Coyotes Are Colonizing Cities. Step Forward the Urban Hunter.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dennis Murphy sniffed the bobcat urine he uses to lure his prey. He checked the silencer on his AR-15 assault rifle and loaded a few snares into his Ford pickup.
“Let’s go kill some coyotes,” he said.
But he wasn’t heading for the wilderness. Mr. Murphy’s stalking ground is on the contentious new frontier where hunters are clashing with conservationists: cities and suburbs.
Dennis Murphy hunting coyotes in Gahanna, Ohio.
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
Coyotes are largely associated with their ancestral bastions in the wild lands of the American West, but they are highly adaptable, and in recent years they have been colonizing large population centers throughout North America. The hunters have come after them, stalking the predators in settings like strip mall parking lots, housing tract cul-de-sacs, and plazas in the shadow of skyscrapers.
The growing popularity of urban hunting is igniting a fierce debate over the perils and benefits coyotes pose in populated areas, and whether city dwellers ought to adapt to living alongside a cunning predator that has thrived since one of its top adversaries, the gray wolf, has been all but wiped out in much of the continent.
Enthusiasts for the urban coyote chase contend that they are helping to limit the spread of a pest that federal authorities already kill by the tens of thousands every year in eradication projects. Some also concede that they enjoy the thrill of urban hunting, which requires different kinds of training and marksmanship than prairie or mountain hunting.
“Coyotes are a formidable predator, moving into the places where we take our kids to school and walk our pets,” said Mr. Murphy, 59, a former Army Green Beret who has hunted bears in Alaska and now deals in the pelts of coyotes he kills in the suburbs of Columbus.
Coyotes are not the only prey for urban hunters.
Mr. Murphy uses cages to trap smaller animals. Left, two frozen beavers.
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
Mr. Murphy looked for a location to set traps in Gahanna.
“We’re waking up to the realization that coyotes are in our cities to stay,” he said.
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
Some carnivore ecologists argue, though, that moving the hunt into cities will be self-defeating. They say it replicates the very tactics that have allowed coyotes to prosper despite a concerted onslaught against them. In an adaptation that biologists call fission-fusion, when coyotes come under pressure from hunters, their packs split up into lone animals and pairs, they start producing much larger litters, and they migrate into new areas.
Coyotes can be hunted legally in many built-up areas, but it sometimes leads to tragic mishaps. In New York State, a hunter in the upstate town of Sweden said he thought he was aiming his rifle at a coyote in February when he mistakenly shot a man in the abdomen. The hunter was charged with second-degree assault.
A licensed crossbow hunter in Readington Township, N.J., killed a family’s Alaskan shepherd after mistaking the dog for a coyote. A hunt in Pocatello, Idaho, went awry in March when an M-44 device, designed to propel a cyanide capsule into a coyote’s mouth, instead sprayed cyanide onto a 14-year-old boy, injuring him and killing his family’s dog.
Urban hunters and their prey are not limited to smaller towns and cities. Reports of coyote killings have come from major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and the suburbs of Chicago. As such episodes become more common, biologists say they cannot help marveling at the animal’s resilience and adaptability.
Coyotes are omnivores, and will eat anything from rodents to berries, not to mention the discarded remains of a fast-food order. In cities, they tend to elude detection by turning strictly nocturnal, often building dens in quiet alleyways or parking garages.
“Humans have killed millions of coyotes, but this is a species that’s adapted by moving in right next to us, their main predators,” said Stanley D. Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist at Ohio State University who describes coyotes as “humbling animals.”
The tanned hides of the urban coyotes Mr. Murphy hunts can fetch about $100 apiece.
Coyote fur is used to trim parkas and other garments.
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
While ranchers and farmers are often more than ready to have someone go after coyotes on their land, some urban hunters say they get a very different reception, and have to tread carefully.
“Knock on doors in neat street clothes (not your hunting camo) and explain your interest in hunting coyotes,” Tom Carpenter advised fellow hunters in Outdoor Life magazine. To win homeowners over, Mr. Carpenter, who lives near Minneapolis, also suggested promising to hunt only at dawn or dusk to avoid cyclists and joggers, and when dealing with especially reluctant people, to offer to use a crossbow instead of a firearm.
“To do this,” Mr. Carpenter said, “you need to make a public-relations play.”
Mr. Murphy, whose day job is police chief of Gahanna, a suburb near Columbus, calls himself an unapologetic coyote hunter. A decade ago, he started a side business, Wildlife Balance Solutions, catering to homeowners who want to rid their land of nuisance animals like raccoons, muskrats and skunks.
