Coyote Yipps

It’s unfortunate when any injury occurs to anyone, but did you know that most injuries and accidents can be avoided? How it could have been prevented usually isn’t considered until after the fact. It might help to read about the myriad of accidents, sometimes leading to death, which people experience every year: life is risky, and even in your house risks are tremendous. Because of the few coyote incidents in the city, some people have thought of drastic measures to get rid of them. A *perspective* is a particular attitude towards something; a way of thinking about something. Maybe a new perspective is needed.

We know what coyote behavior, and especially denning behavior entails. We need to get this out to the public through better signage and education.  I’ve urgently tried giving input to RPD/ACC for signage which was immediately squelched by them [“we can’t have Janet telling us what to put in our signs”], and my scheduled educational talk was outright cancelled by RPD/ACC based pretty much on personal animosity possibly based on my superior knowledge and understanding of coyotes. So they see me as a threat to their organization rather than an asset.

In the case of coyotes, scapegoating also occurs, not only of the coyotes themselves, but of me and my efforts, and the effort of others. It’s so much easier to blame and tear someone down rather than look at reality and deal with that.

I’ve assembled this page as a reference for when needed, to address the *amplification of fear* generated by many people about coyotes, especially on NextDoor. Note that much of what is reported on NextDoor is baseless sensationalized opinion, and it’s spread like wildfire. The fear of coyotes is similar to the fear of flying: the risks are minimal, but there indeed have been accidents which for many, justifies their fear of flying. [images are from the internet].

• more people die in bathtubs than in terrorism, CPSC study, CDC, Bathtub vs. terrorism:

• guns kill close to 50,000 a year with suicides being the highest and murders next. Accidental deaths amounted to about 550, USA facts.  

• unintentional poisoning kills over 100,000 people a year including from drugs: CDC.

• bears kill fewer than 3 humans a year, bear.org and petpedia

• bees, wasps and hornets kill 62 a year in North America: During 2000–2017, a total of 1,109 deaths from hornet, wasp, and bee stings occurred, for an annual average of 62 deaths.   62 a year from hornets, wasps and bees, CDC.

• drowning deaths mount to 4,500 a year in the USA

• falls cause many injuries and kill about 30,000 a year, mostly older adults, CDC.

• mosquitos: are the biggest killer, SmithsonianMagazine

• venomous snake bites: to humans amount to about 7,000 a year and about five of those die.

• dogs send 1000 people to emergency rooms every single day of the year and deaths to humans from dogs amount to about 43 a year. We’ve had several right here in San Francisco

• choking: causes 5500 deaths a year, Statista.com

• disease comes on suddenly and unexpectedly, Statista.com

• boating accidents: cause 3,000 injuries and 500 deaths a year in the USA, CoastGuard.

• bicycles: of the 1,230 bicycle deaths in 2021, 853 were in motor-vehicle crashes, and 377 on other accidents. InjuryFacts.

• trees: OSHA reports that over 100 people are killed by trees every year in the USA, Reifflawfirm.

• cars: 38,824 deaths in 2020: Transportation.gov.

• wolf deaths have amounted to a total of 8. Dog attacks, drowning, and hunting and boating accidents claim far more lives than wolves have or ever will. Yet I don’t hear anyone demanding that we eradicate all dogs or ban hunting, swimming, or boating so that we can protect ourselves from such dangers. TheDodo.

• coyote bites to humans amount to 17 a year for all of North America, mostly from interfering in a dog/coyote altercation, hand feeding, or to a small child. There have been only two deaths to humans from a coyote ever recorded in all time.

• Sharks kill about 10 humans a year, whereas humans kill about 100 million sharks per year.

• Falling television sets kill about 29 people a year.

• Champagne corks kill about 24 people a year, and often cause permanent eye injuries.

• Golf balls injure about 100 people a year, of these about 10 are fatal.

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 888,220 workplace injuries that were recorded in 2019 that resulted in time away from work, 244,000 were from falls, slips, and trips, resulting in 75,420 sprains, strains, and tears, 46,800 fractures, and 6,740 cuts, lacerations, and punctures.

• As of Mar 10, 2021 · The number of people struck and killed while walking has gone up 45 percent in a decade

On and on including roller-blading, making a bed, cooking, painting.