#it's not like moose and bears are particularly able to kill

[kortac-sweetheart]

this isn’t like finalized or anything but i’ve been mulling over what my fav kortac men as hybrids

i think konig might be a moose or grizzly bear hybrid, moose is a little more interesting than classic bear. i think it’s a, not necessarily better idea per se but it’s more interesting to see a herbivore/prey animal rise the ranks and become colonel. with bear i guess it’s kind of a no brainer that he’d make it to colonel but with moose konig i feel like that could definitely add onto his social anxiety bc of the preconceived notions that other hybrids have abt “prey” in positions of authority

nikto.. dearest nikto.. i think that he would also be either a bear or a hippo. his mask already makes him look like a cute little hippo :3 since i’m leaning more towards moose for konig, i think i’m leaning towards hippo for nikto too. those mfers are scary as hell. bear nikto is cool and all but the reason i fell in love with him is bc i saw a clip of him breaking some sad sap’s back bane style and i think that hippo nikto would do that. he can’t exactly tear and maul someone with a mask on unfortunately.

and for krueger, i think i’ll keep him as an eastern green mamba tbh. i mean it fits him, the veil in his danish frogman attire already looks like it has scales on it. he doesn’t talk much, swift and deadly and an efficient killer. i think snake also fits him bc he’s able to slink from place to place, organization to organization without being detected. also a lot of the fanart for hybrid krueger has him as a snake so y’know, why not.

horangi is obviously a tiger. it’s his name 😭 no debate there.

but what i do find interesting is that i see oni as a lion hybrid. or a hawk hybrid. i think that dragon might fit him well too but i want to keep things in the realm of semi-reality. i think lion might be too eurocentric for oni tbh. oni is so sleek and gorgeous.. i think hawk might be better. there’s a lot of symbolism around hawks but i particularly like the meaning of clarity and making decisions with a clear sense of purpose. (we gotta kill your dad hiro “oni” watanabe)

as for velikan… he’s mentioned as “heavy set” in the wiki, so that narrows it down just a tiny bit. croc…. crocodile velikan??? he’s american, and there are most certainly crocs in america. and crocs are also menacing, killer animals.. like velikan. they’re ambush predators, and velikan is well… very. very quiet, as in only 9 seconds of voice lines quiet.

i’m really glad that i didn’t walk out of this with them as the more typical hybrids, this was a really fun thought experiment.

as for reader insert… im gonna be a little boring abt my own particular insert. i think it’s gonna be a cat hybrid or lamb tbh. i’m leaning more towards lamb bc i think they’re slightly more original and they’re cute too.

[amethystpath-writes]

P3 A Girl on the Battlefield

Continuation of this!

Tag list: @chaoticgoodandi @moose-teeth @for-the-love-of-angst @kemonoinuzuka @tears-and-lilies @whatwhumpcomments

(NOT A PR0MPT)

******

Mistake. Mistake. Mistake. This was all the princess could think about as she sprinted down the hall, down the stairs. She passed guard after guard and began to think she was dreaming as they all stood still, heads simply turning as she ran by them. They watched; they didn’t chase.

They had to have heard her bicker with their prince, the Billiard Son. So why did they do nothing? That wasn’t a guard’s duty. Their duty was to protect the kingdom.

Maybe that was why. Their duty was to protect, and Shiya wasn’t someone the kingdom needed protecting from. She was the uselessly daggered girl on a battlefield, the one that was picked up and carried away to her greatest enemy’s kingdom.

She stopped, in the middle of a hall- which seemed to have no end- with a thought. Amid her escape from the prince, she forgot the reason she was even here, in the Billiard King’s land: her brother was in battle. And he was here, somewhere. Shiya needed to find him…but where? She knew nothing about this kingdom except for the scary stories her father would tell to make herself and Rius behave at bedtime.

Where is he? Not Zypherius- though him, too. No, she meant the prince- Aldis. Because, surely, he was on her heels, furious with the green dagger in his side. I should have ripped the blade out- let him bleed out.

What a violent thought from such a little girl. What a violent thought from a girl who climbed apple trees, only to have one thrown at her by her brother unprompted. It happened often enough that Shiya should have learned to expect it every time- should have known the outcome well enough to stop bringing a book- which was always dropped in the mud, ruined.

A scraping stole Shiya’s attention. The sound was shrill and the princess practically whimpered. That couldn’t be Aldis catching up to her already, could it be? He should have been crippled, unable to walk because he was unable to breathe.

“I just want my brother,” she said, her voice raspy from all the running and crying. “If you let me see him, I…I promise to return home without a word. There would be no war from Stinemarch, no vengeances from my father. He would- he would appreciate my safe return and look the other way.”

The laugh which responded wasn’t the prince’s. It was older, colder, and impossibly more amused, as if they knew to expect Shiya’s pleas and promises. “You think you are in a position to negotiate freedom? You are lucky to still be alive.”

Shiya was frozen in her place. “Are you the captain?” It was the same voice- the one from the battlefield Shiya was sprawled out on before being brought here. She heard Aldis, telling the captain she was alive. He’d wanted to kill her; she remembered hearing it briefly. Focusing on what their words meant required so much effort that she couldn’t remember why they decided to keep her, besides to obviously torture her.