“But the most challenging adversary we have in these parts is the coyote,” Mr. Murphy said. Coyotes can run at speeds of up to 40 miles an hour, he noted, and are known to occasionally eat household pets like cats or small dogs.
Trading his police uniform at the end of his work shift for head-to-toe camouflage, including a balaclava, Mr. Murphy selects from an array of bait that he keeps in a refrigerator in his garage, with names like Sullivan’s Last Lunch and Selected Gland.
He takes a rifle from his safe, grabs a plastic deer-fawn decoy and a device that mimics the squeal of a dying rabbit, and loads the gear into his pickup. He also brings a silencer for the rifle, to avoid alarming residents with the sound of gunfire.
Mr. Murphy sets coyote lures using urine, feces, and pelts from other animals.
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
Among the gear Mr. Murphy uses on coyote hunts is a plastic deer decoy.
Hunting supplements his job as Gahanna’s police chief.
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
Mr. Murphy set up his equipment on a recent afternoon in a clearing outside a shed where he and a taxidermist friend skin their prey and employ flesh-eating beetles to clean the skulls. He made a few calls with the rabbit-squeal device. Then he waited, and called some more, and waited, and called yet again.
“No ’yotes today,” he said with a disappointed shrug, the kind that just about every hunter has made at one time or another.
Some urban hunters go after coyotes just for fun, but when Mr. Murphy spots a coyote, he sees dollar signs. Coyotes in Ohio and points east can weigh as much as 50 pounds, and their tanned hides can fetch as much as $100 apiece depending on market fluctuations. Coyote fur is used to trim garments like the popular Canada Goose line of parkas and jackets.
“We’re waking up to the realization that coyotes are in our cities to stay,” Mr. Murphy said. “And since that’s the case, their fur is a renewable resource. I have no qualms about killing as many coyotes as I can.”
Coyotes have a fearful reputation, but opponents of coyote hunting say the threat they actually pose to humans has been greatly overblown.
Most coyotes do their best to avoid direct contact with people. Documented human fatalities from coyote attacks have been rarer still in recent decades, including a 3-year-old girl in Glendale, Calif., in 1981, and a 19-year-old musician, Taylor Mitchell, who was mauled in Nova Scotia in 2009.
“Coyotes are complex sentient beings with individual personalities,” said Camilla H. Fox, the founder and executive director of Project Coyote, a conservation group. “This doesn’t mean that aggressive coyotes don’t exist, but we need to learn how to minimize conflicts in our cities, instead of making things worse,” she added, pointing to measures like securing garbage cans and keeping dogs on leashes in areas where coyotes may roam.
Moreover, biologists say that urban coyotes actually benefit humans by eating rodents like rats, which can spread disease, and by culling feral cats, which prey on songbirds.
“The coyotes among us provide an opportunity to live next to an animal indigenous to North America whose roots go back five million years,” said Dan Flores, a historian who explored the species’ evolution in his book “Coyote America.”
“This is a gift,” he emphasized, “to be reminded that we still live in a world that’s wild.”
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by SIMON ROMERO
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Lots of golf courses have rabbit populations. In Yuma, we have coyote populations as a result...
Hawks to. Nothing peps up a dinner party more than a hawk swooping in and nailing a cute little bunny right in front of all your guests. I've had that happen several times in Palm Desert. Rabbits there tend to become nocturnal because of it.
And then....
that's the bastard that stole one of my cats
I nearly hit a bunny nearly every morning on my way to work. They have a warren somewhere near my drive way and the little jerks are always trying to commit suicide by car
Rabbits and damn squirrels here in SE NM. I've had my golf balls picked up and carried to the nearest "home" of both critters. But, the Roadrunners are getting to be just as bad.
Greedy little twits.
Roadrunners own the golf courses. They don't budge when you're hitting ten feet from them, look very askance at these unwelcome visitors, and then express their disapproval with "tak-tak-tak-tak-tak"...
Yep, these adaptable critters have learned to survive right alongside humans. They need to find a way to train these coyotes to chase and eat Canada Geese who befoul everything they walk on, from sidewalks to golf courses.
We're thinking 'bout setting up a visa program for Canadian geese with a number of restrictions. They can go to all fallow fields with abundant water (which, in NM, is an oxymoron), they can only fly under the 500' elevation near any mountainous ranges, they CAN NOT land on golf courses and use the greens as their private pooing and bug hunting antics, and they CAN NOT harass golfers in the fairways, bunkers or greens.
Yep, these adaptable critters have learned to survive right alongside humans. And as biologists say eat rodents that carry disease. Do the coyotes know which rodents are diseased? Typically if the eaten rodent is diseased now the coyote is diseased, with things like rabies, distemper,mange, parvo, and parasites that they spread wherever they take a dump. As a landowner my state allows me to kill all coyotes on site year round no license needed, but to sell the pelt a fur bearers is required.
As for geese, they are competing with the deer herd as to which can do the most crop damage. We now have resident geese that never leave for Canada in the warm months, they crap on everything and eat our hay and corn. There are beach closing for e coli now that we didn't have before now it's common and everyone points their finger at the farmers and start blaming them for spreading manure where they shouldn't have, but if you go to the closed beaches the beach is covered with goose droppings. Goose populations have exploded and we need to be allowed to take action, but by the laws in place we can't.
I outside a small town and I hear the coyotes howling early in the morning. I've seen them running thru my front yard. They make me uneasy because I'm pretty sure a coyote mauled my little beagle and killed him. Now I worry about the cats
You should. Coyote and Fox are known cat and dog killers.
You get a chance put that Coyote down, legal or not. More than one Coyote has "disappeared" in my back 20.
I find that you don't need to call them in with a sophisticated electronic call, I've done it by making mouse noises by sucking air through my front teeth, but be careful it also attracts owls, had a very close encounter once could see the individual feathers on its legs. Another thing is some get into a pattern and travel the same path about the same time every day and you just have to sit and wait for them.
Coyotes killed my wife's dog just after we were married. We adopted a pound puppy and he grew to 70 pounds, he had this way with coyotes, he could chase and catch them, he even brought one up to the house while I was mowing lawn carrying it by the neck and still alive, yelled for a gun and my wife brought it out and I dispatched it. It wasn't long and we realized the reason our dog was able to catch them is that they were conspiring against him, one would sit out in the field at night and yap like a dog trying to get him to chase it, he would just sit and watch it, I would grab the gun and come out on the porch, the problem with this is our dog equated the gun with fun so he would give chase, you could hear him chasing it, but then you would hear other coyotes from left and right come in behind him and chase him, so since our dog was out there I couldn't shoot at the coyotes (night vision) so ended up shooting into the ground to scare the coyotes and to let my dog know the fun is back at the house and he would come back.
Yep, that's a standard technique for Coyotes. Unlike Wolves they tend to be solitary hunters but will hunt cooperatively if the situation presents itself. I've seen the same thing numerous times. Fox will do the same thing.
They never got your dog, did they?
Nope after realizing what was happening we started keeping the dog in at night.
whew!
This past summer on was on the front deck and watched a real life version of the deadliest predators.
A doe and fawn were running across the flat down from the front deck (about 40 yards) when a coyote took down the fawn. The doe ran for another 20 yards or so then turned back and attacked the coyote, by that time a second coyote came out of the trees and when the coyote that had taken the fawn down tried to cover up from the doe attack the fawn let out with a kick from it's hind leg and caught the coyote in the front shoulder and down it went. The doe hit a a few more times with it's front hooves and then the doe and fawn took off into the timber.
We have a lot of deer, coyote, bobcat, black bear, fox and the occasional cougar around here.
In the northeast the new ''breed'' is the coywolf...A cross between a coyote, wolf and dog. Larger, more powerful then a coyote and has no problem moving into cities.
Where would the wolf come from? Wolves were removed from the Northeast early on.
Wolves aren't traveling east... but their genes are.
Coyotes are taller and more powerful nowadays because they have a big dose of wolf in them.
Kinda blows up the definition of "species", doesn't it?
Trout, link to a good article explaining the how, whey and why of the coywolf.
that's some scary shit
They'll be in the south before too long
Coyotes were eliminated from most of the east decades ago, but when they started moving east again they bred with the wolves, so now they are larger and I do believe smarter. We were told by the DNR that a coyote couldn't take down a calf, but it happened twice where one or two would chase the cow around while another one would take the calf, the only way we knew was of course the dead calf but the area the cow trampled down circling as the coyotes harassed it. I talked to a man once who was the winter caretaker of Yellowstone and he said the worst thing the park service could have done was reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone, while they were out patrolling the park they saw a pack of wolves give chase to a herd of bison and thought they would take on the one that lagged behind (the weakest one, right) no, they went for the lead one and then tag teamed it until it dropped and they killed it ate a little bit then took off and chased the herd again taking the next lead one down, they did this three times ate a little bit and left the rest.
that's some serious messed up shit
I thought predators (not man) were all about not wasting the kill
Humans killed off the wolf in the NE, and they kept the coyote population under control. When you break a link in the chain of nature there are all kinds of repercussions that take hold.
