king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated Magazine Dec/Jan 2008 - Coyote Crazy! - Index

PHOTOS: AUTHOR
BY WALT EARL
62
Through the late 60’s and early
70’s, the Federal Government
tried a poison called 1080 in
order to slow the losses of sheep
and calves for stock growers. I
had the opportunity to accompany
a government trapper who was
schooled and trained in the use of
1080. Over the years that I spent
with this government trapper, we
found over each progressive year
that 1080 was used in his area, less
and less coyotes would consume the
bait (we would use half of a large
wether-male neutered sheep at each
site). At fi rst, most of the baits were
well eaten on. However, after a
few years, we could see signs that
coyotes had approached the bait,
but they would not have eaten on
it. We fi gured that approximately
30 to 40-percent of each year’s pup
HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
THE WILL TO LIVE
K-9 Theory - Part 1
population might have been taken by
baiting. The coyotes we found around
the bait stations were almost always
these young ones. After a few years,
the coyotes sensed that this was not the
best food to eat and they passed it by as
a food source.
Before the big fur boom on
coyotes in the late 70’s and early 80’s,
the dens I dug out and the number
of blood spots on the horned uterus
numbered from fi ve to six pups average.
But, during the mid-80’s to early 90’s, I
found eight to ten pups or blood spots
on the horned uterus. In the mid-90’s, I
saw the number drop back down to fi ve
to six again.
The pressure put on coyotes
during the fur boom was unbelievable
- airplanes, helicopters, snowmobiles,
trapping, and whatever else could be
used to harvest a $150.00-plus pelt was
THE K-9
THEORY
The K-9 theory is based
on the two instincts that all
canines have - the will to live
and the will to protect what
is theirs. The wolf, coyote,
fox and the domestic dog all
have these instincts and all
show a defense to protect
them in the same ways.
used. I feel that the coyote’s will
to live is what caused the increase
in pups during this time period.
Similarly, when the mange hits
coyotes hard in a certain area, they
still manage to make a comeback in
a year or two.
After being called in to
a rabbit call, most coyotes that get
shot at and escape with their lives
will either bark or howl the next
time they hear that sound or they
will circle to get downwind to see if
man is involved. Sometimes upon
hearing the call, the coyote will turn
like a forty-mile wind is straight
behind him and run the direction
away from the sound of the call.
In areas that wolves
inhabit, the coyote will circle and
get downwind of the prey’s sound to
make sure a wolf is not the one doing