“Captain, Commander, General, Great Lord, Billiard King…the titles are all the same here.”

The Billiard King.

No. No, that wasn’t right. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be because he was a myth, a story, a falsity created by the princess’ father to scare her. That was all.

“Most people pass out when they hear the last one. I suppose your quaking is enough of a response.”

“You can let my brother and I go.” Shiya swallowed. She was speaking to a captain of the Billiard King, she told herself. Because if it were the Billiard King, the princess would have passed out just as the captain man suggested. “No word will be spoken of our capture. I can tell my father I poisoned my brother’s cup and-”

“And what?” That scraping sounded again. It was coming closer, and closer to Shiya. “You dragged him into the woods to make it look like he still went to battle? Ran into a bear and that’s why you both have scarred gashes on your delicate skins?”

What a terrible way to refer to someone’s body. Skins, as if Shiya and Zypherius were meant to be hunted like rabbits amongst dogs.

Wait. He didn’t deny that Rius was alive and able to be taken home.

The princess spun on a heel, her breath and courage regained. She faced the captain. “My brother is alive?”

“I do not recall saying that-”

“You didn’t not say it.” Her voice was confident for the first time since entering the Land of the Wicked.

Another chuckle followed, one dry and callous. “Such a small capsule, how is it so full of hope?”

Thankfully, the scraping stopped, but in its place was a feeling on Shiya’s shoulder, then her neck, as the captain took another, last, step towards her. It was her dagger which made the noise as the man dragged the metal blade against the stone walls of the hall. Shiya could have stepped away, having watched the man approach.

“Take it,” he said, “your dagger.”

Really? Shiya bit her cheek. A captain wouldn’t give an enemy girl a dagger. Unless maybe he thought she could do no harm to him, or anyone else, with it. She almost informed him that she stabbed the prince only minutes ago with that dagger, but, (1) that would be a thoughtless confession, and, (2) he probably already knew based off the red of the blade.

“What would you expect me to do with it? I am not so stupid to attack a captain.”

“You attacked a prince.”

He does know, the princess realized with a great magnitude of dread. Her throat went dry in an instant. She shook her head.

“Refusing to take your own pretty weapon?” The captain clicked his tongue, licked his bottom lip, then licked a canine tooth. He tilted his head at the enemy princess, the one which had the audacity to stab her captor prince with a jewelled dagger. “You were so fond of using it before. Why not now?”

“I said,” she reiterated, stupidly confident, “that I am smarter than to take it. I am your enemy, and I know well that enemies do not hand other enemies weapons.”

This made the man laugh. It was now that Shiya took the time to observe his features, the ones which made him a man instead of a brute.

He was older- though no older than any captain Shiya knew- perhaps in his forties. Late forties. He had crows feet beside his right eye, but on the left, instead of a bird’s print, was a scar which stopped just short of his eyebrow and reached down to the corner of his lip. It was jagged, uneven, thicker in some spots, thinner in others.

“You are not so much an enemy as you are a prisoner.”

“An enemy prisoner,” Shiya responded, nearly in question. She was still an enemy, by definition, wasn’t she?

Another pot of laughter boiled from the captain at the princess’ easy comment. She took the short time to make more careful observations. Why? She didn’t know. Maybe it was what helped her maintain the calm she possessed now.

The scar was particularly wide where it stopped above the captain’s eye, as if someone had a knife and twisted it there. It certainly wasn’t the mark of an animal. Animalistic, but not made by a wolf, or bear, or such.

One of the captain’s cheekbones was more prominent than the other. Actually- Shiya squinted for a moment- they were both prominent, only one was dented slightly, it seemed. How was that possible?

“How much of a threat do you think you are, Princess of Stinemarch?”

The weakness which the captain insinuated didn’t go unnoticed by Shiya. She knew it was a shot more at her kingdom than herself. Either way, it rendered her in a way that made her seem like a speck on earth and nothing more.

“Your prince is bleeding, is he not?” Shiya jutted her chin away from her own blade, disliking the way it was warming against her skin from having sat there for so long.

“Take the dagger. I will not tell you again.”

This time the princess did as she was told. She reached for the handle, where the captain’s hand was settled, and she tugged.

“The blade.”

Shiya’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Grab the blade.”

“The bla- but the blade is sharp.”

He looked at her expectantly, waiting, knowing very well that it was sharp. Even if it weren’t sharp, he’d make it cut deep. “There’s a good girl.”

[firelord-frowny]

I want to complain for several paragraphs right now about why my whole soul and spirit or whatever is so tremendously BOTHERED by ~certain people’s~ pathalogical obsession with their “right to bear arms,” ESPECIALLY among those who insist on carrying guns in public and on a regular basis. 

Now, I do not use guns at all. I’ve hardly ever even seen a gun that wasn’t on a cop’s hip. 

