December 16, 2011

Coyotes are running around in Madison, Wisconsin....

... and one seems to have killed a pet dog.

Last night — according to neighborhood email — somebody saw 2 coyotes chasing a rabbit near West High School.

I must say, there are too many rabbits around here. And you probably shouldn't leave your cats and dogs outside on their own.

41 comments:

Chip Ahoy said...

Maybe now would be a good time to unload some of this Acme equipment.

beast said...

See unintended consequences of killing wolves.Leaves other predators with a competitive advantage.

Scott M said...

Where's Rick Perry packin' heat when you need him?

Scott M said...

Maybe now would be a good time to unload some of this Acme equipment.

lol, classic.

roesch/voltaire said...

So far this year we have had wild turkeys, one fox, and the usual assortment of raccoons run through our yard, and according to neighbors two Coyotes-- all adding up to wonderful diversity that makes living in Madison such a pleasure.

Curious George said...

Nothing new about this. Coyotes have been running around the west side for years. You see them occasionally but hear them frequently around Odana Hills GC, specifically on #12, #15 and #16 which butt up to that wetland area just west of the course. Seeing a pile of goose feathers is common on those holes. Of course their is an abundance of wabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks in that area too.

So little Button is found dead and this

MadisonMan said...

In other wildlife news, Gov. Walker has pardoned Charlotte the Deer. Good for him!

Sorun said...

Someday, although maybe far into the future, there will be a genuine wolf sighting near Madison like there occasionally are near the Twin Cities. That will indicate progress.

Triangle Man said...

The was what appeared to be a dead coyote along Old Middleton Rd. a few days ago.

chuck said...

there will be a genuine wolf sighting near Madison

Thinning the herd and restoring the natural balance. They have been missed.

Curious George said...

"roesch/voltaire said...
So far this year we have had wild turkeys, one fox, and the usual assortment of raccoons run through our yard, and according to neighbors two Coyotes-- all adding up to wonderful diversity that makes living in Madison such a pleasure."

Read this closely Althousians. It actually tells you all you need to know about the lefty residents of our capitol city. And to the folks of the rest of Wisconsin, what you are up against.

traditionalguy said...

Gaia loves all her creatures equally...I meant all her evolved accidents equally.

The whole voter ID kerfuffle maybe preparation for giving coyotes and wolves the vote. Who can deny them vote under the equal protection clause...talk about being natural born.

MadisonMan said...

That will indicate progress.

Progress for who?

I would like a few more predators in my yard. The squirrels and rabbits -- that is, the vermin -- need to be eradicated. The chipmunks are gone, thanks to a neighbor's cat.

Let's get with the program, Owls!

Original Mike said...

I saw a coyote trotting down the middle of my street in broad daylight.

You can tell when the coyotes are active by the "Lost Pet" flyers that go up on the neighborhood telephone poles.

Doug said...

Wrong, they are not coyotes; they are a Wolf Pack, and they are in search of their long lost Pack leader, Russell Wilson.

Bruce Hayden said...

I would like a few more predators in my yard. The squirrels and rabbits -- that is, the vermin -- need to be eradicated. The chipmunks are gone, thanks to a neighbor's cat.

Coyotes are good for them, but maybe not so for just as bad vermin - deer. There, you really need wolves.

See unintended consequences of killing wolves.Leaves other predators with a competitive advantage.

Interestingly, supposedly the population most affected in Yellowstone by the reintroduction of wolves was the coyote population - cut in maybe half. Not sure though how much of that was because the wolves out-competed the coyotes, or that they preyed on them.

The logical answer to any coyote problem (as with a deer problem) is to declare open season on them. But, cities and towns have long banned discharging firearms within the city limits, and that includes hunting. Bow hunting might work with deer, but likely won't with coyotes.

Geoff Matthews said...

Several years ago, there was a series of cat mutilations in Salt Lake City that had people worried. A radio host offered a bounty, and police were stating that this was the work of a budding serial killer.
A few years after it started, a family of foxes on the foothills were found, and it was quickly concluded that they were the mutilators.

About 3 years ago, a mountain lion came into my neighborhood, and was caught next door to the home where my son was staying. That one had me worried.

SteveR said...

If we can get coyotes to go after feral hogs we might have a chance. At the very least fire ants and nutrias.

MayBee said...

I had an acquaintance who tried to pass around a petition to keep our city from trapping and relocating coyotes. We have a lot of them. The argument people like her always make is they were here before us and they are part of nature. Well, it's also part of nature that humans have learned how to trap and relocate pests that become too abundant.

Petunia said...

The first comment on that newspaper article was pretty funny.

What I can't figure out is why neighborhood rabbits make the effort to get into my yard. It's fenced, with all holes blocked, because I have a small dog who likes to try to escape. Very few of the other yards around here are fenced.

Yet every year, several rabbits get into my dog-infested fenced yard, and every year, several rabbits win Darwin Awards.

MadisonMan said...

Doug, that was excellent!

Unknown said...

"Rossler recommended that pet owners in the area keep a close eye on their dogs and cats when they let them out, especially at dusk and at night."

Why, oh why, are wild animals privileged above household pets? Coyotes climb fences routinely; they send out scouts to scope out game and return with the pack to kill them.

