Liz White, perhaps: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/593475

I am all for people shooting these mangey varmints at will, even though their litters increase when their populations are stressed; that also is the result of trying to trap and transplant too.

So walk freely and shoot at will.

I wish I had time to post today, for this is the one item I would have covered. Specifically, why few, if any, are realizing the difference firearms could have made to the situation.

It isn't the difference firearms would have made to this situation, Mark. It's the difference they make to the coyotes who get shot at and missed, when it happens on a routine basis.

When I was a kid coyotes were heard, but never seen. At the first sight of a vehicle, they'd run for their lives, because so many of them would stop and pull out a .22.

Just shoot, shovel & shut up.

Champagne Socialists and Latte Liberals, various brands of big city vegans etc don't know their arse ends from holes in the ground.

Couple of bullets, find the burrows and the problem is solved.

Regarding (Toronto musician dies after coyote attack in Cape Breton N.P Oct.28/09), sadly, the list of Canadians mauled or killed by a wild animals continues to grow.

Suppose for the sake of argument, she had defended herself against the coyotes with a woman sized handgun like the 'rent a gun' criminals now offer to Toronto residents. She would not have been killed by the coyotes. Though at the very least she'd be facing a mandatory three years in prison under the newest federal government gun law. That is presuming she would have survived the "high risk" takedown of the nearest RCMP SWAT team and not being shot or at least tasered in the process.

However, in Canada, the government sees that people are taught to fear armed citizens (including themselves) more than violent criminals or wild predators.

Sacrificing human beings to animals was a religious practice of ancient societies that practiced animal worship. This was eventually repressed by the rise of Judeo/Christianity that taught that such practices were wrong, but no longer.

Why are we told to protect ourselves from a mild flu virus but advised against doing so against violent criminals and predatory animals?

Prevent violence against women, wear coyote fur!

P.S. If coyotes can access a better food supply they grow larger.
I suspect there is no wolf population in that park. They are unable to compete successfully against wolves so they have less food requirements as a smaller animal. Evolutionary biologists note the same thing in central america. Cougars are smaller down there than up here as there the more powerful Jaguar will take the top predator niche.

In 2005 when that coyote south of Regina was attacking and eating people's pets I called the Open Line show and predicted if they didn't shoot or trap it, that small children would be attacked next.

Within two weeks that happened and then they hired a trapper.
A bigger coyote and the toddler would have been lunch.

Problem bears and coyotes should be released into the office of the Toronto Humane Society.

"I trust he's had the good sense today to keep his trap firmly shut."
How DARE you use the word TRAP!!!

Yes, but in the Beaches (or is it the Beach? Kinsella's nabe BTW) in pansified Toronto there's been a yote on the loose for several months and residents can't decide if it should be allowed to eat their moggies or if some nasty brute of a man should be brought in to deal with it.

Strangely, grief councilors have not yet been called in.

The three "S"es of effective Coyote Management: Shoot, Shovel, Shut up.

More and more we see it in the rural areas how the coyotes are getting bolder and bolder and have no fear of man or machines. I've had one come out from along a river bank and lift its leg and urinate on windrow of hay I just raked not 15 feet away from me. Where's the damn gun when you need it !! Coyotes destroy alot of domestic livestock every year...and some of the bleeding hearts that think they shouldn't be killed off have never seen the arse end eaten out of their income.

Canadian urbanites blithely shrug off gangs and wild animals, but freak at the notion of allowing self-defense. The government brain-washers have done their work well in cultivating human sheep.

Lady in Calgary discovers a coyote litter under a backyard shed.

She calls City Animal Services. They say sorry no can touchy. Not a threat.

She calls Prov Wildlife. They say sorry it's in the city. Told to let them mature and they will leave.

Yipes!

I used to work close to the Bow River in Calgary about 4 years ago.The coyotes had almost completely lost their fear of man. The foolish people in the area were actually putting out food for them. I got with-in pepper spray range of one,about 10 feet and gave it a blast. One of the residents of the area watched this and asked me why I did that. My explanation included the fact that there was about 4 different posters on the telephone poles in the area from people looking for lost pets.

I spend quite a bit of time, on foot, on the bald-ass prairie. I always carry a little surprise in my safety vest. I don't trust coyotes, acreage dogs, or any of a number of hooved animals.