When I’m Out In The World, however, and particularly when I’m traveling alone via uber or whatever, I do carry pepper spray. So I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable for someone to want the comfort of knowing that if they need to defend themselves from someone, they have a way to do so. 

But I also have noticed that when I’m carrying pepper spray, I’m almost hyper-alert, on the lookout for any excuse I might need to use it. Situations that wouldn’t cause me much concern ordinarily suddenly become suspicious to me when I’m carrying pepper spray. A Strange Man that I’m about to walk by suddenly causes me to put one hand on my spray ~just in case,~ whereas if I didn’t have my spray at all, I wouldn’t have even glanced at the dude. 

So like... I feel like carrying any kind of weapon at all almost inherently means that you expect to use it. And when you expect that you’re going to need to hurt somebody, you look constantly for any cue at all that might give you reason to believe someone might be about to possibly act violently toward you or someone near you. And the human mind, I think, is really fucking skilled at inventing circumstances to justify a “maybe”. Your uber driver isn’t just an uber driver anymore - they’re an uber driver who might try to take you someplace other than where you’re paying to go. The guy walking toward you isn’t just a guy walking toward you - he’s a guy who might have a knife in his pocket, who might be planning to use that knife to mug you, and when he reaches into that pocket for his cell phone, you’ve already decided that he’s actually reaching for the knife, and you’re about to react accordingly.

Or even if somebody really is about to mug me.... I honest to fucking god would rather get mugged, than potentially kill someone just for trying to steal my wallet. I would rather just fuckin hand them my wallet and tell them to have a good day, because there is literally no material thing that someone could take from me that’s worth the life of another human being - even the human being who took it. There is no posession I hold so dear that I’d be willing to live with the mental and emotional consequences of having killed someone over it. 

And so when I hear people foam at the mouth about how they NEED, a GUN, specifically, to protect themselves or their family, and when they don’t even mention the possibility of using less lethal weapons like self defense sprays or tazers, I’m not hearing anything about how afraid they are, or how much they want to protect themselves or their families - I’m hearing that they want to kill someone. It’s not good enough for them to just deter wrongdoers. They don’t just want to stop someone from carrying out an act of violence or vandalism. They WANT to PUNISH a wrongdoer by taking their life. It’s not about defense - it’s about playing God. It’s about some crazy-ass power fantasy where they get to be judge, jury, and executioner, where the only person who’s thoughts or feelings matter are their own, and because it’s “self defense,” they’re protected under the law. Even if the facts of the situation eventually reveal that there was no real danger after all, that doesn’t matter - it only matters that they felt threatened, and THAT is the point. The point is that THEIR FEELINGS gave them the right to decide to take another person’s life. 

And there’s no other weapon that would allow someone to commit murder and still be able to easily claim self deffense. You can’t beat somebody to death with your bare hands and then say “I was scared for my life.” You can’t pepper spray somebody until they suffocate and then say you thought they had a gun. You could hit somebody in the head once real hard and knock them out, but you probably can’t be sure they’re dead without hitting them a few more times, after which point your “self defence” claim looks real fuckin shoddy. You could throw someone over a balcony, but again, there’s a decent chance they’ll survive unless you’re several floors high, and if you’re lucky enough that there aren’t any witnesses, you could theoretically wait until you know they’re dead before you called an ambulance, but the gap between the time of the “accident” and the time of the 911 call would be reeeaaall suspicious.

But a gun??? If you already know you’re a decent shot, and/or if you’re up close to whomever you intend to shoot, you can be pretty certain that you can kill them on the spot. You can pull the trigger several times in a matter of seconds and say it was because you panicked and wanted to make sure that you stopped them from doing whatever you claim you believed they were going to do. 

And I mean... I’m not even fundamentally opposed to people owning guns. I’m so aware that there are folks out there who are at an above average risk of encountering a genuine life-or-death situation where the only way to save theirself or someone else might be to risk killing another person - and not even just people! I fully intend to live in the middle of nowhere someday, and living in the middle of nowhere almost always puts you in closer proximity to large predators - wolves, bears, cougars. Even smaller animals can be extremely dangerous in the wrong place/time - racoons, foxes... even animals that aren’t even predators! Deer and moose can fuck you up! So like. When I’m finally living in that sort of place, I’m absolutely gonna get me a fuckin gun! And I expect that people living in those kinds of places have at least a shotgun somewhere in the house that’s easily accessible. Because they’re alone, and if danger shows up, there’s a good chance no one else is going to be around to help. 

So, I get that guns can be necessary. 

But if you get blindingly angry at the very prospect of there being diligent and comprehensive efforts to make sure that guns don’t make it into the hands of people who are shown to be dangerous or irresponsible, 

all that says to me is that you intend to be dangerous and irresponsible, and that you are counting on getting a chance to shoot somebody someday, and that you’re going to search high and low for that chance, and that when you find it, you intend to make it worth your while, and that this desire is SUCH an integral part of your personality, and SUCH a prevailing aspiration in your life, that anyone who looks hard enough at you is going to know exactly what you hope to do someday, and they’re going to prevent you from ever being able to do it. 

[verysharpteeth]

Braven; or Direct to Video as a Step in the Right Direction?

