BY CHRISTAIN WARREN FREED
With so much construction and growth occurring in our once quaint little town, residents are seeing a massive displacement of wildlife. Robbed of their natural habitats, a bevy of critters and crawlers are searching for new places to settle down, new territory to claim as their own, and new homes for future generations.
While many of these animals are relatively harmless and, let’s face it, nice to see, there are some that raise that curious eyebrow or give us pause while we try to determine whether it is a good thing or not. The coyote certainly fits this bill. Back home in Pennsylvania, farmers offer monetary rewards for hunting these unwanted pests down before they can snatch livestock or fowl.
I, personally, enjoy seeing the different animals roaming around. Okay, maybe not the night I looked out the front window to see three rabbits eating all of my lily and tulip buds the night before they were going to bloom, but anytime you mix in people and wild animals there is a certain recipe for doom.
Case in point, I was headed down Kildaire Farm Road heading to Cary when I spotted what I thought was a young German Shepherd dog dash out from the shrubs and into the street. It got behind me before I heard a crunch and the squeal of brakes. I didn’t have the heart to look back, but I started thinking about what I saw. Could it have been a dog? Sure, but the head was wrong. The ears, the jawline, the disposition of weight. It didn’t take much to figure out this was a coyote.
After that, I began seeing more here and there. Coming back from downtown Holly Springs, we saw one cross the road and head over toward the golf course. Blink and you miss them, but I swear they are getting to be everywhere. Shutting the house down for the night, my youngest Bernese Mountain Dog perked up to the howling of about twenty voices. I went outside and they were coming from around Sunset Lake Road. Loud, boisterous, and sustained.
The next day, I headed up to my buddy’s house for cigars and asked if he saw who did all that howling by his house. He said he didn’t hear anything but was missing one of his chickens. Guess the coyotes were signaling the dinner bell. Poor chicken.
I’m sure plenty of you reading this are recalling your own moments with these elusive creatures. The more the town grows, the more we’re going to see…more and more. That’s life. So, the question is what do we do with them? Ignore them, live together, or call animal control? That’s not up to me or you but I’ve always been a firm believer that a little understanding goes a long way. Let’s look into this wild canine a little bit more.
The coyote, or Canis latrans, is common from Alaska down to Central America, often calling the Great Plains home. Traditionally, the coyote stays west of the Appalachian Mountains but, as a group of pirates were once fond of saying, that’s more of a guideline. Today the coyote can be found throughout Canada and the United States.
Smaller and lighter than its wolf cousins, the coyote gets its name from the Aztecs who pronounced it coyotl. Standing at a little over two feet high and roughly fifty pounds, it is easy to see how they can be mistaken for a standard dog. Their fur is coarse and noted with black and tan, and they are learning to fear us less as they grow more accustomed to their new living arrangements. This is where the trouble comes into play.
Coyotes are fast, clocking in at around 40 mph top speed, and have the strength to take down deer. Not your typical canine, the coyote relies on its elevated senses of smell and hearing to stalk down its prey. Now that they are living among us, we can safely assume this means small dogs, cats, and other pets make an easy meal.
Oddly enough, the coyote also includes berries and fruits in its diet, meaning your gardens are full of tasty morsels for these cunning predators. Like any quality hunting animal, the coyote prefers slinking through the forests or dense vegetation. They don’t want to be seen. The natural defense mechanism of most animals is to hide until they are convinced the area is safe. Doing so is almost an impossibility with the amount of growth Holly Springs continues to experience.
Our paths have no choice but to collide. One advantage the coyote has in our area is the lack of other apex predators. Their main competition comes from eagles and foxes, which isn’t much given what the coyote excels at hunting. Coyotes are highly territorial, moving around a 4- to 15-square-mile area. Once they stake their claim, they are difficult to root out.
I’m sure plenty of you have seen the complaints on Nextdoor, ugh, and have legitimate concerns about disease. Rabies always comes to mind the moment wild animals are mentioned. Images of frothing mouths of diseased creatures attacking us or our dogs presents a vivid picture and rabies is certainly one of the main causes of death in the wild, but reported cases are few and far between. Other major diseases are mange and distemper.
The sad truth is the most common cause of death in the coyote population is humans. Fur trappers and being struck by vehicles are most prevalent. A shame, but a story played out time and again throughout our long history. With a generic lifespan of 6 to 8 years in the wild, generations of coyotes will come and go before our children are finished with school.
Occasionally a rogue coyote will attack a human, but that’s not something we need to be overly concerned about. (Unless you’re the poor lady in South Dakota a month back who decided to get too close to the wild buffalo in the middle of the road.) The bottom line, folks, is don’t approach any wildlife. You never know if they are protecting their young or just wanting to be left alone. These animals fear us more than we fear them. Your best bet is to watch from a distance, ensuring your pets or children are safe from harm, and let the animal go about its way.
People smarter than you or me, at least me in this instance, provide a short list of things to do if you encounter a wild coyote or two:
Be as big and loud as possible.
Don’t run or show your back.
Wave your arms, clap your hands, or make loud noises.
These simple yet effective measures will ensure everyone goes back to enjoying their day without incident. Oh, and don’t try any of that if you see the mama with her pups. That’s a recipe for a bad time. These animals aren’t the bad guys in this story, nor are they the innocent, easy going friends we want to think. They are a wild animal with the potential to be aggressive or dangerous. Treat them accordingly.
