River Mountains Loop Trail

Coyote Awareness & Education part of the Solution

March 12, 2010 –  Coyote sightings, coyote stories, coyote letters to editor, coyote TV news….Mr. Coyote has been everywhere in Southern Nevada lately.  So far he has not had a staring role in a horror movie, which undoubtedly would be called  ‘”Attack of the Killer Coyotes”.  The purpose of this new post on coyotes is to help you; our readers and trail users get connected with good information about coyotes and become aware of these wild creatures.   I recently came across this very informative website for an organization called “Project Coyote”.    

Their mission is as follows:  Project Coyote promotes educated coexistence between people and coyotes by championing progressive management policies and fostering respect for and understanding of America’s native wild “song dog.”   

Please visit their website at: www.ProjectCoyote.org   

Our trail advisory council is looking into posting the following informational sign at key trail head locations to increase our Awareness of Coyotes. 

 

  

 

ProjectCoyote.org

Coyotes part of living in Southern Nevada by NDOW

January 19, 2010 – Here is the poop on Coyotes in Southern Nevada straight from the horses mouth, Nevada Department of Wildlife. This as you will see appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal January 17th, 2010 under Outdoor Briefs.. It makes good reading and covers many of the items found on coyotes elsewhere in this BLOG.

________________________//

Jan. 17, 2010
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal 
Coyotes part of living in Southern Nevada

Like many communities across the Southwest, those in the Las Vegas Valley have seen residential and commercial development reach into areas that were previously undeveloped. As it has elsewhere, that development has had a direct impact on numerous wildlife species and their habitats. While some species suffer from the impacts of urban development, the wily coyote continues to thrive.

From their original haunts, which extended from parts of north-central Mexico to southwestern Canada, coyotes have extended their range to nearly all of North America. Their range includes urban centers such as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

“The amazing thing about coyotes is their ability to adapt and adjust to changes in their natural environment and to the challenges of living in an urban environment. They can sometimes be seen roaming areas located on the outskirts of the Las Vegas Valley and even farther into town,” said Doug Nielsen, conservation education supervisor for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

A popular drawing card for Southern Nevada homebuyers are golf courses, water-based landscape design and life on the edge of natural surroundings. What homebuyers often fail to realize is that these qualities are just as attractive to a variety of wildlife, coyotes and other predators that are already living in the Mojave Desert.

“Oftentimes people buy homes on the desert’s edge so they can have a more natural experience, but they want to pick and choose what critters come to visit. It just doesn’t work that way,” Nielsen said. “Golf courses, landscaping with water features, and washes or other avenues that provide animals with direct access to and from open desert areas will sooner or later attract prey species such as squirrels, rabbits and birds. These species then become an attractant for coyotes and other predators looking for a meal.”

Though coyotes have been known to hunt and eat domestic pets, simply seeing one is not necessarily cause for alarm. Nor is it necessary to call NDOW. However, a call may be warranted anytime a coyote is showing threatening behavior toward people, especially children. The key to preventing possible conflicts with coyotes or other wildlife, according to NDOW, is to eliminate those things that attract them, beginning with possible food sources.

Never feed coyotes and encourage your neighbors not to feed them. Wild animals quickly become habituated to humans as a food source. Store pet food inside and feed pets inside if possible. If a pet must be fed outside, clean up any uneaten food.

Pets, especially small ones, should not be left outside unattended. This is especially true at dawn or dusk when coyotes are most active. If it is necessary to leave a small pet outside unattended, consider keeping it in a sturdy enclosure with a roof. It’s also a good idea to trim or remove any ground-level shrubs and branches that could provide coyotes with a hiding place.

Coyote attacks on humans are a rare occurrence, and when it does happen, the attacks are generally directed at young children.

Should you encounter a coyote, make loud noises, wave your hands or objects such as a stick or broom, or spray the coyote with water from a garden hose. Don’t turn away or run, because that may trigger the animal’s predator extinct, but don’t corner a coyote either. Give the animal room to escape.

More information about living with coyotes can be found online at www.ndow.org.

COYOTES

Coyote Howling file photo 2009

Nov. 16, 2009 – Coyotes – (Canis latrans) are grizzled gray or reddish-gray with buff underparts a bushy tail with a black tip, and prominent ears.  They are excellent runners, with cruising speeds of 25 to 35 miles per hour and short bursts of up to 40 miles per hour.