Look, I’m not gonna sit here and claim Braven is a good movie. If by “good” you’re meaning “Jason Momoa takes his shirt off”, well yes, but not in the good critical acclaim sense. It’s straight forward “bad guys stash drugs in good guy’s cabin, good guy stumbles on them, bad guys threaten good guy’s family, good guy kills them with an axe and ingenuity” fare. But after I watched the movie I was left thinking “why did this movie feel different to me than the 500 others with pretty much this plot”? 

So here’s what I picked out. Settle in for spoilers unless you’re really particular about your “free to watch on Amazon Prime” movies having their plot points discussed. 

1.  Handsome, rugged logger Joe Braven is a really good, sensitive father and husband. Yeah he’s into hunting and living off the land and could probably kill a moose with his bare hands, but he’s emotionally open with his wife (he actually physically leans on her for emotional support at one point) and is a very involved father. HE’S the one reading bedtime stories to her. Even when she sneaks along to the cabin with him (which greatly jeopardizes her life and infinitely makes Joe’s job harder in getting away) he doesn’t get angry at her. He’s more concerned with keeping her safe and by that point SHE realizes she’s made a big mistake and is apologizing. Part of this feels like Jason Momoa’s actual experiences as a father coming through, but part of this is story writing. Sure Momoa might be one of the few “action hero” guys who don’t make this feel fake, but it was written for him. And being an actor, male action heroes SHOULD be able to act this stuff and not feel fake. Maybe part of the difference is Joe Braven is not trying to impress anyone that he’s tough. He IS, but there’s no effort on the acting or writing’s part to enforce that he is. He tries to outwit the drug dealers at one point and it kind of fails? He doesn’t try to posture with them at any point. He knows they’re professional killers and he’s outnumbered. He pleads for his family’s life at one point. You can tell he’s thinking on the fly and at no point is he trying to stand up to the drug dealers other than to keep his family safe. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of “genuinely tough good guy acting like a normal human”. 

2. I keep saying family, but Joe’s wife isn’t involved in being held at the cabin and actually finds out her husband, daughter and father in law are in danger and SHOWS UP AT THE CABIN. That’s right, she realizes her daughter is on the top of the mountain trying to get a cell call out, grabs her bow and arrow (she’s introduced as a hunter too) and RUNS STRAIGHT INTO DANGER. After making sure her child is safe first (which involves her shooting a drug mercenary with a arrow and then getting INTO A PHYSICAL FIGHT WITH HIM), she then goes rushing to her husband and flat out kills a guy with her bow. Again, at no point is she shown as some sort of terminator, just a VERY motivated mother and wife who’s going to be an active and useful part of saving her family. I think the physical fight with a man stood out to me because so often movies make sure a woman is paired up fighting a woman no matter how unlikely that might actually be. In this care it’s realistic. A man is after her daughter so she shoots him, then when she’s physically attacked not only does she hit the guy with her bow (a lot), she pulls out a fishing knife and stabs him in the foot. This is another instance of not so much being an action hero as a character thinking on the fly with what they have. 

Granted the last face off with the final drug dealer is ridiculous (it involves a bear trap and somehow someone NOT getting their leg ripped off by it), but again you’re not sure if even that altercation goes how Joe plans (the dealer makes fun of what I think we’re led to believe IS what Joe had planned so he just...modifies it?) I’m left wondering if this has a lot to do with who Jason Momoa is particularly because his hand was ALL over production and the writer seemed to be Native, which made me wonder if it was a friend? But if this is a trend in churned out direct to video movies, I like it? Like this movie didn’t make me sigh when the formula wife became a damsel in distress or the hero who is supposed to be an everyman suddenly has skills or confidence he shouldn’t possess? 

I don’t know, it just all struck me oddly. 

Tagging @zombeesknees because we’d mentioned this movie before and there’s an odd sense of “maybe they’re doing something right” to it.

[peacefulheartfarm]

Coyotes on the Homestead

Coyotes are a plague when you have sheep. Today’s podcast is going to be all about coyotes. Probably more than you ever wanted to know. Some things about coyotes might surprise you.

I want to take a minute and say welcome to all the new listeners and welcome back to the veteran homestead-loving regulars who stop by the FarmCast for every episode. I appreciate you all so much. I’m so excited to share with you what’s going on at the farm this week.

Our Virginia Homestead Life Updates

So why is the topic today about coyotes? Well, we have had issues and I need to talk about it. I’ll try to keep it mostly factual and as upbeat as possible. In the end though, sometimes homestead life has tragic consequences.  

Sheep and Lambs

Over a span of about 3 or 4 days we lost more than half of our sheep. All six of our lambs, including my bottle baby, Susie Q are gone. Five adult ewes are also gone. We have 10 sheep left out of 21. Yeah, it’s a big loss. I’m still heartbroken about losing Susie Q. I still look for her. When I look out the window, momentarily I’m looking for her. Especially in the evening, when I go to create bottles for the twin calves, I briefly look for the very small bottle we use for lambs. Then I remember. She’s gone.

