#Coyote-Hunting

[rebeccathenaturalist]

A recent study confirms what wildlife experts have been saying for years: hunting coyotes just gets you more coyotes. In areas where wolves have been extirpated, coyotes have often taken on the wolf's mantle as "that evil beast that must be destroyed at all costs or else they will eat our flocks and our families and ruin the world". This disproportionate hatred for a native canid often ends with people indiscriminately shooting, trapping, or poisoning any coyote they possibly can.

Instead of ridding their areas of coyotes, they often find that the coyotes return in larger numbers. The study doesn't surmise why that is, only reporting that the populations do not drop in response to killing. But Team Trash makes some good educated guesses.

Maybe we can stop responding to an animal that is inconvenient to us with "kill it!" and instead look at some of the many nonlethal ways to protect livestock, pets, and ourselves. We may have hunted and trapped wolves, bears, and mountain lions out of much of their historic ranges, but it's apparent coyotes aren't going away. they're a reminder that nature will persist in spite of our attempts to control it to the nth degree, and I see that as a good reminder to remember our place as part of nature, rather than separate from it. We can find better, mutually safer ways to coexist, but it starts with us ratcheting back our most extreme responses to anything that doesn't immediately do what we want it to.

[antiqueanimals]

Carl Rungius (1869 – 1959). Over the bank raced Kimrie... Gouache on paper.

Coeur d’Alene Art Auction

[dusk-the-cat]

As a therian with a commonly hunted theriotype, I don’t see many alterhumans talking about how hard it can be to find pictures\videos of your theriotype\kintype\linktype\ect. without seeing dead animal photos.

I might just be overly sensitive, but I just want to see pictures of black coyotes without seeing a dead one as one of the first results. I know there’s not much I can do about it but still, it sucks :(

[hyper-cryptic]

A collection of animals (and fursonas) that I associate with myself. :>

💌 Commissions open !

[0harpies]

I am BEGGING you for more doghunt.

Ugh fine

*sprawls out new were-dog designs*

[seabeck]

Found a poached coyote in the woods. It’s still alive and stuck in two foothold traps (this is what makes it poached, these are illegal in my state). Called WDFW, they should be on their way.

[arrowheadedbitch]

One thing I think everyone forgets about Bugs and Daffy's dynamic that has been phased out in recent years is that Daffy is perfectly competent when Bugs ISNT around. When Daffy was first introduced, for all intents and purposes, he WAS Bugs. He was the Bugs to Porky's Elmer Fudd, and also to that one dog's, I don't know, Yosemite Sam? Anyways, the point is Daffy was just like Bugs, outsmarting everyone, until he tried to outsmart Bugs the same way one day and couldn't. Bugs made Daffy look like an idiot SO HARD that everyone thinks that was the whole point of his character. (Bugs bunny is so fucking iconic) Which, if you ever wonder why in most media Daffy is insanely jealous of Bugs? Yeah, that's a big reason. And while this dynamic isn't touched on much anymore, Daffy tends to be portrayed as a total idiot whether or not Bugs is around, I kinda miss it. And of course Bugs still effects Daffy, Daffy still acts slightly different around Bugs, but the absolute complete CHANGE was so delicious. Daffy used to be a genius until Bugs made him look dumb, he was so smart until Bugs showed up and all of a sudden he was an idiot. The same thing happened with Wil E. Coyote btw, with BOTH the roadrunner AND Bugs on different occasions. Yeah but anyway, sorry about the rant, I just find it so interesting.

[packpack-killkill]

Southeastern Coyote | Kerry Carloy

[bigmoon-is-bigwife]

Ros mentioned she hopes the next people to join the server include more women and me too man. Ros and Bek are the only active women on the server

[namelessprince]

spent the last 2 days thinking about what animals pd characters would be :3

[rebeccathenaturalist]

To Have As Much Compassion For the Coyote As the Rabbit

Spring is here, and all throughout my social media are posts by people panicking about coyotes. It’s not uncommon for these native canines to be more visible this time of year since they have dens full of hungry pups to feed and protect. You might see them on the hunt for mice and other rodents, or you could be quietly but firmly escorted away from a den site. There’s a chance you’ll even see a coyote toting a nice, fat rabbit home to her pups.

