As many of you know, Biologists Stan Gehrt(Chicago Urban Coyote Study) and Brent Patterson (Ontario Natural Resources) gave their independent opinions about the nature of Taylor Mitchell's tragic death by Coyote attack in Cape Breton Park in Nova Scotia(Oct. 1999) without consulting each other..... Both men are friends of this blog and accomplished Professionals..................As I have come to internalize and accept, all of us who feel deeply about our connection to the natural world and to our fellow apex predators have to be willing to digest and accept sound Scientific evaluations..........Accepting those that ring positive(with our predispositions) as well as those that come up negative(at odds with your predispositions) about coyotes, wolves, cougars, bobcats, lynx, Griz, Black Bear, Fisher and Marten..................In the case of the Taylor death, both Brent and Stan concluded that the coyote attack was predatory and not due to food habituation.......No question that with the thousands of hikers passing through these parts each year that the coyotes have been learning that people are not to be feared.........As Brent(and Stan previously) states below, the fact that this tragic event occurred does not mean coyotes are evil or that all of them are destined to become man eaters.......A lesson learned is that it is a sound practice to not hike solo ...........It is a wise move to carry a walking stick or bat or club with you.............Random events that involve defending yourself against aggressive animal encounters can and do take place..............It is and always has been part of the "wild experience" ...................It is not a Disney film that you are part of when out in the woods, meadows and chaparral.............It is real-life wild(and the wild makes it wonderful) nature............. Brent astutely sums it up when he states: "Hopefully people learn from this incident without overreacting(demanding that our wild carnivores be killed and reduced in numbers)"

From: Patterson, Brent (MNR) [mailto:brent.patterson@ontario.ca]
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2011 5:53 PM
To: Meril, Rick
Subject: RE: National Geographic commenting on the blog

Hi Rick,

I finally got to view the show this week.  I found it disturbing to recap everything, but the show was generally well done.  I'm glad Stan & I were in agreement about the attack being predatory – neither of us knew the other's opinion on this when it was filmed.  An important take home message from events like this is that like people, animals are individuals, and among those individuals in any large population are bound to be some that either exhibit abhorrent behaviour, else have a greater tendency to "go wrong" when certain circumstances/ conditions align.

 Cheers,

Brent


Brent Patterson
Research Scientist – wolves and deer
Adjunct Professor, Trent University, Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program
President, Ontario Chapter of The Wildlife Society
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Wildlife Research and Development Section
Trent University, DNA Building
2140 East Bank Drive
Peterborough, ON
K9J 7B8, CANADA
Tel: (705) 755-1553
Fax: (705) 755-1559
http://people.trentu.ca/brentpatterson/