I was unusually attached to Susie Q. We’ve had bottle lambs lots of time. But I’ve never been so attached. Well, perhaps it’s that we have never lost one. And after they are grown and no longer need me for daily feedings, I naturally let go of them. Like Lambert. He’s still out there with the boys and he was a bottle baby. I just don’t think I would miss him the way that I miss Susie Q. And we’ve had others that ended up at freezer camp. I don’t know what’s different except that she was still so young dependent on us.

Cows and Calves

We moved all of the animals out of the back fields where the attacks were occurring. Scott brought out a couple of guys that hunted the male leader and we also used poison. That’s a really harsh method, but sometimes it is necessary.

The twin calves were also quite vulnerable to coyote attack. Scott moved them to a sheltered area. Virginia is also with them. We had to pull her out of the general herd because she was nursing on Cloud. If you remember, Cloud is already feeding two calves. Adding Virginia was definitely more than Cloud could support. You can likely guess that the ones who would suffer would be Princess and Winston. Virginia is about a year old and would definitely wipe out all the available milk and the younger two would be left hungry. So, Virginia is safely away from the other cows and hanging out with the twins.

Keeping the various calves out of one or another milk supply has really been a challenge this year. I don’t know if I mentioned that we briefly had all the calves and cows together. It’s much easier to maintain the pastures if there are only two groups of animals. The boys and the girls. However, having all the cow girls together immediately failed. Rosie came in for milking down a couple of quarts of milk. We suspected Princess as Rosie is her mom, after all. Now I’m wondering if it was actually Virginia and after she got a taste of milk she started looking around and found Cloud after Rosie was gone. Who knows? Rosie and Butter are in a field by themselves. The twin calves and Virginia are in the loafing space. And the rest of the crew which includes Violet, Claire, Buttercup, Cloud and her two calves, are out front. The boys, of course, are in yet another place. We have cows all over the place.  

Everyone is relatively safe at the moment. Let’s talk about coyotes. I didn’t want to know all of this and I’ve left out the most gruesome of details. But the gist of the story is here.

Coyotes

The coyote is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf. It fills much of the same ecological niche as the golden jackal does in Europe and Asia. Though the coyote is larger and more predatory. Other historical names for this species include the prairie wolf and the brush wolf.

The coyote is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to its wide distribution and abundance throughout North America. Coyote populations are also abundant southwards through Mexico and into Central America. Even now, it is enlarging its range by moving into urban areas in the eastern U.S. and Canada. The coyote was sighted in eastern Panama (across the Panama Canal from their home range) for the first time in 2013.

Coyote Subspecies

There are 19 recognized coyote subspecies. The average male weighs 18 to 44 lb and the average female 15 to 40 lb. Their fur color is predominantly light gray and red, sometimes interspersed with black and white. The colors vary somewhat with geography. Coyotes are highly flexible in their social organization. Sometimes living in a family unit and sometimes in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. Primarily carnivorous, its diet consists mainly of deer, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, though it may also eat fruits and vegetables on occasion. Its characteristic vocalization is a howl made by solitary individuals. Humans are the coyote's greatest threat, followed by cougars and gray wolves. In spite of this, coyotes sometimes mate with gray, eastern, or red wolves, producing "coywolf" hybrids. Genetic studies show that most North American wolves contain some level of coyote DNA.

Coyote Folklore

The coyote is a prominent character in Native American folklore, usually depicted as a trickster that alternately assumes the form of an actual coyote or a man. After the European colonization of the Americas, it was seen in Anglo-American culture as a cowardly and untrustworthy animal. Unlike wolves, which have undergone an improvement of their public image, attitudes towards the coyote remain largely negative. I’m in the group with that attitude.

Hunting and Feeding

Two studies that experimentally investigated the role of olfactory, auditory, and visual cues found that visual cues are the most important ones for hunting in coyotes.

When hunting large prey, the coyote often works in pairs or small groups. Unlike the wolf, which attacks large prey from the rear, the coyote approaches from the front, lacerating its prey's head and throat. Although coyotes can live in large groups, small prey is typically caught singly. Coyotes have been observed to kill porcupines in pairs, using their paws to flip the rodents on their backs, then attacking the soft underbelly. Only old and experienced coyotes can successfully prey on porcupines, with many predation attempts by young coyotes resulting in them being injured by their prey's quills. Recent evidence demonstrates that at least some coyotes have become more nocturnal in hunting, presumably to avoid humans.

Coyotes may occasionally form mutualistic hunting relationships with American badgers, assisting each other in digging up rodent prey. The relationship between the two species may occasionally border on apparent "friendship", as some coyotes have been observed laying their heads on their badger companions or licking their faces without protest. The amicable interactions between coyotes and badgers were known to pre-Columbian civilizations, as shown on a Mexican jar dated to 1250–1300 depicting the relationship between the two.

Vocalizations

The coyote has been described as "the most vocal of all wild North American mammals". Its loudness and range of vocalizations was the cause for its binomial name Canis latrans, meaning "barking dog". At least 11 different vocalizations are known in adult coyotes. These sounds are divided into three categories: agonistic and alarm, greeting, and contact. The lone howl is the most iconic sound of the coyote and may serve the purpose of announcing the presence of a lone individual separated from its pack.

