Coyotes – Hiking Safely in the Woods
I read this on the MGA forum and contacted the author for permission to copy it here. It’s worth a read.
Coyotes – Hiking safely in the woods
by vango » Yesterday 9:40 am
Yesterday, I attended “Coyote Day” event, near Keji, sponsored by Mersey
Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI). http://www.merseytobeatic.ca/
There were presenters there from DNR (Peter MacDonald), Mi’kmaq (Shalan Joudry),
Wolf Biologist (Fred Harrington), Trapper (Mike Pottie), Parks Canada (Stephen
Flemming), as well as some sheep farmers.
The biggest take away’s for me to ensure that I can continue to hike safely are:
* The random encounters in the real wild are very low risk. However the
encounters with Coyotes that are living near “humans” (e.g. Urban hiking trails)
are much higher risk, since these animals are tending to loose their natural
fear of humans, and may be also defending THEIR territory. Combined with the
fact that “some people” feed them.
There was a couple there from Beaverbank who had a scary encounter in the
Beaverbank trail a few weeks ago. There were four coyotes who confronted them
on the trail. After several minutes of staring them down, waving sticks and
hollering at them, they gradually took off.
* Travel with a “buddy”. The Skyline trail in Cape Breton now prohibit’s solo
hikers there.
* If you encounter a Coyote, DON’T RUN. If anything, act aggressive and move
TOWARD it.
* Carry / use a hiking stick. They can surprise you, and you many not have time to find one. The one I use is designed for winter hiking too, so it has a rubber foot that can be removed, revealing a 2 inch sharp metal spike that could be handy for a close encounter.
* Look BIG, Wave your arms out and up, use clothing, etc to look big.
* Make noise. Lower frequency growling or woof woof’s are probably better than
high pitched noises. Although a whistle may be better than nothing.
* Be aware of your surroundings, especially if you are distracted by a natural
wonder. Picking berries, taking pictures, geocaching, squatting for a pee.
Coyotes can be opportunistic and if you look small you may become more of a
target.
* Report any “real” confrontations (not just random sightings) to DNR. Problem
animals or packs can be trapped / removed if appropriate.
* Coyotes are very smart and adaptive and may exhibit quite different behavior’s
in different areas based on the actual experiences of specific leaders in the
pack. One man described being on a 7-day fishing expedition, placing their
food in a plastic bag, which they used a rope and pulley to pull up a tree every
day for 5 days. On the 6th day when they returned they found the coyotes
(tracks) had chewed through the rope that was used to lower the food bag, and
the bag was on the ground.
In short, I am not scared of them, but I respect them and will act accordingly when in their woods.
The odd’s of a confrontation are a lot lower than getting in a car accident, so don’t get paranoid but be aware.
HERE IS THE SHORT BULLET LIST:
=============================
* Urban woods trails may actually have a HIGHER risk of encounter – be aware of your surroundings
* Don’t run from them!
* Carry / use a hiking stick.
* Carry a whistle or use low grunting sounds
* Travel with a “buddy”.
I always enjoy seeing wild life when out in the woods, even if it is a coyote or bear, I know what to do so it doesn’t worry me too much. I have sat and watched coyotes while hunting, my dad gets mad at me for not shooting them but I see no need to do it. He says, they are killing our deer so I remind him that the deer are there for them as well. If it was confronting me or is a danger around a residence or something like that, yes common senseand my rifle would win but otherwise they are part of nature and are fun to watch from a distance.
We had to shoot a nuisance bear a few years ago at a sugar camp we were staying at while moose hunting, it was too friendly and destroying the sugar camps equipment. The first day I sat about 100 feet away and was talking to it but the second day it was just getting too brave, unfortunately so the wardens gave the camp owner permission to kill it before it became a danger to people. I think bears are more predictable than coyotes so I watch would coyotes a little closer when around, bears are big chickens most times. The spring is the most dangerous times for bears, they are hungry and may have cubs.
On the last bullet point, make sure your buddy is slower and tastier looking!!
I agree with you Rev.
The part that struck me in the post is this:
“The odd’s of a confrontation are a lot lower than getting in a car accident, so don’t get paranoid but be aware.”
I find that when an item hits the news, people over react and think that an uncommon event is something common. We went caching on a popular trail in Bouctouche next to the highway. We met a gentleman who was taking walks in a parking lot and would not go into the woods because of a fear of coyotes.
A picture on ACGA of a pile of dead coyotes in NB(Maybe 30 of them or more)prompted someone to say it was justified to kill them based on one death in Cape Breton and one in California.