By Bob Walsh
In this case I am referring to the brown four-legged variety hanging around Nahant, Mass. Nahant is pretty much an island at the end of a 1.5 mile causeway north of Boston. The city is about 1 square mile and 3,000 people. And a modest coyote pack, which has been making a nuisance of itself. Dogs and cats have disappeared. The pack has been known to "stalk" children in the park. They have attacked dogs on leashes. It has gotten to the point people are walking their dogs while armed with baseball bats and are buying coyote proof jackets for their dogs.
The three-member Board of Selectmen has voted to have the Federal Dept. of Agriculture to provide sharpshooters to kill off most of the coyotes, to eliminate the pressure on them to hunt domestic pets. There are only about 500 coyotes killed legally each year in Massachusetts. They have a very short hunting season and virtually all traps are banned.
The coyotes no longer respond to normal fear stimulus. Typically making lots of noise or acting aggressively towards them will cause them to withdraw. The Nahant pack does not do this. The coyotes have done sneak attacks against lone humans. None of those attacks have been fatal. Yet.
The pack seems to have totally eliminated the raccoon and possum population on the island. The rabbits have managed to persist.
No comments:
Post a Comment