Habitat

Prior to the near extermination of wolves and cougars, the coyote was most numerous in grasslands inhabited by bison, pronghorn, elk, and other deer, doing particularly well in short-grass areas with prairie dogs, though it was just as much at home in semiarid areas with sagebrush and jackrabbits or in deserts inhabited by cactus, kangaroo rats, and rattlesnakes.

Coyotes walk around 3–10 miles per day, often along trails such as logging roads and paths; they may use iced-over rivers as travel routes in winter. They are often more active around evening and the beginning of the night than during the day. Like many canids, coyotes are competent swimmers, reported to be able to travel at least 0.5 miles across water.

Diet

The coyote is ecologically the North American equivalent of the Eurasian golden jackal. Likewise, the coyote is highly versatile in its choice of food, but is primarily carnivorous, with 90% of its diet consisting of meat. Prey species include bison (largely as carrion), white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds (especially young water birds and pigeons and doves), amphibians (except toads), lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises, fish, crustaceans, and insects. More unusual prey include young black bear cubs and rattlesnakes. Coyotes kill rattlesnakes mostly for food but also to protect their pups at their dens. They will tease the snakes until they stretch out and then bite their heads and shake them. Birds taken by coyotes may range in size from thrashers, larks and sparrows to adult wild turkeys.

If working in packs or pairs, coyotes have access to larger prey than lone. In some cases, packs of coyotes have dispatched much larger prey such as adult deer, cow, elk, and sheep, although the young fawn, calves and lambs of these animals are most often taken. In some cases, coyotes can bring down prey weighing up to 220 to 440 lb or more. When it comes to adult animals such as deer, they often exploit them when vulnerable such as those that are infirm, stuck in snow or ice, otherwise winter-weakened or heavily pregnant. Less wary domestic animals are more easily exploited.

Although coyotes prefer fresh meat, they will scavenge when the opportunity presents itself. Excluding the insects, fruit, and grass eaten, the coyote requires an estimated 1.3 lb of food daily, 550 lb annually.

The coyote feeds on a variety of different produce, including blackberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, apples, prickly pears, persimmons, peanuts, watermelons, cantaloupes, and carrots. During the winter and early spring, the coyote eats large quantities of grass, such as green wheat blades.

Other interesting diet components

In coastal California, coyotes now consume a higher percentage of marine-based food than their ancestors, which is thought to be due to the extirpation of the grizzly bear from this region. In Death Valley, coyotes may consume great quantities of hawkmoth caterpillars or beetles in the spring flowering months.

Livestock and Pet Predation Statistics

As of 2007, coyotes were the most abundant livestock predators in western North America, causing the majority of sheep, goat, and cattle losses. For example, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, coyotes were responsible for 60.5% of the 224,000 sheep deaths attributed to predation in 2004. The total number of sheep deaths in 2004 comprised 2.22% of the total sheep and lamb population in the United States, which, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA report, totaled 4.66 million and 7.80 million heads respectively as of July 1, 2005. Because coyote populations are typically many times greater and more widely distributed than those of wolves, coyotes cause more overall predation losses. United States government agents routinely shoot, poison, trap, and kill about 90,000 coyotes each year to protect livestock. An Idaho census taken in 2005 showed that individual coyotes were 5% as likely to attack livestock as individual wolves. In Utah, more than 11,000 coyotes were killed for bounties totaling over $500,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.

Livestock Guardian Dogs

Livestock guardian dogs are commonly used to aggressively repel predators and have worked well in both fenced pasture and range operations. A 1986 survey of sheep producers in the USA found that 82% reported the use of dogs represented an economic asset.

Protect Yourself and Your Pets

Coyotes are often attracted to dog food and animals that are small enough to appear as prey. Items such as garbage, pet food, and sometimes feeding stations for birds and squirrels attract coyotes into backyards. About three to five pets attacked by coyotes are brought into the Animal Urgent Care hospital of South Orange County (California) each week, the majority of which are dogs. Cats typically do not survive coyote attacks. Smaller breeds of dogs are more likely to suffer injury and/or death.

Coyotes are one of my least favorite parts of God’s creation. I’ve probably given you far too much information on these creatures. But as I said earlier, I needed to talk about this. Thanks for listening.

Final Thoughts

Living on the homestead is not always pretty. Survival is always relative to the environment. Many times, survival is a competition between humans and other species. All animals have a right to live. God made them and there you go. They have a right to live. And we also have the right to protect our other animals. Sometimes it is a small parasite – which is also deadly at times. And sometimes it’s larger animals such as coyotes and bears. Everyone is just trying to survive. I miss my Susie Q. And when I look at our decimated flock of sheep, I am filled with sadness. However, in the end, some of our flock has survived and we will rebuild. It’s what we do. Our flock will rise again. In the fall or next spring, we will have lambs again. The life cycle continues.

