Brandon Twp. -Like many area hunters, township resident Ken Barch utilizes a digital trail camera to check out wildlife that roam in the wooded area behind his southeast township home.
From deer to cats to raccoons, the stationary camera snaps a picture when an animal passes near Barch’s home.
‘Coyotes are pretty common out there, too,? said Barch. ‘The neighbors are pretty concerned for their pets, knowing those animals are roaming the woods.?
Area residents may have some reasons to worry, too.
Brian Roell, Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist, said coyotes are survivalists that have adapted to urban living.
‘Coyotes are good at what they do,? said Roell, who has extensively studied wolves and coyotes in Michigan. ‘Man has tried to rid the U.S. of coyotes for many years through a variety of means? from poison to bounties to shooting from airplanes, but they are like cockroaches? they just keep coming back. They will eke out a meal wherever possible, and if that means a small dog or cat’that’s a good lunch.?
Roell reminds residents that unlike wolves, coyotes are solitary animals that hunt alone and will size up another animal before attacking.
‘It’s the trickle down theory and the cost-benefit result before picking a fight with another animal,? he said. ‘If there is an 80-pound black labrador, it’s doubtful a 30-pound coyote is going to mess with it. However, a 4-pound Yorkie on a leash out back of the house, I’d say a coyote would make a nice meal out of that.?
Brandon Townhip resident Jonathan Schechter, who has a master of science degree in forest resources from the University of Washington and has worked in Michigan as both a paramedic and naturalist for almost 25 years, does not agree.
‘I remain skeptical of the scare stories circulating that coyotes are eating dogs ‘right off a leash? as it goes for a walk. It always happened to a friend of a friend of a friend. Think urban legend.”
‘Coyotes are opportunist, intelligent, adaptable and very cautious and very much at home throughout Brandon Township and all of Michigan for that matter. Despite their best efforts to hunt incognito – avoiding human interaction – they do, on occasion, tangle with family pets’but if coyotes were really interested in Crunchy Poodle McNuggets or Fluffy Feline Cuisine, you’d be hearing about coyote attacks on pets every single day.?
‘That is not the case. With that said, a coyote can certainly take a cat that is out mousing in a meadow or lurking under a bird feeder. If an off-leash dog enters a coyote territory’and much of rural landscape is coyote territory ‘the two may tangle. The dog often chases the coyote away.?
‘But facts are facts and coyotes can kill dogs’so can cars. You need to watch pets diligently, as coyotes become more territorial as they enter their breeding season. And if you worry about your small children and coyotes, you need to teach them to never ever run away from a coyote. Running can illicit a predatory response and tells coyotes that humans are weak and fearful. Stand tall. Yell, throw things’anything but food. And coyotes are not here because they have been driven out from woodlands, they are here because we are the perfect habitat, a garden of Eden and tasty delights: rabbits, mice, birds, goose eggs, trash…and the occasional cat.?