Rottimom
March 2nd, 2006, 06:32 PM
The guy in this article lives down the street from me. Glad to know that my neighbors are aware of the problem as well.
Coyote fears on the Mountain
Fred Bohrer takes Little Buddy for a walk near their West 5th home. He's heard coyotes for many years and now sees them.
Gary Yokoyama, the Hamilton Spectator
A coyote makes its presence known.
StreetBeat
By Paul Wilson
The Hamilton Spectator
More articles by this columnist
(Mar 1, 2006)
When he's up north, Fred Bohrer likes to listen to the call of the loon. At home in Hamilton, he hears the coyotes howl.
Bohrer lives on West 5th Street near Rymal Road. Out his front door are Zellers and Fortinos. Out his back door is one of the last pieces of wilderness on Hamilton Mountain, about 20 bushy hectares of undeveloped city parkland.
It's home to the coyote. No saying how many in there, but they can work up a mournful chorus. This being the city, sometimes they'll sing along to car horns and sirens. We don't have wolves here, so the coyote is our top predator.
A hundred years ago, you wouldn't see one much east of Manitoba, but the coyote is a smart creature and is now found right across Canada.
He's not a big animal, maybe 20 kg, but thick fur makes him look beefier.
He can move fast, up to 65 km/h, fast enough to chase down a jackrabbit. Other favourite foods include gophers, mice, rats, sheep, calves, birds, eggs, snakes, turtles, fish, fruit, plants and roadkill.
And on occasion, a juicy city cat or dog. And that's what's worrying Fred Bohrer right now.
He's lived on West 5th for 17 years. He's heard the coyotes for most of that time, but now he's seeing them, too.
This winter, he's spotted them along his back property line and even in around the big cedar in his back yard.
Bohrer is 45, a steelworker and a bachelor. He likes the company of a good dog. That would be one-year-old husky L.B. or Little Buddy.
L.B. needs lots of exercise, and Bohrer takes him for a 45-minute walk at about 3:15 a.m., which, by the way, is a great time for hearing coyotes yip and howl.
In the back yard, L.B. gets tied to a long line, but Bohrer wonders if that's safe anymore.
"Everyone says, 'You've got nothing to worry about. They just go for small dogs and cats.'"
Bohrer takes little comfort in that, so he contacted Hamilton Animal Control. But as manager Calum Burnett explains, "We're not in the business of managing wildlife.
"If a coyote bit someone, we might have to look at some alternatives. But the Ministry of Natural Resources tells us coyotes don't attack people."
Besides, Animal Control uses only live traps. Burnett says it's just about impossible to trap a coyote in one of those. If they did, they would then be required to move it no more than one kilometre from where it was caught.
As coyotes cover a range of 10 to 15 kilometres, that wouldn't help much.
And if a coyote was to be put down, it could not be done with a .22. There's no shooting inside city limits.
Fred Bohrer was referred to the MNR. Art Timmerman, biologist at the Guelph office, says they get a steady run of coyote calls. "Some people are worried. They say, 'Should I let my kids out of the house?'"
Again, there's no record at all of coyotes attacking people in Ontario. Timmerman tells people not to leave food out but says coyotes do come with the territory. "If you want to live out on the edge of town, this is what you get, like mosquitoes."
The MNR can link callers to a licensed trapper. That's how Gary Fordham ended up at Fred Bohrer's door. Fordham would trap coyotes for him, $100 each. But Bohrer thinks that because the animals are living on city land, the city should pay the fee. The city doesn't agree, so there's no trapping taking place.
But Fordham has caught five coyotes this winter -- three around Brantford and two in rural Ancaster.
He digs a hole, puts some muskrat carcass in it, splashes a little sex scent about and sets out a trap.
Tony and Marie Scibetta have a little farm on Rymal Road near West 5th. Years ago, they lost seven sheep to coyotes.
They don't have animals these days, but more coyotes could now be helpful because the Scibettas have a big problem with rabbits.
They chew the bark on the apple trees. Once a tree has been chewed all the way around, it dies. Last year, the couple lost 140 trees.
More coyotes would mean fewer rabbits.
The coyotes have just finished mating. New pups, five to seven to a litter, arrive late next month.