Extremely intelligent and adaptable, the coyote is expanding its range despite loss of traditional habitat and human hunting pressures.  Today the coyote can be found in desert, grassland, mountain and suburban environments as far north as Alaska and as far south as Central America.

The coyote is an opportunistic hunter employing a variety of methods to obtain food. It patiently stalks and pounces on small mammals. It has trememdous endurance and can simply chase prey until it is worn out. Where the food supply is predominantly small animals, it hunts alone or in  breeding pairs, while in the presence of large prey such as deer, it will hunt in packs. Coyotes will also make do with insects, lizards, carrion, fruit, and even pine nuts (grass seeds).

Coyotes are usually heard between dusk and dawn. Barks and yelps followed by drawn-out howls serve to announce location, strenghten social bonds, and reunite separated members of a band.

NOTE: The above definition of coyotes comes from a Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication called “Geologic tours in the Las Vegas Area”.

Coyotes attack Young Folk singer in Nova Scotia Park – Oct. 28, 2009

Nov. 4, 2009 – this story has been floating around in the news below the surface so thought I would go to the source and provide the facts as reported by The Canadian Press HALIFAX, N.S. The entire article is copied here. See if there are any patterns to coyote reports in Southern Nevada or along the River Mountains Loop Trail. This attack is rare and apparently the only known death by coyotes.  I have highlight key words or phases that we trail users should take note of and learn.

By Alison Auld (CP) – Oct 28, 2009  HALIFAX, N.S. — A young Canadian folk singer who had just set off on a solo tour to boost a promising musical career died Wednesday after being mauled by two coyotes in what is believed to be one of the country’s first fatal attacks by the animals.   Taylor Mitchell was hiking alone in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park on Tuesday afternoon when a pair of coyotes attacked her, leaving her critically injured with bite wounds covering most of her body.The 19-year-old singer’s screams for help were heard by at least two other hikers, who rushed to the Skyline Trail and called 911 at around 3 p.m. as the animals continued their brutal attack on the young Toronto woman. 

 Mitchell, who was on a three-week tour of the region to promote her debut CD, was to play in Sydney, N.S., on Wednesday night when she decided to go for a hike in the scenic park.   “She loved going into the woods and hiking,” Lisa Weitz, her manager in Toronto, said through tears. “She was absolutely pumped about her first tour on the East Coast and to take her songwriting craft to new audiences…”She just had a wonderful joy of life and sharing music.” 

Mitchell, who had about a dozen concert dates in the Maritimes, was rushed to a local hospital and then airlifted to Halifax. She died at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.  Paul Maynard of Emergency Health Services said she was already in critical condition when paramedics arrived on the scene and was bleeding heavily from multiple bite wounds.   “She was losing a considerable amount of blood from the wounds,” he said.  “This was really out of the ordinary – the first I’ve heard of something like this.“  RCMP Sgt. Brigdit Leger said officers shot one of the two animals, apparently wounding it, but both managed to get away.  An official with Parks Canada said they barricaded the entrance to the trail where Mitchell was attacked and were trying to find the animals to determine what prompted such an unusual attack. Helene Robichaud, the park’s superintendent, said there have been a handful of reports of aggressive coyotes over the last 15 years, but they have not seen any attacks on people.  “There’s been some reports of aggressive animals, so it’s not unknown,” she said. “But we certainly never have had anything so dramatic and tragic.”  Officials shot a coyote late Tuesday, but Robichaud doubted that it was one of the two involved in the attack. 

The provincial Natural Resources Department said there is no other record of a fatal coyote attack on a human in Nova Scotia since the animals were first discovered in the province in the ’70s.  In 2003, a teenage girl was bitten on the arm by a coyote while walking on the same trail as Mitchell, said Germaine LeMoine of Parks Canada. The girl’s parents managed to scare the animal away.  Biologists said it’s unlikely the coyotes involved had contracted rabies or were protecting young animals.  Bob Bancroft, a Nova Scotia wildlife biologist, said coyotes shy away from humans. But not all animals – particularly young, inexperienced coyotes in parks – view humans as predators.  “This is probably just a couple of coyotes that saw something vulnerable and went for it,” he said.  “It’s horrible. It’s not something you would expect at all. “Coyotes in the region are larger and behave somewhat differently than their counterparts in Western Canada, he said. Large males in Nova Scotia can weigh up to 60 pounds.  Simon Gadbois, a professor at Dalhousie University who studies animal behaviour, said hikers should always be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.  Should a hiker unintentionally surprise a coyote or other animal, Gadbois has simple, potentially life-saving advice: Never act like prey.”The worst thing you can do is start running away,” he said. “Wave your arms, shout, just show that you mean business basically and most animals will think twice.