That last one tends to upset some folks. I’ve seen people say they’ve deliberately scared away predatory animals to cause them to drop their prey, or in some cases even physically wrestled the prey away. Sure, that may make you feel like some sort of hero for saving the rabbit. But why does the rabbit deserve to live while the coyote’s pups slowly starve to death? Why should a Cooper’s hawk not be allowed to eat the house finch it just plucked from a convenient bird feeder? Who says we are right to get in the way of a garter snake capturing a tree frog? And what if the rabbit you liberated has internal injuries that slowly kill it anyway once it runs away from you in fright?

Read under the cut to find out how many self-described "nature lovers" only really love part of nature.

Many of us have a Disneyfied approach to nature. We have a great deal of sympathy for herbivores* like Bambi and Thumper, and we give Flower the striped skunk a free pass since most of what he eats is insects. We might get annoyed when Bambi starts to browse on the vegetables and rose bushes, but we don’t react with the sort of wailing dismay that we do when a mountain lion takes out one of Bambi’s herd members.

And yet an American robin tugging earthworms out of the ground and swallowing them alive is no different from a bobcat pouncing on the robin. Both are examples of one animal preying upon another, a perfectly normal part of the cycles of nature for 800 million years. Without carnivores (and insectivores and omnivores), herbivores would quickly overpopulate, depleting plant communities to ecologically disastrous states, and crash life as we know it. Life is all about inhabiting niches, and carnivores fill their evolutionary roles quite effectively.

Many people who claim they “love nature” only love the herbivorous, gentle, fuzzy parts of it, and refuse to examine or change their revulsion of or violence toward the rest. That’s a big problem. The elements of nature they consider to be “ugly” or gross” are no less important than the “pretty” or “adorable” ones. And systematically removing the “bad” animals can have a detrimental effect on the entire ecosystem. The benighted person who kills every snake they see is only going to cause an increase in rodent populations, which of course raises the likelihood of diseases, crop damage, and gnawed electrical wires in the attic.

Moreover, when we try to apply the limitations of human ideals of morality to the rest of nature, we ignore the concept of existence value: that all beings are important simply because they are here with us in this amazing, vibrant world we share. What are we implying when we say that the coyote pup is less deserving of life than the rabbit?

We have interfered with nature way too much as it is, in much larger ways than this. Yet it is a simple act to allow these individual interactions between species play out as they naturally would without feeling that we have to step in and play moral referee. Our arrogance at thinking that nature exists for us and our priorities is how we found ourselves in our current ecological predicament. The least we can do is be hands-off in our local food web. Consider it good practice for having healthier boundaries toward nature, rather than constantly centering ourselves in every decisions we make regarding other living beings.

Finally, practice having some compassion for the coyote busily trying to feed her young–and herself. She can’t run to the grocery store and get a package of industrially farmed beef to make burgers for the kids. Her entire life is a constant race against death, whether from starvation, disease, extreme heat or cold, and of course the interference of humans. Imagine the relief she must feel when she successfully manages to catch something bigger than a mouse–do you think we’re the only ones whose reward centers in our brains light up at a job well done? Think of how excited your dog gets when he manages to catch the ball–that’s not only a trait of domesticated animals.

Have some compassion for the coyote pups eagerly awaiting their next meal and their parents' warmth. Photo by John Harrison, CCA-SA-3.0-Unported

Give and take, life and death, nutrients and energy endlessly cycling through body after body after body of animal, plant, fungus, bacteria–that is the grand dance in which the coyote and the rabbit play their parts. Appreciate this eons-old round without feeling the need to alter the tempo, and be glad that tonight the coyote pups will sleep contentedly with full stomachs.

*For the record, many “herbivores” will opportunistically eat meat, live or dead, for the nutrients. Bambi and his buddies are quite happy to pluck a perfectly healthy baby bird or two out of a nest as a snack, and will chew on carrion now and then, too.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider preordering my book The Everyday Naturalist, taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes or hiring me for a guided nature tour, or checking out my other articles! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[claypigeonpottery]

woke up at 5 am with a mighty need to sculpt a sad boy

first tried to make the trap out of clay like a foolish person. wire just makes so much more sense

[lycanemia]

[indeedgoodman]

[thecartooncartoonshow]

ATTENTION, ALL ANIMATION LOVERS/SUPPORTERS

Our month-long Stand with Animation four-parter continues with this NEW video, covering the many Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network and HBO Max animated titles that either got removed, cancelled, deleted or written-off.

Many animators' and artists' hardwork got removed from streaming and digital platforms, so let's not take their work for granted.

Be sure to check out our video, tap/click the like button, write a comment expressing your feelings about these removals, share the video with your friends and help spread the word about how you'll STAND WITH ANIMATION!!!