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[orbemnews]

In Montana, Bears and Wolves Become Part of the Culture Wars The return of the wolf and grizzly bear to the northern Rockies are two success stories that came out of the Endangered Species Act. In 1975, when grizzly bears were listed as endangered species, there were from 100 to 200 of them, mostly in Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. Their numbers are now estimated at about 1,800 in the Lower 48 states. The grizzlies were able to make that comeback largely because hunting was ended, trash was carefully managed and there was an effective crackdown on poachers. Outside Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, grizzly bears roam mainly in wilderness areas of the state, though they are expanding into more populated areas where they are increasingly vulnerable to being hit by cars, shot by hunters, and killed or removed by biologists because of conflicts with humans. And bears and wolves pose a real threat to livestock and to humans. Every year, hikers or hunters are attacked by bears, and in many parts of the state anyone hiking is cautioned to be “bear aware” and carry a pepper-based spray for protection. The debate over protecting endangered species, particularly predators, has long roiled Montana, pitting liberal urban areas in the state and across the country against rural ranchers who are increasingly concerned about their livestock being killed or hunters who think game animals are in decline. Until now, a measured approach — which includes some hunting of wolves and intervention by the state when grizzlies get into someone’s beehive or chicken coop — along with lots of protection have prevailed. But with wildlife management increasingly part of the culture wars, antagonism toward widening federal control and Republican control of the state, the balance has shifted, conservationists say. The new bills approach management of bears and wolves in various ways. One of the new bills would pay wolf hunters their expenses — in effect, critics say, a bounty — to kill the animals. Another bill would allow for snaring animals with a metal aircraft cable fashioned into a noose that would hang over a trail. When the animal gets its head caught in one, it grows tighter as the animal tries to flee, until it is strangled to death. Snares can be used for coyotes in Montana but not wolves. A major problem with snares is that they also kill species that are not the target, such as moose, elk, deer and even pet dogs. “Snares are cheap,” Mr. Bangs said. “It isn’t unusual for a trapper to set out 100. And you catch all kinds of stuff.” Snares that were set for coyotes, for example, inadvertently killed 28 mountain lions from 2015 to 2020, Mr. Gevock said. Another bill would extend the wolf trapping and snaring season. Wildlife experts say the extended season would overlap with the period that grizzly bears and black bears are out of their dens and could be inadvertently trapped. Another would reinstate hunting black bears with dogs and prevent Montana wildlife officials from relocating any grizzly bears captured outside recovery zones. Most recovery zone habitat are occupied, which means many grizzlies would most likely have to be euthanized. Source link Orbem News #bears #Culture #Montana #Part #Wars #Wolves

[montemoutdoorgear1]

Are Bears Really A Danger To Campers?

There are a variety of potential dangers campers face while living in wilderness areas. But while most of these dangers are relatively mundane – you may, for example, stumble and break an ankle or catch an illness from a mosquito – there is one potential danger that grips the minds of most who sleep outdoors: bears.

But while many campers fear bears, they rarely represent as much of a threat as the average camper would think. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the possibility of a four-legged visitor at your campsite, but it is wise to keep it in a proper context so that you can make reasonable decisions regarding your safety.

Below, we’ll examine the bears that live in North America, dig into the numbers regarding bears and campers and provide a few strategies for avoiding conflicts while you are hanging out in their neck of the woods.

Bears of North America: Biology and Basics

There are three basic types of bears that live in North America. Each exhibits its own unique physical and behavioral adaptations that help them to survive in the wild. These differences in biology and behavior also influence their interactions with humans, so campers are wise to learn about the different bears dwelling in North America’s habitats.

Black Bear

Black bears (Ursus americanus) are medium-sized bears that usually weigh between 100 and 500 pounds, depending on their sex, age and the time of year. They are generally covered in black fur (especially in the eastern portion of North America), but some individuals and populations can be brown, cinnamon or nearly white. Black bears are excellent climbers, who often retreat to the trees to forage or avoid dangers.

Although black bears are large animals, who can easily injure or kill an adult human, they are generally the shyest of the three species. Most black bears that venture into campsites are interested in obtaining an easy meal, and they are often easy to scare off by making loud sounds or throwing rocks.

These facts are a blessing for campers, as black bear are the most commonly encountered bears in North America. Black bears inhabit a number of different portions of North America, including almost all of Canada, and most of the US, aside from the midwestern prairie states. They are also found in a few portions of Mexico.

Black bears primarily feed on a combination of berries, nuts, seeds, fallen fruit, insects, rodents, carrion and unfortunately, human garbage. However, they can and will kill and consume larger animals, including large birds, rabbits and deer, from time to time.

Brown (Grizzly) Bear

The infamous grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is a subspecies of brown bear. However, as the only other brown bears in North America are found in Alaska, the names “brown bear” and “grizzly bear” are often used interchangeably. Nevertheless, most of what can be said of grizzly bears also applies to brown bears and vice versa.

Grizzly bears get much larger than black bears, and often exceed 700 pounds in weight. They are often bolder than black bears are, and are more likely to stand their ground and fight when threatened too. Many older references contend that grizzly bears cannot climb, but this does not appear to be true – but they are not skilled climbers and rarely venture into the trees.

