Date: Fri 30-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

coyotes-Perkins-Lasher

Full Text:

Coyotes Are Cruising Newtown In Search of Prey

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

In the past two months Jan Perkins has lost five sheep - half her flock - to

what she believes is a pack of coyotes living in the woods behind her

Huntingtown Road house. Howard Lasher watched a coyote kill a squirrel on his

property and assumes his missing beloved cat, Macavity, met the same fate.

These are not isolated incidents. "People have been calling [to tell me] about

packs of coyotes on Hanover Road, Mt Nebo, Great Ring, and Town's End Road,"

said Assistant Animal Control Officer George Mattegat. "Just last week I saw

two coyotes at approximately five o'clock in the afternoon, between the dog

pound and Route 25."

The animal control officer has no doubt that coyotes are to blame for some of

the livestock deaths. "Coyotes rip them apart differently than [a pack of]

dogs. Dogs will have a `game' with them; coyotes just go in for the kill,"

said Mr Mattegat. "On Palestine Road, they had some sheep killed out there by

coyotes, and that's been going on for a couple of years."

There are an estimated 2,400 to 4,800 coyotes in Connecticut, and they are

found in virtually every town, according to DEP wildlife biologist Paul Rego.

The population has increased in recent decades, even within the past five

years, but not dramatically, he said.

"We're not necessarily concerned with the population only because we know it's

near its maximum level. We certainly are concerned the number of coyotes

present do create quite a number of problems throughout the state - attacks on

livestock, attacks on pets, and general concerns among some members of

public."

If people live near undeveloped areas, as many in Newtown do, and have pets

that spend time outdoors, there is the potential that coyotes will attack and

kill their pets - more likely cats than dogs, although dogs have been attacked

and killed.

Newtown residents who have seen coyotes describe them as an "ugly wolf," or an

emaciated and small version of a German shepherd.

"I have actually seen them when I was out riding on the trails. It's not

unusual to see them in broad daylight," said Mrs Perkins, who has tried

everything from flooding the yard with lights and leaving a radio playing near

the sheep pen to discourage coyotes attacks. "Because their natural hunting

grounds are diminishing, they're becoming more brazen. They're going for easy

prey [too] like dogs and cats. We've lost a couple of our barn cats to them."

Mrs Perkins and her husband, Paul, were able to follow coyote tracks in a

light snow that occurred three months ago. "We heard them. We tracked six -

five adults and one yearling - down to the river gorge," she said. "With the

first kill that happened after a rain, we were able to count a minimum of six

sets of prints in the mud. It was not a mountain lion, it was not a group of

wild dogs - it was coyotes."

Mrs Perkins, who has been raising and breeding sheep for more than 20 years,

has read extensively about coyote habits in farm journals (coyotes are a major

livestock predator in the Midwest). "They usually come out at dusk. If they're

hunting, the come out at 3 or 4 am and stay out up to 7 am. They are silent

when they are hunting. The nights you hear them howling, that's when they're

teaching their young," she said. "They hunt in packs and try to corner their

prey. The leader of the pack usually attacks the flank and/or throat. Every

one of our sheep has been killed up along the fence-line in the corner. If

you've ever tried to catch a sheep in the field, you know they're quick as a

rabbit. You need a couple of people to corner them.

"I believe in co-existing with nature as far as you can take that issue, but a

time comes when nature will give you a wake-up call and say, `You have a

problem here,'" said Mrs Perkins. "I don't mean eliminate them, but thin them

so they have enough of a hunting ground."

Howard Lasher, who lives on 28 acres off of Route 302, saw a coyote in his

backyard Monday morning. "I put out a salt lick and cracked corn for the deer.

... I saw two squirrels eating the corn. And there was a coyote slithering on

his stomach going toward the squirrels. Like a bullet, he got one," he

recalled. Last week he found a dead raccoon near a drainage pipe along his

driveway. "It was brutally and violently taken apart," he said. "Mr Mattegat

said it was definitely a coyote, maybe two."

Mr Lasher is convinced his eight-year-old cat was killed by coyotes, and he

worries about his other two outdoor cats. He bought a steel plate to put over

the pet door leading to the garage and now tries to keep his cats inside at

night.

"Macavity was a member of my family. He licked tears off my face, slept on my

bed, had a routine ... and walked with me when I gardened. I really miss him,"

he said, barely able to continue speaking. "I love nature. We have foxes, a

multitude of birds. ... Nature is nature and like the storm, we'll survive.

But that doesn't necessarily mean condoning brutal attacks."

"When you drive through town, you see all the signs on telephone poles and

trees that Fluffy is missing," said Mrs Perkins. "These are not animals that

have gotten lost. If you haven't gotten them back in a day or so, they've been

dinner for coyotes."

Mr Mattegat agrees that the incidence of lost cats is up. "We've gotten quite

a few calls, and never have found anyone's cat."

It certainly is feasible that coyotes are preying on cats, said wildlife

rehabilitator Susan DeFrancesco, but all the disappearances shouldn't be

blamed on them. "Birds of prey - owls, hawks, and occasionally eagles - can do

as much harm," she said, so people should take precautions with cats and small

breeds of dogs. "Dogs should be kenneled. Cats - that's really difficult; they

should be kept indoors." That will also protect animals from raccoons,

traffic, and other sources of danger, she said.

"Since we're treading on coyotes' territory, they're coming out more, like

deer, and going for whatever food source they can," said Mrs DeFrancesco.

"Both parents raise coyote pups. They take turns - one goes on the hunt and

one will babysit, and then they switch. Indians used to look up to coyotes,

and worshipped them for their good maternal instincts and `family values.'

Coyotes are smart. There's not much hunting of them [in this area] so there's

a bit of an explosion."

National reports of humans attacked by coyotes are "relatively rare,"

according to Mr Rego, and none have been substantiated in Connecticut. He

suggests deterring coyotes. "Exclude them through fencing, avoid attracting

them in the first place (don't leave pet food outside), and scare coyotes when

you get the chance rather than responding passively," he said. When livestock

is threatened, "problem coyotes can be removed, i.e. killed. Livestock owners

have a right to do that; also licensed hunting is allowed for coyotes, and

there is a restricted trapping season."