StreetBeat appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
pwilson@thespec.com
905-526-3391
Coyote fears on the Mountain
Fred Bohrer takes Little Buddy for a walk near their West 5th home. He's heard coyotes for many years and now sees them.
Gary Yokoyama, the Hamilton Spectator
A coyote makes its presence known.
StreetBeat
By Paul Wilson
The Hamilton Spectator
More articles by this columnist
(Mar 1, 2006)
When he's up north, Fred Bohrer likes to listen to the call of the loon. At home in Hamilton, he hears the coyotes howl.
Bohrer lives on West 5th Street near Rymal Road. Out his front door are Zellers and Fortinos. Out his back door is one of the last pieces of wilderness on Hamilton Mountain, about 20 bushy hectares of undeveloped city parkland.
It's home to the coyote. No saying how many in there, but they can work up a mournful chorus. This being the city, sometimes they'll sing along to car horns and sirens. We don't have wolves here, so the coyote is our top predator.
A hundred years ago, you wouldn't see one much east of Manitoba, but the coyote is a smart creature and is now found right across Canada.
He's not a big animal, maybe 20 kg, but thick fur makes him look beefier.
He can move fast, up to 65 km/h, fast enough to chase down a jackrabbit. Other favourite foods include gophers, mice, rats, sheep, calves, birds, eggs, snakes, turtles, fish, fruit, plants and roadkill.
And on occasion, a juicy city cat or dog. And that's what's worrying Fred Bohrer right now.
He's lived on West 5th for 17 years. He's heard the coyotes for most of that time, but now he's seeing them, too.
This winter, he's spotted them along his back property line and even in around the big cedar in his back yard.
Bohrer is 45, a steelworker and a bachelor. He likes the company of a good dog. That would be one-year-old husky L.B. or Little Buddy.
L.B. needs lots of exercise, and Bohrer takes him for a 45-minute walk at about 3:15 a.m., which, by the way, is a great time for hearing coyotes yip and howl.
In the back yard, L.B. gets tied to a long line, but Bohrer wonders if that's safe anymore.
"Everyone says, 'You've got nothing to worry about. They just go for small dogs and cats.'"
Bohrer takes little comfort in that, so he contacted Hamilton Animal Control. But as manager Calum Burnett explains, "We're not in the business of managing wildlife.
"If a coyote bit someone, we might have to look at some alternatives. But the Ministry of Natural Resources tells us coyotes don't attack people."
Besides, Animal Control uses only live traps. Burnett says it's just about impossible to trap a coyote in one of those. If they did, they would then be required to move it no more than one kilometre from where it was caught.
As coyotes cover a range of 10 to 15 kilometres, that wouldn't help much.
And if a coyote was to be put down, it could not be done with a .22. There's no shooting inside city limits.
Fred Bohrer was referred to the MNR. Art Timmerman, biologist at the Guelph office, says they get a steady run of coyote calls. "Some people are worried. They say, 'Should I let my kids out of the house?'"
Again, there's no record at all of coyotes attacking people in Ontario. Timmerman tells people not to leave food out but says coyotes do come with the territory. "If you want to live out on the edge of town, this is what you get, like mosquitoes."
The MNR can link callers to a licensed trapper. That's how Gary Fordham ended up at Fred Bohrer's door. Fordham would trap coyotes for him, $100 each. But Bohrer thinks that because the animals are living on city land, the city should pay the fee. The city doesn't agree, so there's no trapping taking place.
But Fordham has caught five coyotes this winter -- three around Brantford and two in rural Ancaster.
He digs a hole, puts some muskrat carcass in it, splashes a little sex scent about and sets out a trap.
Tony and Marie Scibetta have a little farm on Rymal Road near West 5th. Years ago, they lost seven sheep to coyotes.
They don't have animals these days, but more coyotes could now be helpful because the Scibettas have a big problem with rabbits.
They chew the bark on the apple trees. Once a tree has been chewed all the way around, it dies. Last year, the couple lost 140 trees.
More coyotes would mean fewer rabbits.
The coyotes have just finished mating. New pups, five to seven to a litter, arrive late next month.
StreetBeat appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
pwilson@thespec.com
905-526-3391