We have had a good size pack (from the sound) of Coyotes living in our gully here in the Finger Lakes for several years now. They have lots of cover and plenty of rodents/ rabbits to feast on, their primary diet. I have sheep and a horse and electric net fencing, so no trouble so far. The neighbor who has a good size flock of sheep had a sheep guard dog in with the flock. No reports of coyote attacks on any of the local flocks. We do have barn cats disappear, but they do wander into the woods, so possibly cross tracks with the pack. But then we also have raccoon and fox, so maybe they are responsible. The strange thing is that the Coyotes seem to have disappeared this winter. We know there IS rabies in the area - my husband got bitten by a confirmed rabid skunk in Feb., so I am wondering if the pack was taken sick and died out. With the number of rodents and rabbits they eat, they are welcome to live in my gully, and since it is good habitat, I assume they will be back. On another note, I have had Owls living in my woods in the gully since I have lived here - 32 years - but I did not hear a single Owl this winter. I leave old and dying trees in the gully to encourage their nesting, so I know they have shelter, and am wondering what could have happened to them also. -Rosalinda

With the Cuddeback camera, every morning seems like Christmas..I can hardly wait to see what I have! Last night's photos: 2-23-09, Pond trail, female Gray Fox, 9:26 p.m. From Cuddeback trail camera photos-wildlife on Picazo Farm pond trail 2-24-09, Pond trail, young male Red Fox, 1:21 a.m. From Cuddeback trail camera photos-wildlife on Picazo Farm pond trail 2-24-09, Pond trail, female Gray Fox, 5:31 a.m. From Cuddeback trail camera photos-wildlife on Picazo Farm pond trail I took photos of the jumble of tracks in front of the Cuddeback camera to establish the genders of the foxes in the photos 2-24-09, mixed fox tracks; Round-toed Gray Fox below, triangular Red Fox tracks above From Cuddeback trail camera photos-wildlife on Picazo Farm pond trail 2-24-09, Red Fox tracks, showing slight inner step with hind foot, showing him to be a young male (male's shoulders are wider than female's, so the hind foot, which lands on top of the front foot track, tracks slightly to the inside) From 2-24-09, Tracks and scat 2-24-09, female Gray Fox tracks, showing hind foot stepping slightly to the outside to account for wider hips From 2-24-09, Tracks and scat The young female coyote's tracks came down the hill behind the horse shed by the kitchen, then trotted up the pond trail to the first corner before cutting off through the woods. I followed the male Red Fox's tracks further down the logging road until the young female coyote's tracks reappeared on the logging road further back on our property. A male coyote's tracks from the day before came down the hill and onto the logging road at a track "intersection"-another great spot for a Cuddeback camera. I followed the female coyote's tracks until she turned off the trail, straight down the hill, then I circled my land and found where she crossed a log high above the creek gully onto the property in the first place. From 2-24-09, Tracks and scat then went up the hill where she must have circled around to come out by our kitchen From 2-24-09, Tracks and scat I even slithered down a steep, snowy hillside, hanging onto shrubs high above the creek, carrying my expensive camera, to investigate a den in the side of the mountain, but only a squirrel's tracks were near the entrance. For three hours I tramped around our property writing down track and stride measurements, taking hundreds of track photos, etc. I'm really nosy like that; I told DuBois that if the animals were humans they'd have a restraining order on me for stalking and photographing them. To get back on the forum subject (I really should find a wildlife forum for these photos)-despite 17 degrees this morning, the Red-Shouldered Hawk is yelping again to declare his territory, Cardinals have started their "cheer, cheer!"s, Titmice have begun their "Peter-peters" and even the Carolina Chickadees are doing "see-bee, see bay"s now. So, ready or not, spring is coming

"OP said picture was taken in the Florida panhandle...Navarre." Yes, they did. But that photo wasn't taken in Florida. The vegetation in the background isn't right and this species of fox doesn't occur anywhere near Florida. Everything about that animal looks like a Swift Fox (Vulpes macrotis) to me although the hair is a bit short. But the size of the ears, color, shape of the body, etc. all look like macrotis to me. And the habitat in the background further supports this ID....assuming it was shot in North America? I've seen a lot of photos on the internet with the wrong location listed. The Cross Fox (and all the other color patterns of Red Fox) have a heavier muzzle and smaller ears.

