USDA Wildlife Services Continue to Promote Killing

31 Dec 2023 10 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in snares, traps, Wildlife Services

It’s a good time to bring what Wildlife Services does into everyone’s consciousness if it isn’t there already.

A new fence has gone up in Southern Oregon with this sign on it, warning of animal capture devices. The devices are snares and traps meant to capture wolves, foxes, bears, bobcats, coyotes, etc. A rancher that has experienced losses from any suspected predator can request federal assistance or solutions. By partnering with the feds, it is the government that sanctions and maintains the traps, and the federal government that does the killings.

In other words, you and I are paying taxes so that our government can set tortuous traps and snares, causing horrendous deaths to our wildlife. Any canine trapped or snared is legal. Coyote, wolves, dogs. Of course, dogs shouldn’t be roaming alone on sheep or cattle ranches. And ironically . . . they are caught the most. Last year this very fence sector caught 6 coyotes and 15 dogs. And of the coyotes, they were probably attracted to the tall grasses under the fence where rodents a plenty can be found — few are after sheep.

IN ADDITION, you cannot interfere with any canid caught: that would be a federal crime. Can you imagine what it might be like to come across a snared dog or coyote and not be able to help it?

This type of *predator control* is both *law* AND *culture* in these western areas, so it’s almost impossible to voice the wrong of it without dire consequences from the landowners. It’s not only the sheep and cattle industry that’s involved, but also the very powerful and politically connected livestock associations and communities. It’s almost a religion: most people simply cannot conceive of any anti-predator feelings, especially since wolves are growing in numbers. If wolves kill livestock or dogs, the persecution ripples to all predators. So it’s not just the government laws that need to be addressed and changed, but an entire culture that needs to be infiltrated and supplanted with ideas and policies that are all-embracing rather than exclusive to the interests of ranching.

Shouldn’t our government be PROTECTING our wildlife against exploitation and moneyed business interests? As it stands now, ranching and farming as industries are subsidized by our taxes. Maybe our subsidies should be made contingent on a change. Non-lethal methods of limiting predators on ranches have been tested and they work.

A summary of Wildlife Services can be found here, along with the organization that fights against their atrocities: https://www.predatordefense.org/USDA.htm.

And here is the story of a dog caught in a snare set out by Wildlife Services: imagine a wolf, fox, or coyote going through the same trauma, but without the savior that Bella had. In fact, any potential “savior” to such an ensnared and suffering animal would be prosecuted for a federal crime: https://www.predatordefense.org/features/snares_Bella_Husky.htm#:~:text=Stuck%20for%209%2D10%20hours,for%20the%20U.S.%20Forest%20Service.

You all know from this blog and my Instagram account that coyotes are not *vermin*. They are highly sentient, and some of the most intelligent and feeling of animals. They are extremely social and family minded. They deserve our respect, not our hatred. Please become aware of the situation, and please add your voice to their defense. Our public outcry should be resounding: let’s make it louder in 2024. Happy New Year.

Some Mom/Pup Interactions

23 Dec 2023 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in mother coyote behavior, mother/pup learning, parenting

This morning the sirens began blaring, and Mama coyote began howling back at them. This type of response to sirens is an everyday occurrence with coyotes. Two of her 8-month-old male youngsters were close by. Youngsters are always happy to see Mom, and they are energized by anything she does, often taking their cue from her. They both ran excitedly in her direction after hearing her, but only one of them joined in the howling. The howling continued for a few moments as a duet and then petered out slowly before it stopped entirely.

Two pups are drawn to Mom’s howling, and one joins the chorus

I love watching these interactions which show the warp and woof of an interactive family life. And there were other interactions to be seen if you looked hard enough through the tall grasses which screened what was happening, but I was able to focus enough between those tall grass leaves to pick up a little of it.

Mom normally lets the pups do what they have to do to get along, and she stays out of their interactions. That is, unless and until they get too close to her. As they’ve gotten older, she’s become even more intolerant of boisterous or excessive activity that occurs close to her. These photos show her reacting to them as they begin interacting with each other: she seems to need to calm them down or to move the activity away from her. Her body-language message has to carry weight so that she’ll be listened to, so it is intense: she bares her teeth and wrinkles her nose threateningly to show her disgust.

Mom’s expressions relay her message to them: “Calm down around me!”

Coyote youngsters are always particularly ecstatic to see each other — it always looks as though they haven’t seen each other in weeks, even though it’s only been an hour since they crossed paths! Here, there were the usual wiggles and squiggles and licking and bumping that go along with greetings — all more than Mom wanted to put up with.

But pups have a need to interact visually and physically. Note their eye contact, one flops to the ground unchallengingly, there is grooming, and the guy on the ground jumps up to affectionately grab his brother’s ear.

Even after conveying her displeasure to the pups, Mom ended up distancing herself from them to accommodate the situation because their interactions continue. Pups, of course, HAVE to interact — the need to do so is uncontrollable!

Notice from the pup behavior in the photos that there is a rank between them. Their ranks are something they work out and choose between themselves. If these happen to be conflicting, well, there’s a conflicting relationship that may grow in intensity over time. In this case, the more submissive youngster, I’ll call him *Pow*, adoringly approached the more dominant *Bold*, keeping his body low, and extending affectionate muzzle touches, and even twisting himself so he could affectionately grab Bold’s ear! Bold returned the affection by grooming Pow.

THAT was too rowdy for Mom who decides to distance herself; the pups continue their affectionate interaction with her gone.

Coyote interactions are often short, yet they are intense and full of meaning. The interactions often are longer at the evening rendezvous.

That’s Mom off to the far right, and the youngsters have by now calmed down from their initial excitement of seeing each other.

