> We have 2 sets of baby coyotes that are roaming with moms now. They play in the sprinkler and tumble over each other down the hill. I guess that's why the quail population is much smaller.
The rise of Lyme disease on the eastern seaboard has been traced in part to the rise of coyotes (or coyote-wolf hybrids, since they are around 50-55 pounds).
The coyotes kill (or drive out) the foxes, and the foxes are no longer there to keep down the rodent population which is a critical part of the chain of infection.
> I'm six minutes from the mall, not out in the country. I have deer (an albino doe for about 8 years now), coyotes, fox, wild turkey, bobcat, wild pig, raccoons, possum, bear, quail, squirrels, ducks, geese, hmmmm.. I think that's all I've seen in the front yard so far.
We're in farm country in Maryland. We used to have foxes on the property, but haven't seen them lately, and the presence of rabbits pretty well means there aren't any foxes. Deer abound here. The local reservoir watershed was determined to have about 6 times more deer than its "carrying capacity".
The market has venison steaks for $25 per pound; our freezer has (had -- we're working our way through it slowly) 35 pounds of venison for a $100 cost of butchering and packaging it up. A small doe in the front field was spooked by the farmer who takes our hay. She jumped into the road, was hit by a vehicle, and jumped back into the field, where she died.
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Jim Saklad mailto:jimdoc@me.com