Coyotes made an appearance in Nova Scotia about ten years ago. Their population exploded, but I've heard it's starting to subside, recently. I've heard stories that the eastern population has started to hunt in packs. That is always a dangerous trait.

People in NS are in a very bad pickle. They've all but surrendered the right to own firearms, and hunting is almost non-existent. Bears are walking right into peoples porches, and no one dares shoot them.

I usually ignore coyotes, but I think I'll make it a point to wound a couple, right away. That puts the proper fear into the population.

around here the coyotes are bold as brass, and bigger'n the local wolves. Wolves are about 65-70 lbs, and some of the coyotes ( hybrids) are 70-80 lbs, and run in packs. Few years ago, not far from here, two sharpes heard coyotes and went to dispatch them, never did come back, coyotes just killed them, and they are "fighting" dogs.

Good one, EBD! send them collect..

Shows junk science is now the rule rather than the exception. DipsXXts from GTA don't know any more about predator behaviour dynamics than they do climate change. Add natural science to the list of urban myths.

Damn, I feel terrible about this poor young girl, however. Even a good knife may have saved her life. What's the heck's wrong with people? Do they expect if they go out in the woods today, they'll find only a teddy bear's picnic?

The coyote attack I saw was from the rear to the back of the neck. The guy had a heavy twill hood up. He reached around and pulled the coyote of with his right hand. Coyote was gone really fast. He was ok. I was about fifty feet or so behind. It happened before I made a noise even.

Glanced out my front window a short time ago and watched a coyote trot down the street. I live in centre west Edmonton.

I long for the days when the local boys used to hunt coyotes with hounds. I don't ever remember hearing about "the one that got away".

They come into the city here from the river valley. They mainly keep the rabbit population down, which is a good thing or we would be over-run with them. Problem is when they can't find a rabbit, any small creature will do, like pet dogs.

What don't city slickers understand about the term "wild"? Don't kill the coyotes, but BAN pitbulls, some logic there.

dp, at least try and be a tad accurate in your statements.

13,000 deer on 30,000 licences and 28,000 furs harvested last year is hardly a non-existant hunt.

We have a lot of coyotes here on PEI, however as they are hunted this type of thing just doesn't happen.

I heard a man from our local wildlife hunting org on the radio this afternoon stating that the reason the coyotes in the nat'l park attacked is because they are not hunted. They have no reason to fear humans and are being fed all the time by tourists. He said he was very thankful that common sense prevailed here when some were trying to end the cull several years ago.

We also recently had to deal with people in Charlottetown outraged that the many skunks being caught in the city were being shot. They wanted to release the damn things out in the "country". Well, we have enough of them out here.

I just cannot stand anti-hunting people.

ps

My family's farm had a horrible problem with coyotes taking calves in the middle of the night. The perfect antidote - to my suprise - was a donkey. For some reason, a donkey will protect the herd and scare the things away.

Just out of curiosity, what do you figure Cape Breton coyotes normally eat? Haven't seen any roadrunners down east and nary a gopher (okay, Richardson Ground Squirrel) to be seen. And Capers aren't the sort to go into poodles or free range hamsters big time either. On the other hand, what keeps the coyotes in check?

I have to admit though that this is the first time I've heard of them bringing down an adult. They are usually wary of humans unless they are out walking "lunch on a leash" or pretty darn hungry. Something made these animals bold enough to take down an adult human like that. Mountain lions and bobcats will hunt you down as will a polar bear or a wolf pack but a couple of coyotes?

Elizabeth,

So when the coyotes get hungry and desperate enough, they'll go after something a lot easier like your 6 and 8 yr olds playing in the woods or your 19 yr old from the city (may she rest in peace). It's better to hunt the suckers down and kill them. Gives them a real fear of humans and anything associated with us. It also keeps their numbers down to a manageable few, therefore, enough wildlife to live on.

Coyotes are no different than any other wild animals. They will lose their fear to humans if not threatened, the only problem is that they are still wild and still predatory.

The silence is deafening urban elites who pretty much took away our means to defend ourselves with equalizing force. The Firearms Act was misrepresented as a means of protecting women and children from armed men. Well, south of the border, armed, law-abiding women save their own lives every day, while north of the border, both men and women are expected to be good little victims.

