Despite Efforts To Eradicate, Coyotes Are Here To Stay
My dad spent the last 30 years before he retired working with predator control for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. His job, simply stated, was a wolf trapper. He also trapped bobcat, foxes and other predators but red wolves were his primary focus.
During that period in the 1940s and ‘50s, wolves had no competition from other similar sized canids until another more prolific creature, the coyote, began to show up in the state. As far as I’ve been able to determine, my dad trapped the very first coyote ever captured in Louisiana. As the population of red wolves began declining, his focus was mainly on the more prolific coyote.
It is not uncommon today to hear and see coyotes. I can remember feeling the hair stand up on the back of my neck before daylight as I made my way to my deer stand and a pack of coyotes began their piercing howls, yipping and yapping nearby.
An organization that covers interesting wildlife stories, “The Lonely Camp” has produced an article on Facebook that captured my attention because it dealt with coyotes, how despite efforts to eradicate them they seem to continue to proliferate.
Killing half a million coyotes per year has not slowed the production of these animals, according to the article. The coyotes’ range has expanded 40% during this same time.
The way they operate is completely different from other predators. Lethal control has greatly reduced or eliminated such species as timber wolves which have been basically wiped out, the grizzly bear pushed to just a handful of mountain strongholds.
“Yet,” according to the article, “the coyote absorbed the same pressure, same traps, same poison, same aerial gunning, same bounty systems and responded by walking into every state the wolf has vacated, every city the mountain lion had abandoned, and every landscape that lethal control was supposed to clear.”
Research has shown several reasons why coyotes have not responded in the way other predators have. Breeding is one factor. A coyote pair produces an average of six pups a year but under heavy pressure, the litter size is increased. You kill more and the survivors produce more.
There is zero incidence of infidelity or polygamy among coyotes. During estrus, the pair spends every hour together and should a mate die, the survivor grieves.
The animal that humans have spent a century trying to exterminate mates for life, raises young cooperatively, grieves its dead, and compensates by raising larger litters. Simply stated, coyotes have responded to the most sustained management in history by quietly colonizing every state in the continental United States.
It matters not what humans try to do to it. Nothing we have ever done is sufficient to outpace an animal that breeds fast, bonds absolutely, and replaces its losses.
So if you live in the country, the next time you’re sitting outside at dusk watching lightning bugs fire up their tiny lights and a pack of coyotes begin singing their loud and eerie songs across the way, just enjoy it because nothing you can ever do will quiet them.
Coyotes, like mosquitoes, kudzu, and fire ants, are here to stay.
Fishing Report
CANEY LAKE – Bass have moved to deep drops and channels. Soft plastics and cranks baits are working best. Crappie are around the deeper tops and are hitting jigs and shiners. Bream are on shallow beds and hitting small spinners, crickets and worms with some really big ones being caught. For information contact Caney Lake Landing at 259-6649, Hooks Marina at 249-2347, Terzia Tackle at 278-4498 or the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
BUSSEY BRAKE – Crappie are around the brush hitting shiner or jigs. Bass are best flipping the trees with soft plastics along with Dice Baits including the Prickly Pear. Bream are still on the shallow beds and hitting crickets and worms. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
OUACHITA RIVER – Water level is rising because of rains which means there is current and this should not only improve fishing. Some crappie caught in the bayou and bass on the run-outs. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE D’ARBONNE – Bass have set up on secondary points and hitting crank baits, spinners and soft plastics. Crappie are in the channel and channel edges in 12 foot water and hitting jigs and shiners. The bream are on the beds and biting crickets and small spinners. Lots of catfish are being caught on red wigglers and night crawlers just off the banks. For latest information, call Anderson Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE CLAIBORNE – Crappie are around deep brush and jigs and shiners picking up some. Bass are in deeper water around around the channel edges. Soft plastics and crank baits are picking up some. Night fishing is starting to pick up. Bream are on the shallow beds and hitting worms and crickets. Stripers should be starting to school soon. For latest information, call Kel’s Cove at 927-2264 or Terzia Tackle at 278-4498.
LAKE YUCATAN – The water is starting to fall. Catfish are being caught on trotlines and buffalo caught in nets. Crappie and bass have not started to hit. For info call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.