© All information, maps, and photos in my postings come from my own original and first-hand documentation work [except where indicated] which I am happy to share, with permission and with properly displayed credit: ©janetkessler/coyoteyipps.com.

Recent Tail and Eye Injuries

13 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in Blue eyes in coyotes, coyote eyes, coyote injuries, Injuries, urban coyote ailments

I want to make folks aware that injuries and ailments abound in the coyote world. Here are three youngster coyotes, all 8 months old, who have conditions to contend with which will impact them moving forwards.

Probable Glaucoma from an Injury:

I’ve recently posted about Lapis’ condition, above. Her right eye, from the time I first noticed it when she was about two months old, was blue. It remained this way for many months, but about a month ago that eye suddenly looked quite different: I don’t know if this is a developing condition, or if it is the result of trauma, so I contacted an animal veterinarian eye specialist who diagnosed her condition through photos as follows: “From what I can tell from the picture, the right eye likely has glaucoma (increased internal eye pressure.  The lens within the eye is probably shifted rearward (posterior lens luxation).  The right eye is probably blind, but appears to be comfortable as there is no squinting evident.  Could be from a traumatic injury.”

The eye indeed looks glassy and blind, and from her behavior, it doesn’t seem to be painful. Without a second eye, she would have no depth of field, so this definitely will impact her survival skills. However, coyotes are resilient survivalists, and I expect her to live as full a life as any of the other coyotes. At this point in time, she plays with her siblings and hunts, but she is not adventurous when it comes to exploring new places: she prefers the safety of her immediate area. Then again, a sister of hers from last year’s litter behaved in this exact same way without such an affliction, so the eye may be having no effect at all on her life, so far.

Probable Corneal Edema from a Virus:

This youngster visits a backyard about once a day, so a human was able to take these concerning photos. The cloudy eyes are alarming, so we sent these photos to the same eye specialist as before. His response:

“The clouding of the eyes could be due to corneal edema.  Since this is a youngster, I would suspect some sort of systemic infection caused inflammation of the cells lining the interior of the cornea (endothelial cells).  One possibly is canine adenovirus type 1, which causes a viral hepatitis.  This can cause corneal edema due to endothelial cell inflammation.  Vision is present, but it is going to be hazy.”

A friend and colleague of mine who knows coyotes well tells me that generalities are always broken by coyotes. I.E., there are exceptions always. My own take is that this fella is compromised which will affect the quality of his life, but then again, he might be the exception. I can’t imagine an easy life with hazy vision. However, he has a safe-haven in someone’s backyard which he can retreat to. He is welcome there whenever he wants. Nonetheless, he’s a male and males have strong drives: he’ll want to find a mate and claim his own territory at some point. But let’s see how his story develops. As long as he returns to his backyard safety zone, we’ll be able to get updates.

Caudectormy from an accident or injury:

And then this shocking injury occurred within the last month: a completely severed tail. We have no idea how this happened, but when it was first observed, the cartilage was exposed and the wound was furious red. However, as we all know, coyotes are resilient, and the little female seems to be recovering and is functional, and hopefully out of pain at this point. If you see her, please leave her alone: her tail cannot be restored, and she already is healing. Remember that what is most important to these coyotes is their families and relationships within those families. Allowing them to remain with their families until they are ready to disperse is crucial for their well being. Unless a wild animal is immobile, or has mange, we leave most alone, allowing nature to follow its course.

For more urban coyote injuries and ailments, see Injuries and Ailments: a coyote’s life is hard and short.

Lapis: Update

04 Dec 2023 6 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in Blue eyes in coyotes, bonds, coyote behavior, siblings

You might recall that Lapis is the one-blue-eyed coyote pup I wrote about several months ago. I saw her a few days ago at almost 8 months of age: an update is in order. The change that struck hard is that the bright blue right eye of hers is no longer blue. The iris of that blue eye is now double the size of a regular eye — it almost looks like a glass eye. The iris is the colored structure in the front of the eye that regulates the amount of light that can enter the retina by controlling the size and diameter of the pupil. I don’t know how much light her eye lets in, but I would assume it is affected by the iris’s size. It seems obviously damaged or diseased, but it doesn’t seem to impact her activity.

Health issue in urban coyotes can develop at any time, but it’s sad when they develop early, as with this eye condition. I hope it’s not something that impacts her life too much. Last year pups in several of the coyote families developed neurological walking problems which they were either born with, or they developed very early after birth, possibly due to distemper. Other ailments I’ve encountered can be found HERE.

The day I saw Lapis, she was with one of her brothers and demanded that he interact with her: it was almost sparring behavior without the need to win. She’s comparatively petite compared to him but that didn’t stop her from engaging with him as an equal. He, on the other hand, I could tell, was careful not to overpower her. The roughhousing and wrestling he engages in with his brothers did not occur here.

I don’t know if he knows that something is wrong with her eye, but I would guess he does: coyotes are super aware of temperature differences, smells and visuals. For instance, they seem to know exactly where the hidden ticks are on each other. In another instance, I watched the mate of a young fellow sniff his broken ankle when that happened, and I knew that she knew it was injured and hurt him.

Below is a gallery of photos I took that day showing the sparring and interactions between these two siblings. The strong bond between them encompasses caring, playing, teasing, provoking, patience, and affection, in addition to warm companionship. Coyotes are hugely social and it is obvious that this relationship is important to both of them, and possibly is the highlight of their day. Things to notice: their communication through intense eye-to-eye contact, her jabbing him with her forepaws, affectionately biting his ear, biting his neck, grabbing his hindquarters, grabbing his head, putting her head over his shoulder, as she incited him to react to her. Notice he calmly allowed her to poke and flit as she pleased, and then gently and affectionately — almost protectively — reacted companionably more than anything else! [You can click on one of the photos to then scroll through them].