At least a police officer was able to dispatch the coyote and start writing his DOA report. Sad. So sad. Another Canadian is killed in the name of civilian disarmament.

A sizable portion of the Nova Scotia population continues to hunt, especially outside the major urban areas of Halifax, Dartmouth and Lower Sackville. (There is nowhere near the ratio of gun owners as my home province of NL, mind you, but....)

Though it is legal to hunt coyote year round in NS, a concerted cull has not been conducted to my knowledge and the population has grown quite rapidly.

I am not surprised that this young lady was attacked in a National Park either, as NPs are prime locations for frequent human-animal contact. I've little doubt that coyotes in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park are as accustomed to humans as bears in Jasper or Banff National Parks.

This is a tragedy. May she rest in peace.

May any and all with guns start mowing down the coyotes.

Some of the local boys dispatched 70 coyotes around our neighbourhood last winter. It has been a little quieter this last summer, but we still do not let our gkids out alone when they visit.

It was getting a little scary around here as they would come and watch me cutting the grass. Must have been the John Deere 2305 ride on mower that attracted them.

There's a golf course over on the next concession where the food service folk feed the coyotes out back of the kitchen. The little varmits are quite bold and have mostly lost their fear of people. Even those people who carry long metalic items that look sort of like golf clubs.
Thats okay by me and Murray when we sit up on his barn bridge and "harvest" a couple or six every time he gets a load of new veal calf in.
Who knew coyotes are attracted to the bawling of loney young calves?
Good thing the sound of the shooting don't carry as far as the concession beyond that.
...where the OSPCA is...

I had a female (1/2 shepherd) coyote as a pet about 25 years ago. Smart dog. A hundred wonderful stories about that little cutie. Still I wouldn't hesitate to kill a wild one that wandered up too close. In a pack they are dangerous. Feed 'em and they'll start carting off cats, small dogs and the ice cream cones out of kids hands. Now, apparently, they'll take grownups too! In my part of Ontario, the wild population got too large and the mange decimated the population a few years ago. Wouldn't wish that even on Jennifer Lynch.

Matt - i dimly recalled hearing something about the Beaches coyote (my neigbourhood as well as Kinsella's, luckily have never bumped into him..)

So there i was going home and took a shortcut thru the cemetery when it trotted past me pretty as you please maybe 40 feet away and then bounded over a rather tall fence. I remember thinking it was a good size - and yeah i wouldn't want a pet or a small child to be in the vicinity. But i was struck that it would be here in such a densely built up area - the middle of Toronto. Never saw that before. I have no idea whatever became of it - if the authorities nabbed it or not.

On the subject tho of urbanized critters tho i find the racoons are getting bad as well, my neigbouhood is overun with them - fat slugs feeding on garbage that wander all over - at nite anyway. We also have foxes now too - saw one zip by me just last week.

Having had the horrible experience of working for the Toronto Humane Society in the past, I bet the name of the lunatic is Tim Trow.

Mike 10:45.. Did you ever think JL gave the coyotes mange??

Had an encounter with a lone coyote stalking me 2 nights ago near the landfill. Sneaky bugger was following me, I suspect his buddies were near, but I only saw the one.

Rob C

Nothing that comes out of her group surprises me, but I guess the thought of them gnawing at their own backsides instead of listening to the tripe that they spew, is appealing

Again, everybody misses the point. It should be the latte libs that are shot,not the coyotes.You go into the wilds,then expect Mother Nature to be around.Then again,Disney has a lot of explianing to do with making predators seem all cute and cuddly.Darwin's law of selection rules again.And yes,all you bleeding hearts.I have squat sympathy for this twit. You play with nature,you had better be prepared to do it on HER terms,not your urban ones.

In the US, coyotes are mating with wolves and creating a new species. It is bigger, stronger than a coyote and smarter than a wolf. They are deadly and they are NOT afraid of humans. I understand they are quite brave and will attack in broad daylight livestock etc.

Hand fed, wild coyotes are not critters that you want to have nearby. But that disease (mange) was horrible on them. They are making a return, but I live in a rural area so I don't care. It's unlikely they'll surpise me, even the ones that regularly howl out back. BUT, to let them wander in urban areas is the height of stupidity. On another note, I am resisting the temptation to run with comparative comments on new species, wolves, dogs and the CHRC.