I suppose if you shoot a sacred cow/coyote on your property, you go to jail?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Out in the boon docks, we have running and rambling through our property multitudes of wild animals: predators and vermin. It is just part of life. And we DO keep our pet cat inside at night.

Foxes, which are major pests. Deer, likewise pests. Raccoons who still can't figure out how to get into the garbage, but have discovered the compost pile :-( We hear the coyotes at night, but they are too busy killing sheep and goats. We have seen the pug marks of Mountain Lions in the snow, but fortunately no actual cats. (Another reason why we need incandescent bulbs to come on IMMEDIATELY at night)

Quail, doves, finches, flickers and many other birds that we feed. Owls, eagles and hawks feeding on the previously mentioned birds.

The answer to the foxes and coyotes.....22 shorts.

SteveR said...

I'm not sure that coyotes are reclaiming lost ground as much as they are taking advantage of more abundant and easier sources of food.

MadisonMan said...

I suppose if you shoot a sacred cow/coyote on your property, you go to jail?

Discharge of firearms within the city limits is illegal, I believe.

MayBee said...


Why, oh why, are wild animals privileged above household pets? Coyotes climb fences routinely; they send out scouts to scope out game and return with the pack to kill them.


Around here, the people who pay tens of thousands of dollars to put their dog on chemotherapy go all "well that's nature" when they hear someone else's pet got eaten by coyotes.

Anonymous said...

D coyoots wld behavv emselvss if yall had more wolfffs, mtn lions, n baars round dere

Course den all d farmers wld hafta get somm Great Pyrenees dogs to gard deyr livestock Dats not so bad, Pyrs are fabuloos doggs 2 hvv aroond, one of Naturrs mos nobbll beasties

Anonymous said...

N Arizona, its been observd dat d coyoot pakk will send a femall in heat down d washes dat snaak thru d suburbs. All d domestidogs comm out to play, n becomm lunch n dinner for d coyoot pakk

raf said...

I must say, there are too many rabbits around here. And you probably shouldn't leave your cats and dogs outside on their own.

If the pets weren't so wimpy, you wouldn't need coyotes. Back on the plains, we had a cat who kept the rabbit population under control all on her own.

wv: monipwi. Did Missouri just barely beat Wisconsin at something?

bagoh20 said...

"Coyotes are running around in Madison... and one seems to have killed a pet dog."

So just as I suspected, that fat hunger striker guy is cheating.

Probably got a recipe from Garage.

Unknown said...

Oh puh-lease, andinista!

DADvocate said...

I wonder how far down this path Madison will have to go before the Mouseketeers will realize there are limits to sharing your territory with potentiailly rabid canines and other predators.

Anonymous said...

N coogar countryy, rulzz are simple: don go by urself @ dawn & dusk into coogartown, yull be dinner. Keep yrr kids n mates cloooss. Deres almos no defens ginst a coogar attack, oncc it haz uu by d face or throat, ur donnn. Dey waitt by d side of d trails, surpriizz uu wit a leapin attakk dat hits uu like a tonn of brikks Or they see uu walkin on a trail, n start walkin twords uu If uu turn to run, yr donnn. Yr only hope is to stop, makk urself as tall n biggg as uu can, n shout.

Or, uu can bring ur friends Smith n Wesson wit uu. But den d Sheriff n Fish n Game will be po'ed @ uu.

Unknown said...

So just as I suspected, that fat hunger striker guy is cheating.


I dunno if it's cheating, though. The sign said Hunger Strike, right? And that guys looks like he's always hungry.

Wince said...

I don’t give a tuppenny fuck about your moral conundrum, you meat-headed shit-sack.

That’s more or less the thing.

Now I want you to go out there — you, nobody else, none of your little minions — I want you to go out there, and I want you to punish the person who’s responsible for murderin’ this… poor little rabbit.

Is that understood?

Unknown said...

OriginalMike,

I have been told that the lone coyote strolling around in daylight is the female, scouting for prey. She will then bring enough of the boys back at night for the kill.

Kirk Parker said...

Bruce,

I'm not so sure that bows would be useless against coyotes in the urban setting. The coyotes are coming in among all these closely-spaced houses, after all. You'd just need a lot of patience, or maybe some neighbor's pet staked out in the yard as bait.

Anonymous said...

Inn our 'hood, we hvv skunks, coons, possums, peafowl, owls, crows, ravens, n sometimss raptors Unfortunat, our dogg is a box of hammers, n likks to play w d skunks whenev dey saunter thru our yard @ night A dumber dogg ive nevr met

Anonymous said...

Uu cant shoot a wild animall, in d city, not w guns nor boww, unless ur in imminen mortal dangr Samm as a homm intrudr D wild animals blong 2 We d Peeps, n uu cant destroy our propertyy willy-nilly N facc, wild animalss hv morr rights dan a homm intrudr, cuz dey are innocent

Deb said...

Many of the people who post here are clueless. I live near you, and we both know that urban coyotes are nothing new. And the suggestion that a local pet was killed by coyotes is not substantiated (i.e., more urban hysteria). Please stop trying to make Madison seem more exotic than it is. We have enough local color without you trying to make a few local coyotes seem like The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. (Now: Cue Clint & the Spaghetti Western Music. Shall we call John DeMain for his opinion?)
Enough already about the coyotes.

Kirk Parker said...

Deb,

Yes, I'm sure those local Madison coyotes are all vegans. Talk about clueless...