Southeastern deer herds in jeopardy from coyotes?

I previously posted an article from one of the Kentucky newspapers stating that there is no evidence that Coyotes in that State are having any appreciable impact on whitetail deer populations.

 

We know that Bears and Coyotes are opportunistic predators of deer fawns.........We know that Coyotes in Winter can have success preying on snow encrusted adult deer..We know that they can take a run at adult deer in Spring and Summer and occasionally make a kill..................

 

There does not seem to be any evidence from the Mid Atlantic and New England States that Coyotes are dampening deer herds(despite what Maine hunters think).

 

John Kilgo of the U.S. Dept of Agriculture(Forest Service) and colleagues present a case(attached) suggesting that Coyotes in South Carolina might be causing the deer herd in that State to contract but are clear in stating that they have no direct proof of this and that they suggest further investigation.

 

Coyotes in the Southeast are not the Coywolves of the Northern tier of the USA and still are more the 20-35 pounders found in the Midwest. Hard to feel that these "Wily's" are responsible for Deer predation that could seriously diminish healthy deer herds.

 

Pennsylvania that has our hybrid Coywolves(Eastern Coyotes) that have Wolf genes weigh in at 30 to 50 pounds and yet this State has not recorded severe deer kills due to Coyote predation...........Same is true of NY, Vermont and New Hampshire.............

 

We  need to remember that Deer historically did just fine doing their life dance with Wolves, Bears, Cougars, Lynx and Bobcats up and down the Appalachian Spine..........True, there might not have been the density that many of us have grown accustomed to in the 20th and 21st Century,,,,,,,,,,,,but probably Lymes disease and forests denuded of a multitude of plant varieties was also not at play when our full Eastern Predator suite patroled our Section of the USA.

 

Remember, that with all of those predators, Elk, Deer, Moose and Caribou all made a successful living............Certainly, our deer herds can handle the bear and coyote population of our modern era..................Thomas Jefferson reported Elk in Virginia in the mid 1700's along with Deer, wolves, Cougars, Bears and Bobcats..............

 

Have a read of John's suppositions...........more work as he suggest needed before coyotes can be placed as deer dampeners.

 

 

 

 

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