"Predator Hunter" Tom Bechdel of West Virginia grudgingly provides some tips for coexisting with Coyotes but he unfortunately approaches the subject from a point of view that makes Coyotes out to be "evil" and pest-like...........Nothing said of how reducing the rodents, rabbits and other small critters that have overrun our woodlands and fields making life hell for other living organisms including farmers..........Very much a reactionary point of view and mired in fear.............We need some other informed hunters and biologists providng some balance and additional facts to foster West Virginia tolerance of our Songdogs and to alert the layman to the need for a "top dog" trophic carnivore in the Southeast

Coyotes Becoming More Common in W.Va.

Residents are seeing more of the animals both in the woods and in cities. By LINDA HARRIS Coyote sightings across West Virginia are on the rise, and predator hunter Tom Bechdel said that's not good news. Bechdel, who authored a book, put together a video and regularly conducts seminars in West Virginia and elsewhere on the rise of the Eastern coyote, said it is, after all, a wild animal — and wild animals aren't meant to be our friends. "When they lose that natural fear of human scent, it's like going into McDonalds and getting a Happy Meal," said Bechdel, a Pennsylvania resident. "That's when they're most dangerous, when they live in town, around people, around barns, around somebody's house. It's not that every coyote is a problem, but there's always a potential for a problem." Coyotes resemble dogs but are bigger with long legs, thick fur and a pointy face. Typically, they weigh about 40 pounds though some tip the scales at twice that. They're predators but highly adaptable — which means that though they typically feed on things like mice, squirrels, rabbits and deer in the wild, they'll also eat farm animals, poultry and pets. Though they are by nature afraid of humans, coyotes have been sighted in urban areas throughout the state, as well as in the wild. "We have a very healthy coyote population," said Chris Ryan, supervisor of research for West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. "Sightings are trending upwards. … There's been a definite increase over the past 10 years, that's based on hunter observations from across the state." Historically found in the Great Plains, coyotes have moved eastward over the last 50 years. Today, they are found throughout the continental U.S. and Canada. "It's like somebody turned a light switch on," Bechdel said. "At one time there weren't many, then all of a sudden they're here in numbers." DNR says the eastern migration was probably a result of the elimination of the timber wolf and the establishment of the deer herd in the east as a food base. But coyotes aren't picky eaters. They will feed on livestock and pets as happily as they do wild animals. Bechdel said coyotes eat their body weight in meat every week, so an average-sized 40-pound coyote in a year's time "will consume 2,080 pounds of wildlife, wildlife that can't be regenerated" just to maintain its body weight. Given the species' prolific nature — there are typically 6-10 coyote pups in a litter, and females born one year will be breeding the next — that's a lot of animals being consumed. "That's why I get called to West Virginia (for seminars)," he said. "Since 1997, I've been telling people … that the day would come when the deer, turkey and rabbit population would instantly be gone, and they'd be scratching their head wondering why. In the last three years, I've had more and more people coming up to me and telling me (they see it happening). Now it's becoming obvious." And while attacks on humans are rare, Bechdel said incidents have been reported. "Across the U.S. over the last 20 years there have been a number of attacks on children and scattered reports of coyotes attacking adult humans," he said. "During that time, 19 children under the age of 6 have perished because of a coyote. In Nova Scotia, a 19-year-old female hiker was attacked by a pair of coyotes and died of the injuries she suffered in that attack. It was the first recorded death created by a coyote on an adult human. I don't (say) that to scare people, it's to make them aware. We have coyotes living in close proximity (to urban areas). If they lose that fear of human scent, all we are is big bunnies to them and somewhere along the line something is going to happen." Bechdel said people need to be educated about coyotes and take steps to make their property less coyote friendly. Farmers, for example, should not drag the carcass of a dead animal into the woods and leave it. "All that's going to do is teach coyote to eat new food, whatever it is that the farmer is raising." And homeowners need to be cautious, too. They shouldn't leave food out for animals overnight, nor should they leave small animals out overnight. "Last year a friend called me and said, "Tom, what's a coyote look like?' I had one mounted so I told him to come over and look at it. He said, 'Oh, my gosh' and took me to a mobile home where his mother lived, she would put food in a dish outside and a pair of coyotes would come over and eat it. … There were trailers on either side with young kids living in them. She just thought she was feeding stray dogs, nobody ever told her coyotes were out there. The potential for a problem was there." Bechdel advises people approached by a coyote to "(walk) sideways but keep talking in a normal voice." Coyotes expect their prey to scream, so if you scream at them "they think you're hurt," he said. "And running brings out the natural predator in them. ... If you run, he'll chase you because instinct says chase your meal. So, talk in a normal voice, as if you're talking to a friend, walk sideways and never take your eyes off him."