Coyotes have become a major political hotbed issue in suburbia south of Los Angeles.
It appears that a genetically adapted strain has established itself here and are killing hundreds of small pets a year. It looks like eradication programs will become a regular thing here.
My question is, once these eradication programs start unless they completely eradicate the coyote won’t an even more difficult to eradicate strain come along to replace it?
Depends on what they do. I can’t see them becoming immune to cyanide or gun shots. It’s LA, so either program would be on the table, right? But yeah, city coyotes are likely to get wise to a variety of live traps.
Eventually the coyotes will evolve thumbs and then we’ll be screwed.
Yeah, I’m not sure what you mean here. Coyotes aren’t viruses. They aren’t going to become bulletproof. They might get more wary and perhaps start avoiding areas where they are more likely to be killed, but that’s sort of the goal. They do become aware of traps, but I can’t imagine them completely being able to avoid all traps. Humans are pretty wary of traps, but we still manage to create traps that can kill people.
There is a tacky joke to be made here, but Goddamn if I’ll be the one to post it! 
How are they trying to eradicate them? Shooting? Poison? Sterilization?
Coyotes are not bacteria, they can’t adapt genetically anywhere near that fast, neither to establish themselves in suburbia the first time, nor to react to whatever methods of eradication might be tried against them.
Coyotes are rather smart animals, and have probably adapted their behavior to survive in the wilds of suburbia. This is not because they have become genetically modified but because their local natural habitats are getting smaller and they are clever enough and prolific enough to not become endangered or extinct but to learn how to live around humans. We have the same issue here is urban San Francisco, where (predictably) there is a moral battle being waged as to whether coyotes should be allowed to run around freely or whether there should be some attempt (snicker) at eradication.
On preview: ninja’d by everyone.
I wasn’t aware there’s any controversy about coyotes. They’re simply a fact of life in my neighborhood. You mitigate their impact like any other wildlife.
Any animal below about 50 pounds is potential prey, including small humans. So you don’t let potential prey outside without very close supervision, especially when the sun is below the horizon. You don’t leave out other potential food sources, either, that might feed the coyotes or attract other wildlife they could prey upon.
I suppose we could spend resources hunting, trapping, and poisoning coyotes, but it’s better to make our (sub)urban habitat less inviting to them.
Black Bears evolved among large predators and then humans, so the survival trait that they evolved is timidity. Attacks are extremely rare, even (contrary to common belief) by mothers with cubs. Their predominant tactic is to climb trees or run away.
https://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/bears-a-humans/119-how-dangerous-are-black-bears.html
As others have mentioned, coyotes won’t evolve to become bulletproof. An eradication program will select for the traits present in animals that aren’t eradicated, the most obvious of which is avoiding humans.
Really, Pleonast is right. Your best bet is to just get used to losing some animals every now and again. Coyotes are pretty prolific breeders and opportunistic in what habitat they inhabit. Ranchers have been battling them for as long as they’ve grazed the plains and really there hasn’t been much impact. They still kill tons of livestock. So all you can do is hope your Puggle doesn’t run away and keep your cat inside.
They are smart creatures. One crossed the road in front of me. I pulled over to view it. You don’t see them much. It ran far and fast. It didn’t turn around to look at me until it was out of range of a .22 long rifle. Yes, they know the distance.
The problem with eradication is that they are such a beautiful canine. But, like the cockroach, they will survive.
I’m seeing a Mucho Coyote vs. Jumbo-Raccoon SyFy movie in this…
Stranger
In at least one instance, about 50 pounds per coyote present. :eek:
Having grown up with coyotes in the woods behind our house I’m inclined to downplay the danger the rascals present to humans. But I do know better. Humans can’t be trusted to not steal their young and vice versa. Also, I’ve read Wolfen, so I know just how bad things could get.
If I learned anything from Rampage, it’s that we’re really screwed when the coyotes evolve wing flaps.
I live in a low density area within Orange County. If you listened to the chatter on Nextdoor and our local Facebook group you would think that we were overrun with the creatures. In 10 years I have only seen a few and heard them a handful of times.
I kind of like having them around. It forces my neighbors to keep their cats indoors where they can’t shit in my garden.
We had quite a problem where I live (near LAX), and had a community meeting about it over a year ago. Pleonast has it about right – keep all food sources inside, watch your pets carefully if you walk them before dawn or after dusk. But the animal control officer said they were NOT killing the coyotes, because they could never eliminate them all, and once you get rid of one group another moves into that empty niche.
One of our dachshunds was almost snatched in January or February 2017. My sister was walking her around 4:30 am before she went to work. They were both standing under a bright streetlight, and Shanni (dog) was right at my sister’s feet. The coyote came up from behind and made its attempt at a snatch. Fortunately, my sister didn’t have to fight a tug-o-war (as a few of our neighbors had to do), because after a recent surgery Shanni was wrapped up. Due to her cylindrical shape, the traditional bandaging was not working, so they put on a stretchy textured tube. The coyote got its teeth momentarily stuck in it. With the delay, my sister picked Shanni up and yelled at the coyote who took off down the block. It turned back a couple of times, so she yelled at it, and it kept going.
Sadly, a few neighbors’ pets weren’t so lucky.
You likely won’t see them even if they’re quite near. In the story I mentioned above, by sister never heard or saw the coyote until it struck. They’re very stealthy.
Yup, it’s not just coyote evolution that’s at stake. Perhaps under selective pressure from coyotes the next generation of humans will lose their propensity to keep small yappy dogs.
Release a bunch of Road Runners in the city. The coyotes will exterminate themselves. As a plus, Acme sales increases will help the economy.
Honestly, this seems logical to me. Coyotes are everywhere around here and they seem to have killed off the outdoor cats, but an easy solution is to keep indoor cats. Coyote attacks on humans are so rare, I’d honestly be far more concerned about people or pets being hurt by the methods of eliminating coyotes - pets and humans can be poisoned or shot, too. It’s not that they don’t happen, they do, but the cure would likely be as bad as, or worse than, the disease. According to most sources I can find there’s about four attacks on humans a year, and there have been only two known fatal attacks ever.