“Ethel Merry, who manages a motel 10 kilometres from the park in Cheticamp, said people in the area have been seeing more coyotes in the last three years and are calling for controls on their numbers.  Merry said she and her family have seen packs of up to seven coyotes wandering around people’s yards and attacking pets.  “I’m not surprised at all that this happened,” she said. “The coyotes are all around us. … I am so afraid to walk my road.

“Mitchell, who graduated from the Etobicoke School of the Arts, had recently been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award and was being roundly praised for her songwriting talent.   Mitchell’s MySpace site shows the singer standing in the woods with her guitar and a suitcase at her side, along with the cover photo of her album, “For Your Consideration.”   Weitz said the singer had just gotten her licence and a new car, which she loaded with her CDs before setting off alone on the tour. “She was a beautiful, dynamic, young, talented woman and we’re all so saddened and shocked,” Weitz said.  “She was such a young and old soul at the same time. She just knew how to beautifully craft a song.” Singer Suzie Vinnick met the performer about three years ago and acted as a mentor, teaching her guitar as Mitchell played bars in Ontario and started to garner attention.   “She was really keen and hungry in a really positive way,” she said in an interview. “She was a great lyricist and held a lot of promise. I mean, she was at it for two years and already managed to get a Canadian Folk Music nomination.”

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WARNING: Coyote Alert Along Trail Continues

October 23, 2009 – We have another alert!

This past weekend two different reports were received by bicyclist about being chased by a large coyote near the southeast corner of the SNWA Water Treatment plant (mile marker 3.5 to 4.0). This is where the trail takes a sharp 90 degree turn.  Henderson Animal control and Nevada Wildlife have been notified.  In order to pinpoint this “one” bad apple coyote we need more reports detailing where, date, and time. DO NOT go looking for this guy, but if seen or you encounter an aggressive coyote along the trail please report it.  Numbers are list below.  Also please call Trail Watch at 702-267-4050 and provide above information.

 

Coyote NPS file photo 2009

NPS Coyote file photo 2009

September 10, 2009 – We have been getting reports of  coyote sightings along the trail over the past week or two during early morning hours in Henderson.  At least one report indicated that the coyote was large and aggressive toward the trail user….”It chased him on his bike..”  The entire trail is in a rural/urban setting which is home to many wild animals including the coyote. Generally coyotes are afraid of humans and will shy away. Unfortunately our neighborhoods are intertwined with “Mr. Coyote” and he has gotten very use to living among us. He enjoys eating our garbage, our dog/or cat pet food on the patio, our cats and small dogs, and he has mostly lost fear of man.  IF CONFRONTED BY A COYOTE ON THE TRAIL ,WAVE YOUR ARMS, YELL/SHOUT, THROW ROCKS AND EXIT THE AREA.

Coyote in wild file photo 2009

Here is what is posted on City of Henderson Animal Control website:

 Urban Wildlife including coyotes should be handled by the Nevada Division of Wildlife, but they seldom are able to respond due to staff and budget shortages. Animal Control does not handle wildlife unless the animals become a Public Safety issue. If a coyote or coyotes are causing an immediate threat to citizens of Henderson, please call Henderson Animal Control at 702-267-4970 ext. 4 during our normal working hours. After hours if there is a life threatening human emergency, please call 911 for a Police/Animal Control response. Coyotes are common throughout Henderson and are seen most frequently at early evening, night and early morning hours cruising through various neighborhoods. Please keep your cats and small dogs indoors! Coyotes will usually leave by themselves unless they are challenged or cornered. For additional general information, please contact Animal Damage Control at 702-668-4565.

Here are some safety tips regarding coyotes:

  1. DO NOT FEED COYOTES!
  2. DO NOT LEAVE PET FOOD OUT WHERE COYOTES CAN FIND IT!
  3. DO NOT LEAVE GARBAGE OUTDOORS OVER NIGHT IN OPEN CONTAINERS…PUT A LID ON IT!
  4. KEEP DOGS ON SHORT LEASH WHEN WALKING! (A leash is required when walking the trail)
  5. SCARE COYOTES OFF WHEN SEEN OR ENCOUNTERED!

do not feed animals sign unk

Coyote photo gallery: