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Coyote population exploding |
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In a recent CBC news article, Brad White, chairman of the biology department at Trent University in Ontario, said efforts to get rid of coyotes in other areas of North America have failed. "People simply have to learn to adapt to living with a larger coyote population," he said, "and in some cases, farmers may have to change their practices to protect vulnerable animals. Coyotes are not generally a threat to humans," White said. Ask farmers throughout Bruce and Grey Counties and surrounding regions however, and it's another story. "The coyote population is exploding," says one farmer in the Dundas area. "Unfortunately, it's people who live in Toronto who make the laws and they really have no clue about rural Ontario and what happens here. My neighbour recently lost two calves that were completely eaten by coyotes. His wife is afraid to go into the barn. These are brilliantly, clever animals that quickly adapt to whatever measures are put in place to control them." At a recent meeting of the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture, Lloyd Graham brought forward a Predator Control proposal. "As society demands greater protection of natural spaces and species, farmers are increasingly subjected to stress and loss of livestock by marauding coyotes and other predators," says the report. While Bruce Grey and Huron Counties recently increased the bounty dollar amount to $100, the process, according to farmers and hunters, is cumbersome to the point that it is not working. Livestock that has been killed must be evaluated by an inspector, then a trapper or qualified hunter is called out, with six weeks to solve the problem. If 'the' coyote is then trapped/destroyed, it has to be brought in and approved. Saskatchewan has implemented a program of 36,000 coyotes over the next two years at a $20 bounty. "This under the designation of the Ministry of Natural Resources," said Bruce County Warden Mike Smith, "so there is little we can do as a county to change things." "These animals are now running in huge packs," says Graham, "and they have to eat and you can't blame them. Farmers are trying everything from incorporating llamas and donkeys, which have previously proven to have limited success. The only solution is to get their numbers down through culling."
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"As a lamb producer," says Steve A. Ernewein, "I have dogs to try and
control predation. If my dogs, barking at night in control mode,
annoy my neighbours, it is my responsibility. So, if it's up to
the MNR, then it's their responsibility. It's easy to put the onus
on someone else but it's my responsibility to protect my animals.
We absolutely must lower the coyote numbers." Several recommendations have been brought to the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).
"The only thing my ministry can deal is compensation," says Minister of Agriculture, Carol Mitchell. In 2006 in Huron County there were reports of 4 coyote and in 2008 it had jumped to 114; in Grey County it went from 53 in 2006 to 167 in 2008 ; in Bruce County the number went from 0 in 2006 to 118, with 111 of those on the Bruce Peninsula. Grimsby, near Niagara Falls has also looked at bringing in a pilot project to enable licensed local hunters to harvest coyotes in an identified problem area as the problem expands ever southward. |
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 for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...Sunday, March 14, 2010 |
From Cape Breton on the East Coast to Tobermory on the Lake Huron Coast,
coyotes are becoming a problem and of major concern as their numbers are
dramatically on the rise.