I know that the timber wolf in PA had been extinct for a long time. We never heard of coyotes in Western PA when I was growing up. Deer had no natural predator at all and wreaked havoc on my mom's tulips. Thank goodness for the hunting season.
Now there are coyotes where I used to live. But the deer still aren't nervous
Where I grew up we had plenty of wolves. The largest wolf population in the lower 48. We didn't have any coyotes since the wolf was there.
Another thing that is happening is that cougar are moving from west to east. We now have them in MO. and they are showing up in many states that have never seen one before.
There have been rumors of cougars in the Ozarks and the Ouachitas
No rumor in the Ozarks...A few months ago one was hit by a car just north or us.
They are here.
I meant in Arkansas, but holy shit!
They are not nearly as dangerous to fish and the spear fisherman....
I live only 6 miles from the Arkansas line, so I'm sure they are there or will be soon.
Yes...in my backyard. I had a minor role. Guess which one
Just up the road a piece.
Kavika zips' his mouth shut...LOLOLOL
Witnessed them in the Everglades
and in the PA mountains (where they are supposed to be extinct)
and way too many times in California.
A relative claims to have tracked one in Iowa.
Puma, cougar, panther, they are all the same species.
I like the idea!
Great idea Fish...You would be welcome at the Big Wooden Tipi, but you have to wear moccasins in the tipi...
I can guide you to AH place..for a fee of course.
LOLOLOL
When I lived in Tioga County, my dad swore there were panthers around, but I don't remember if we lost any cows to them.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are named after the mountain lions that used to inhabit the Nittany Mountains, but I bet you knew that.
I need a warning first if you want to come inside the house. I need to hire a professional cleaning crew. Not much has gotten done since I broke my ankle
Oh... yes... of course I did...
yep, three kids are alumni.......
have to be smart kids. Their daddy is smart
Cool story.
The first time we saw coyotes on the golf course, I spotted one crossing right to left maybe fifty feet in front of the tee box. Just as it disappeared into the brush on the left... a second one appeared, following the same path. One after another, five of them.
When I was living in Henderson (suburb of LV) we would have coyotes walk right down the middle of the streets and as the drought got worse we had bobcats in the backyard drinking from the swimming pool.
They are adaptable and cunning for sure.
When I lived in Australia, these bad boys you really had to watch out for.
They can grow to over 20 ft long and weight over 2,000 lbs and yes, they are maneaters. The Saltwater Crocodile.
The most dangerous critter next to the croc was the ''tree kangaroo''...Indeed a fearful predator.
We have a deadly predator or our own in the great white north. Coyotes, Wolves, Black Bear or Cougars? Nah we've got all those but this one is worse. Many a frontal assault has been thwarted by this vicious creature. They are ..... simply put .... dynamite!
Yes ...... i speak of ....... the Jackalope
Don't mess with the Jackalope
Yeah sure, they look docile and cute but don't be fooled. Our last Jackalope hunt we lost one hunter and three tracking Snipes It was carnage when we made the mistake of a frontal assault.
They are not to be trifled with.
You're absolutely right!
Kavika's li'l ol' croc wouldn't last ten seconds!
LOL, jackalopes are really dangerous critters, but next to the ''Tree Kanagroo'' they are little kitties.
Don't forget that regular white bunnies can be dangerous too
Dangerous bunny
Yeah i hear those buggers are mean little bastards as well. Holy hand-grenade worthy really.
Holy Handgrenade of Antioch
LOL
That Roman Red is some good stuff...lol
Like I said, that rabbit is dynamite!!
????
Is that a squirrel with a wicked kick?
????
Ahhhh, the tree kangaroo....When your tramping through the Northern Territory south of Darwin and concentrating on avoiding the saltwater croc's and the many many many very deadly snakes, the Tree Kangaroo is looking down at you waiting for just the right moment to jump out of the tree and hit you with those size 99EEEE feet. That will knock you into next week and then it's the end...You become just another eucalyptus leaf to them.
I do not speak with forked tongue...
That's a photo of BF when he was a hermit, it was after this disaster that he became a fish.
It's awfully cute
LOL, cute!!! You won't be saying that after it flattens you. That's one of their weapons, they are cute and people think that they are harmless, guess again. No they are not harmless, but they are cute.
Lol what a cute picture of your dog playing in the snow at your feet.
Yeah look, he's sleeping .....
It's the classic "rub my belly"