OK...look at this picture. Cute as can be...and so afraid (THANK GOD). Baby coyotes can be crazy wild, but this little one is so shell shocked, he's stayed still long enough for his picture to be taken. About 3-4 weeks old, we are not sure what really happened to his mother. The caller told me she called so many places, no one would take him. He's safe and sound and being rehabilitated. He will do fine...releasing him is another story. Frequently, like foxes, coyotes find themselves on the other side of most urban dwellers who come upon them visiting the trash cans or backyard gardens. Too often when the housecat goes missing, the coyote get's blamed. I tell people...if you are afraid that the cat will get eaten...keep it in! Wildlife was here first....they are only doing what they were born to do, survive. If you choose to set up a buffet for them and part of the main course includes your cat, it's your fault if it goes missing. OK...off my soap box. They are SOOOOOOO misunderstood and sadly trapped and killed because of fear. When you see a story on the news about a trapped coyote or fox RARELY does that animal live. It's not legal to re-release them (because of them being considered a nuance species and the fact that they are considered a RVS). Oh BTW, relocating ANY animal to another habitat is not doing the animal any favor. Nature has something called a carrying capacity. The last statistics I read said that any relocated animal has less than a 20% chance of survival in another habitat. Trapping does not solve anything..it just gives the present animals space to fill in the void with a larger amont of pups next year. That's how nature works. Any trapper that tells you he's going to trap and release a coyote, fox, or any other RVS is lying to you. It's illegal for them to do that. By laws of most states, they have to euthanize them. I don't mean they are going to get humanely put to sleep with sedation and then a lethal injection either. NO...if you really want to know how they do it, contact me. I will spare the rest of you. This is the harsh reality to trapping and the challenges our poor wild animals face every day as their habitat quickly disappears and they have no choice but to move into more people filled areas. The other day one of my neighbors asked me "what are we going to do about the deer problem in the neighborhood". I asked here...what problem. She replied...well they are eating the neighbors roses. I almost blew a fuse!!!!!
Anyway...I can only hope this little fellow grows and finds a way to stay clear of the city. Although country living is no better because people in the woods shoot whatever they want and rarely get caught. It's a sad world we live in some times.
