Coyotes thriving in coast counties

April 19, 2009 by Anonymous

By Maureen Donald
Special to The Pamlico News

Coyotes are among the most adaptable mammals in North America. They have an enormous geographical distribution and can live in very diverse ecological settings, even successfully making their homes in suburbs, towns, and cities.
Whortonsville resident Debbie Godwin thought it was dogs barking that woke her in the middle of the night. but listening closely she soon realized she was wrong. According to Godwin, it was coyotes and they were in her front yard.
“It sounded like a pack of 20 or so barking and yelping in the middle of the night,” Godwin said. “I’ve known they’re around for some time, but being that close to the house is scary.”
Just recently a dog turned up at her door badly injured and Godwin is convinced it was coyotes. While the dog is recovering well, Godwin isn’t taking any chances.
“I’ve already talked to some hunters about trying to get rid of them,” Godwin said.
According to Robbie Norville, state wildlife biologist for the 12-county District 2, which includes Pamlico, that might be easier said than done.
“No doubt Pamlico County has a thriving coyote population,” Norville said. “While it's hard to put a number on the coyote population, we know we have them."
Norville said “it’s impossible to do a census.” But added that “if you see one, it’s like seeing the tip of the iceberg.”
Coyotes, a cousin to dogs and wolves began its long trek from out West years ago, migrating to Southeastern North Carolina in the past 10 to 20 years or so. In the United States, all 48 contiguous states and Alaska have populations, though densities vary with habitat quality.
It's also hard to say exactly where they came from or how they got here. Some naturally moved east as logging converted forests to the open habitat preferred by coyotes. And although experts say that it probably would have migrated into the Southeast on its own, the pace was accelerated through illegal releases. In North Carolina, for example, coyotes were introduced primarily by fox hunters.
“It’s difficult to say how many were trucked east by hunters and released on game preserves to be hunted, “ Norville said. “Coyotes are wary animals, a challenge to hunt and extremely adaptable.
Coyotes flourish in part because they are opportunistic predators. They commonly prey upon small animals (mice, rabbits, reptiles, and insects), sometimes including pets, and often consume scavenged food items and carrion, as well as fruits, seeds, and other plant material. Coyotes can also kill large mammals such as white-tailed deer and livestock.
Coyotes are found in all 100 counties of North Carolina, biologists say. While it is thought that most of the state's coyote population lives in the western part of the state, some counties in the east, such as Onslow and Pamlico, also have healthy populations, Norville said.
Coyotes are presently considered a non-native species, with no harvest restriction or special protection. Confirmed specimens have primarily come from a relatively widespread portion of the coastal region. These populations are expected to increase with reproduction, immigration and additional illegal releases.
These territories frequently overlap with a transient coyote that is searching for a mate or its own territory. This makes population estimation difficult, which in turn makes control difficult.
Another reason for attempts at extensive control measures has been the coyote's appetite for deer. In one study it was found that coyote predation was responsible for half of the whitetail deer fawn mortality occurring in the first month of the fawn’s life. Despite tremendous efforts to control coyotes, the animal is thriving today well outside its original range.
“Hunting coyotes in North Carolina is the result of their possible impact of the on the deer population, Norville said. “Also people perceive them as a threat.”
But Norville said that coyotes shy away from people as a general rule and with a little caution, they offer little danger to humans.
“They are scavengers and will eat just about anything,” Norville said. “Be careful about leaving pet food and the such outside.”
In short Norville believes coyotes present little threat to humans.
“The incidents of coyotes contact with house pets and humans is very, very rare,” Norville said.

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