn't wipe out coyotes if you tried, there are more of them then there are stars in the sky.

It's fascinating to me, that for the 100 years there's been a bounty on coyotes - and the animal's expanded it's range in that whole time. Today there are native coyote populations in all lower 48 states, and I believe even a population in Alaska. There are also been reports of coyotes as far south as the Amazon Basin.

[beebs]

I knew that coyote attacks were rare, but I was still surprised that this could only be the second recorded fatality in North America's recorded history:

Until Tuesday’s attack, there had only been one other recorded human death in North America from a coyote attack. That was in 1981 when a three-year-old girl was attacked in her yard in California, where attacks in suburban areas have increased in the past decade.

*here