Like black bears, grizzly bears are omnivores who subsist on a wide variety of food sources. This includes everything from plants, mushrooms and fruits to insects, rodents and fish (salmon are an especially important food source for some brown bear populations). However, grizzly bears also eat large animals, such as deer and moose.

It is likely that most of the large animals that are eaten by bears are found dead, rather than actively hunted, however, grizzly bears are quite capable of catching and killing just about any animal in North America aside from larger bears.

Grizzly bears formerly ranged throughout most of the western United States, but in the modern world, they are largely restricted to Canada and Alaska. However, there are a few pocket populations in places like Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

Polar Bear

While black bears and grizzly bears are omnivores who don’t often hunt large animals, polar bears are pure carnivores who routinely predate upon large animals – particularly seals. In fact, they are the world’s largest terrestrial carnivore, with occasional individuals exceeding 1,500 pounds in weight.

However, the term “terrestrial” is a little misleading when used to describe polar bears, as they are inextricably linked with and dependent on the Arctic seas bordering their habitats. Polar bears swim very well, and they spend a significant portion of their lives in the water. Their scientific name – Ursus maritimus – even alludes to this fact.

Fortunately for campers, you are unlikely to encounter polar bears in most popular camping destinations. They are only found in the northernmost reaches of Canada and Alaska, where the unthinkably low temperatures preclude normal camping activities.

However, polar bears are rightly considered potential predators of humans, and any sightings should be treated very seriously. You may scare off a brown bear by yelling or intimidate a brown bear by traveling in a large group, but a hungry polar bear will rarely be denied a meal. High-powered firearms are the only reliable defense against such animals.

Bears and Campers: Statistics

Now that you have familiarized yourself with the bear basics, it is time to turn our attention to bear-human encounters. There isn’t a great resource that catalogs all of the bear attacks in North America, but there are a few localized data sets that we can analyze, and scientists also track fatal bear attacks in North America.

Since the turn of the millennium, a total of 29 people have been killed by bears in North America. Fifteen of these attacks occurred in Canada, and two occurred in Alaska. The rest occurred in scattered locations of the lower 48 states.

This is not an insignificant number, but when you compare it to the number of campers that venture into wilderness areas each year – an estimated 40 million in the US alone – it becomes obvious that bear attack is a rare phenomenon.

It’s also helpful to compare the number of fatal bear attacks to other dangers, to get a sense of the relative risk they represent.

For example, based on the statistics gathered in recent years, there are about three fatal bear attacks each year. By contrast, nearly 50 people die each year from bee and wasp stings, while more than 3,500 drown each year.

For that matter, nearly 50,000 people die in traffic accidents each year, which proves that you’re more likely to be killed before you even get to the trailhead than you are by a bear at your campsite.

Safety in Bear Country: Tips, Tricks and Tactics

While bears represent a very low statistical risk to campers, this will be of little comfort when you hear a black bear rummaging through your belongings outside your tent at night. Accordingly, you’ll want to embrace the following safety tips to give you the best chance of coming home in one piece.

Make lots of noise as you walk through bear country. Given the chance, most bears will avoid humans, so by chatting, singing or clapping your hands occasionally as you walk, you’ll avoid most encounters. Be especially careful to make noise when heading through dense woods or around blind corners.

Never get between a mother and her cubs. This has been so thoroughly ingrained in the collective consciousness that it hardly needs to be said, but it is imperative that you don’t make a mother feel that her cubs are in danger. Even the shyest black bear can turn into a terrifying beast if she thinks you are a threat to her cubs.

Prepare and cook food downwind of your campsite. In some places, bears commonly visit campgrounds in pursuit of an easy meal. While you may not be able to avoid such encounters, you can help ensure that the bear doesn’t walk through your campsite on the way to the food.

Use a bear canister to keep your food safe. Historically, campers in bear country would suspend their food off the ground to keep it safe. However, this is difficult, and the bears in many areas have learned how to access these elevated treats. But most bear canisters will keep your food safe from bears, and they are very easy to use too.

Consider carrying bear spray. While you’ll generally want to do everything you can to avoid close encounters with bears, bear spray (which is essentially super-charged pepper spray) can be effective for deterring bears that come a bit too close. Just be sure to consult the local ranger station before making your purchase, to make sure that they aren’t prohibited at your camping site.

Bang pots and pans to scare away mischievous black bears. Although some authorities encourage you to just keep a low profile if you should see a grizzly bear, most will recommend scaring black bears away if possible. Loud noises usually do the trick, and by banging a couple of pots and pans together, you can create quite a bear-repelling racket.

Have you ever encountered a bear while out on the trail? We’d love to hear about it! Let us know the circumstances surrounding the encounter and your general location. We’d also welcome any bear-safety tips from experienced campers – your advice may very well help a fellow camper in the future.

The post Are Bears Really A Danger To Campers? appeared first on Montem Outdoor Gear.

from Montem Outdoor Gear https://montemlife.com/are-bears-really-a-danger-to-campers/