BrentD
Well-known member
Plunging moose into existence?
Why coyotes need managed
- Thread starter okie archer
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Forkyfinder
Well-known member
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Ever see the moose population trend in western wy?
Careful Brent. This guy knows EVERYTHING. mtmuley
Well, we've been killing them for a coupe centuries and they are more widespread and numerous than at any other time in their history. So I guess the evidence somewhat supports your hypothesis.
I know we chatted about this in the other thread, but coyotes are (as best we know) completely unique among midsized to large carnivores in their compensatory reproductive mechanisms. Every temporary dip in population from an intense harvest spikes the population back to at least where it was, and possibly higher. Controlling the population isn't really an option. Targeted harvests for specific reasons or at specific times of year is really the only hope of accomplishing anything.
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You said non-native species, then listed a subspecies. Do you understand the difference? Those are drastically different things. The species is Canis lupus. Is Canis lupus native or non-native to where you live?
Maybe, in the absence of a total scorched earth population reduction....the survivors have much improved nutrition?
If a given yote territory goes from 9 yotes down to 3 yotes everyone gets more , and easier food.
Fat healthy yotes are more fertile, and more successful parents.
BrentD
Well-known member
That does not work with the numbers game in the long run, since the data suggest that killing coyotes lead to more coyotes, i.e., more than 9 in your example.
sccritterkiller
Well-known member
They can be managed...takes a while.
3k up for grabs, I trap all season and shoot everyone I see the rest of the year.
I prefer to see them dancing with their toes on the pan.
They need managed for the turkeys more than the deer here.
3k up for grabs, I trap all season and shoot everyone I see the rest of the year.
I prefer to see them dancing with their toes on the pan.
They need managed for the turkeys more than the deer here.
Doesn't look that way, at least not by the data they provide. The "40%" drop they refer to is just them dividing the 2021 harvest numbers by the arbitrarily chosen highest year ever (2011), even though their data collection started in 2005. The obviously more honest comparison is beginning to end - which would show a 21% increase. If you want to control for any one year being an outlier, you get the same story if you take the average of the last 2 years against the first 2, or the last 3 years against the first 3, or the last 4 years against the first 4...
Their data shows a population that has grown slightly since the data collection began with an upward trend in the middle of the data collection that then returned closer to baseline - normal fluctuation for a predator, likely related to prey base. Interestingly, to your point, there was a relative peak in the statewide estimate for turkey population that aligns nearly exactly with that upwards trend in coyotes. The coyotes' numbers start to go down around the time turkey recruitment does. There was a similar (but smaller/ less pronounced and more brief) increase in deer around the same time.
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