While this is a very tragic incident, sadly it'll take a few more of such occurences to smarten up these Disney-deluded nitwits. Wild animals lacking fear of man can NEVER be trusted.

This was made clear to me one winter evening several years back when a horrific ruckus erupted outside my front window. At the time, I had a wonderful Shepherd/Border Collie cross, in his doghouse. He was barking furiously. Advancing down my driveway was the matriarch coyote bitch-in-heat attempting to lure 'Wally' into the open. Thirty yards behind her was a pack of yelping curs- 5 or 6 in number. It took about ten seconds, and I was out the door with a 12guage- hooting and hollering and blazing- one down, the rest off into the darkness. They never came back.

And no, the gun was not locked away with ammunition stored separately (must have been an oversight)- we're not that stupid out here.

Apparently, when the officers arrived on the scene, they shot one coyote (who hobbled away), and left the other one alone. Then later, they determined the wounded animal had disappeared.
Now really! That's pure incompetance. Turn in your badge! There's probably an opening in a petting zoo near you.

Crows are not dangerous to humans but in Vancouver they are certainly used to people and they are everywhere. They do a real number on the nestlings of songbirds every spring. Of course they are not allowed to be shot.
In France, on the other hand, people are allowed to shoot crows and you don't see any in the cities or towns. The crows in France stay out in the fields away from human contact.

Snagglepuss, that luring attempt happens around here to. It was not your imagination.

The yotes in Ontario have crossed with wolves and dogs and have been super sized.
Coyotes are all over Toronto, two of them ripped my friends springer spaniel open a couple of years ago in an Etobicoke park in the middle of the day.

Once they're use to feeding near humans they get aggressive.
Killed by wolves in 2005 Sask.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenton_Joel_Carnegie_wolf_attack

have seen the bug gers in my backyard in Varsity estates in Calgary and the furthest downtown on the SAIT campus around 10 th street.

I've been giving it some thought about taking up archery.

I figure if it would be easier to obtain a hunting bow than a rifle.

No registration that I know of.

Want the neo-Environmentalists to have a mental unzipping?

Stick a bounty on 'em.

Just out of curiosity, what do you figure Cape Breton coyotes normally eat? ~ Texas Canuck at 9:16 PM

Like Cape Breton humans, they probably prefer Moosehead.

Thomas_L: "What the heck's wrong with people?"

We've been taught by all the Champagne Socialists and Latte Liberal$ to pat the snake: cute snake, sweet snake, friend snake, no-harm-to-me snake. No wonder too many humans have no healthy respect or fear of animals that can kill. We've been brainwashed by cute, cuddly Care Bears, Puff the Magic Dragon, Rubeus Hagrid's sweet baby dragons that grow into big dragons, etc., etc. There's been a cultural, moral, and spiritual shift in children's literature and movies in the past 40 years which has opened them to unrealistic expectations of animals, tamed and wild. Most of them have no idea what "wild" means.

Larry got it right, too: Judeo-Christianity makes it very clear that animals, though created by God, are under human stewardship and are not to be worshipped or given pride of place over humans. That's a common-sense approach compared to the wacko-psycho PETA and Humane Society's credo that animals-are-better-than-humans-and-deserve-to-live-whether-or-not-they're-a-threat-to-human-life.

Michael O'Brien, a Canadian artist and author, has written an insightful book about the pagan invasion of children's culture entitled "A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind," (http://www.ignatius.com/ViewProduct.aspx?SID=1&Product_ID=681&AFID=12&), which essentially points out that our children's minds are being clouded to millennia-old realities of life.

The times are out of joint.

Spotted one that hangs around the rest area at Kicking Horse Pass in BC.

Dunno if it's a hunting area or not though.

I lost one of my cats to coyotes this summer. Damn things are so ballsy. I have found their scat under my bedroom window - and there's always a fresh pile on the driveway. They sit in the bushes just across from our house and drive the dogs crazy. When they get howling - they sound like insane manical laughter.

Back in the day the ol'timers used to call it "educating" coyotes, via Winchester 300mag.

The smarts ones got educated not to come back...

