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From: Sean_Q_ on 1 Nov 2009 15:24 don (Calgary) wrote: > I think her comment regarding the aggressiveness of the animals was > qualified with "people have reported". That's a bit of a stretch from > a definitive statement. Up until this incident I haven't seen any data > supporting eastern coyotes are more prone to attacking humans than > those in other areas. For me, "twice as large" and "more aggressive" translates directly into "All the better to bite you, my dear!" SQ
From: Twibil on 1 Nov 2009 15:40 On Nov 1, 9:52 am, Sean_Q_ <no.s...(a)no.spam> wrote: > > > What was news to me was that eastern coyotes are 2x as big and > 4x as mean as our western type. That's because an "eastern coyote" is most likely 50% feral domestic dog and 50% coyote, if that. Coyotes were either rare or missing entirely from the eastern states until after European settlers exterminated the local wolves, which *were* endemic to the area, and which happily ate the coyotes that intruded into their territory. But ever since the wolf's been gone, the coyote -ever an opportunist- has expanded it's territory into areas where it was previously unknown, and has interbred with feral domestic dogs along the way, gaining size and ferocity and losing it's natural sense of caution about human beings. (There's also speculation that eastern coyotes may have some wolf genes in there somewhere along with the domestic dog blood.) Why this should be the case in the east -but not so much in the west- is a good question, but our west coast coyotes still mostly top out in the 30 to 40 pound range, and remain quite cautious of adult human beings. I see them quite frequently when I'm hiking out in the hills, and they will invariably take one look and instantly fade into the sagebrush.
From: Sean_Q_ on 1 Nov 2009 16:00 J. Clarke wrote: > And those coyotes are different from the ones living a half a mile from > Harvard in what way? They haven't made headlines. At least not yet. Here's a Google Maps aerial view centered on Harvard University, Cambridge MA at a scale of about 2000 feet to the inch. The region bounded by a half-mile radius appears to be completely built up into an urban or at least suburban area. It doesn't even reach the banks of the Charles River. If there are permanent resident coyotes they must be feeding on _something_ -- garbage, stray pets, who knows, but whatever it is they've arrived at some kind of peaceful coexistence with humans or we'd have heard about it. <http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.365393,-71.104889&spn=0.030123,0.054502&t=h&z=14> Meanwhile here's Cape Breton Highlands National Park. It looks like an almost total wilderness. I'm no biologist but it seems to me that coyotes habituated over generations to wilderness are bound to be different, at least in their habits, and maybe their physique, than suburban coyotes. <http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=46.704086,-60.619812&spn=0.447331,0.87204&t=h&z=10> I don't know conditions in the park. Maybe game was scarce, the coyotes were starving and Ms. Mitchell merely represented 100 lbs of meat. SQ
From: J. Clarke on 1 Nov 2009 15:45 Sean_Q_ wrote: > J. Clarke wrote: >> Sean_Q_ wrote: >>> J. Clarke wrote: >>> >>>> That attack could as easily have happened in Chicago or >>>> Boston or San Francisco-- >>> However the expert said eastern coyotes are more aggressive >>> (and bigger) than in the West. Not that I'm anxious to try >>> and verify this in person... >> >> Last I heard Boston was in the East. > > Yeah, but I heard San Fransisco was in the West. Your point being?
From: The Older Gentleman on 1 Nov 2009 16:40
don (Calgary) <hd.flhr(a)telus.net> wrote: > >Seems rather harsh. > > Considering the source, that surprises you? You know, I tried that lyric quote a few years in a bar with my buddies. Dang, but she was a pretty thing on the sandwich counter, too. And she had a piece of bread in each hand, and she was about to slap them both around a piece of real man's steak, cut from the finest cow that ever came out of the Stampede, and I said: "We just come from different sets of circumstances..." And she held those two pieces of bread like they were the covers of a book, and her eyes pretended to scan them, and she said: "This is an interesting read..." and she wandered off. Dang, but I've never forgotten that. taught me something, too. Can't remember what, but it was important. And I learned something. Definitely. -- BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple Suzuki TS250ER (currently Beaving) Damn, back to five bikes! Try Googling before asking a damn silly question. chateau dot murray at idnet dot com |