Shooting is not an option on the table here. From the town: Thank you very much for the information you provided to the coyote reporting system. All reports are recorded in a GIS database with relevant details so we can use the overall data to determine if there is any highly unusual activity that may require further action. The reporting system is one of the pieces of a comprehensive strategy to help deal with coyotes in the town. Wildlife falls under a “grey” area of responsibility and while it has generally been the province (through Ministry of Natural Resources) who has dealt with many of these issues, this is no longer the case and the town has taken measures to address coyotes to the extent possible. The Humane Society doesn’t generally deal with wildlife unless the animal is sick/injured or in distress. Coyotes have emerged as a highly urbanized animal and have been living in cities/towns across North America for many decades, including our town. They are not necessarily nocturnal (so seeing them during the day is not unusual) and they live well on just about any type of food, including garbage, bird seed and fruit although their preferred diet is small rodents and they play a key role in keeping these populations under control. They prefer to keep to themselves but are highly adaptable and have adjusted to being in close contact with human settlements. Urban and suburban areas provide great spaces for them to live due to the abundance of food sources such as garbage and rodents. While they prefer wooded areas, they can find hiding spaces almost anywhere. Fortunately, contrary to popular belief coyotes have a very high safety profile with people and this is backed up by extensive statistics and research. In our town, we have only had one relatively minor incident with a coyote nipping a girl (2012), otherwise there have been no reported issues in Halton Health’s records (if a bite or scratch is received by an animal, doctors are required by law to report). In the few cases where individual coyotes come into conflict with people and start displaying aggressive behavior, they are almost always linked back to feeding issues. When people feed coyotes (either on purpose or inadvertently), they become accustomed to seeing people as a food source and will come closer and start approaching to access food. Part of our strategy involves using coyote reports to track behavior and look at where clusters of problem behavior are occurring. We can then do targeted investigations to determine if feeding is an issue, and if so to do outreach and if necessary employ fines (through the Parks By-law and/or Property Standards By-law) to ensure feeding of the coyote is stopped. In the few cases where this has occurred, this approach has been successful and the problem coyote behavior has gone down. Some coyotes in this area have become fairly accustomed to human activity, particularly if they associate food with people and do not encounter any negative reinforcement from human interaction. However, even if they appear unconcerned, they are very skittish and will run at the first sign of any troubling activity such as yelling, shouting – things they aren’t used to. In the case of a coyote that is very used to human activity, it may even require running towards them – again, something they aren’t used to. “Hazing” coyotes when they become too comfortable in an area is a recommended way to discourage them from an area. When the coyote is spotted, this involves moving aggressively towards the animal, spraying them with a hose (if in your yard), throwing things towards (not directly at) them and making loud noises and doing this until they run away. Unlike other canines, coyotes are instinctively programmed to run if they are uncertain of something and this teaches them not to approach people. We have used this technique with good success and research supports this approach. While coyotes do not generally pose a risk to people/children, we strongly encourage pet owners not to let their dogs off leash as per town by-laws and the signage in the trails and parks. Smaller pets (both cats and dogs) are perceived as food by coyotes and larger dogs may be seen as potential threats – picking your dog up while a coyote is present is a good approach as this significantly reduces the potential risk to the dog. Although coyotes will back away from conflict, during the spring and early summer they become much more defensive as they are raising their pups. Dens are usually well hidden and set back from human activity but if other animals approach, they’ll go after them to protect their young. If the dogs are off-leash this can cause significant conflict situations which is why we stress the importance of keeping pets safe when out in natural areas and not leaving pets unattended in yards. Sometimes, especially when people are walking their pets, they will notice that a coyote seems to be following them. This “shadowing” is normal behaviour but can be disconcerting. It does not mean the coyote is planning to attack, it’s simply the coyote’s way of keeping an eye on its territory. It’s important to note that in addition to the legislative, ethical and environmental reasons eliminating or moving coyotes is not possible, extensive research has shown that where there is suitable habitat it is impossible to keep coyotes out. Experience has shown that if coyotes are killed off/removed from an area, reproduction rates increase rapidly and more will move in creating unstable and more aggressive coyotes fighting for territories. Except in serious cases where an individual coyote is demonstrating aggressive/risky behavior, removing it is not an option.