I love walking out in the woods but all I have access to to defend myself legally are bearbangers and capsicum spray. The spray lasts about 8 seconds--not very long and if you don't get the beast in the eyes, you have an angry beast and no more spray. I don't know how effective bear bangers are--I've never had to find out yet.

test

I feel a great sympathy for the family of the young lady who may (I most certainly don't know for sure)have been killed by kumbaya left wing "live and let live" clap trap brainwashing. I think coyotes are beautiful in their place. If coyotes start killing livestock, pets and people it is time they were strongly reacquinted with the practical concept of fearing humans.

Coyotes are smart and resourceful. We had a den on our acreage for several years when we first moved to this area but as the neighborhood filled in, they disappeared. The locals have agricultural backgrounds and are not near as tolerant as we.
We still have foxes and other normal rural critters but the dog and cats seem to hold them at bay. The only thing we see of the rabbit population is the occasional head and horrible green innard that the cat matriarch will not eat. Even the dog avoids it.

"lectures about no-kill strategies from a Toronto Humane Society "coyote management expert"

I would doubt if this "expert" has ever seen a coyote, other than on TV or in the zoo. I would hope this person has other duties other than delivering lectures to gun-toting prairie neanderthals. This is analagous to Saskatoon having a "shark management expert".

No tragedy so great that SDA can't use it as a platform to spew their bile and hate.

i.e., "shoot all champagne liberals and latte liberals, etc. etc.,,," "I don't have any sympath for this twit..."

What the hell's wrong with you people? Another day at the SDA hate and death cult.

I don't think the coyote is indigenous to Cape Breton. They've been extending their range for many years. They've even crossed into Newfoundland.

Common sense tells one never to forget the divide between nature and humanity. I think some of these "green" fanatics forget that on purpose.
Coyotes are normally skittish creatures that do go after smaller creatures. If they start attacking grown people, these animals have to be taken out. A controlled cull may be necessary. It might not sound pleasant but neither does a mauling.

"which essentially points out that our children's minds are being clouded to millennia-old realities of life"

Sunday school?

"which essentially points out that our children's minds are being clouded to millennia-old realities of life. Sunday school?"

No, mitchel44, not Sunday School but nature red in tooth and claw. You don't play around with the forces of nature or assume that you're "up to them."

Having been in a 7.4-on-the-Richter-scale earthquake, I can tell you there's nothing equal about my power and nature's power. Neither is there any way that a human is going to be able to either overpower or humour a wild animal intent on attacking. The odd person might be able to defend themselves against one animal, but most people wouldn't be able to.

A lot of this Utopian Green Tsunami that's washing over us has blinded us to Nature's destructive power. Patting the snake isn't a great idea; we ignore reality at our peril.

Geez, I don't understand the fuss here.

Everyone knows how to get rid of coyotes. Just get a few roadrunners, and a whole buncha stuff from the "Acme" corporation. I watched hundreds of documentaries on this as a kid.

Apparently much of the "coyote research" is actually conducted at Pearson Intl Airport. I have seen coyotes in broad daylight standing beside the runway, patiently waiting while the air-liner I was in taxied past.
In the North end(Maple) is the CN container/rail facility----coyotes patrol the place.
It was not that long ago that the greenies claimed that there was no recorded attack by a wolf in N America---which was accepted as gospel.....somebody made it up....them old nursery rhymes were based upon experience.
The young guy next door phoned me one evening----he was out back ensuring the tractor's block heater was working----and he (luckily) got trapped in the cab with "el lobo" circling.....I resolved the matter with a side-by-side and a flashlight. The critter did not appear rabid but was not difficult to target---I aimed between the eyes.
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?----anybody smarter than a 5th grader!!!

I had a little run-in with the coyotes in South Mountain park, Phoenix Az one time. Which is right next to suburban Phoenix, Ahwatukee etc.

Myself and Spike, my fiendish Golden Retriever out for the evening constitutional. Five coyotes arrived and checked us out. Spike decided discretion was the better part of valor, kept the snarling to "you're gonna die!" instead of throwing the gloves on the ice the way he normally would. Which is saying something, because in his time he was known to tackle Great Danes, Huskies, Bouviers, anything on four legs.

You can see them deciding if you're going to be too much trouble or not, did you know? They look at you, look at each other, then look back at you. Just like punk muggers in Noo Yawk.

They decided we were going to be too much trouble, so I holstered the 9mm back under my shirt.

Hey, it was Arizona. You can do stuff like that.

Taylor Mitchell had a lot of talent as well as promise to be successful, a charming style; may she RIP