Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Coshocton,Ohio
Posts: 2613

This article explains it all to me why I'm opposed to closing the running of dogs in April. This is an ODNR article.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohioans are unlikely to spot a bobcat or black bear ambling through their back yard, although their numbers are increasing around the Buckeye State. Getting a glimpse of a coyote, Ohio's top predator in the wild, has become commonplace as their population continues to skyrocket in all of Ohio's 88 counties.

Coyote attacks on small pets are becoming common, but attacks on humans are extremely rare. Ohio wildlife officials want to keep it that way, allowing hunters to shoot them on sight all year round, and unfettered by bag limits or hunting hours. The coyote is the only wild animal that can be trapped without restrictions, or without having to get an Ohio trapping permit.

"It's good to keep pressure on coyotes and keep them afraid of people," said Susie Prange, the coyote expert with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. "The annual coyote hunts help to keep the population down, and trapping will push them out of an area. You have to keep it going every year, though. You can't stop pushing the population down or it will come right back."

Farmers and deer hunters despise coyotes because the cunning animals feast on deer fawns and livestock, especially lambs. A small study more than a decade ago reported about one-third of Ohio deer fawns in one small area were killed and eaten by coyotes.

"Evolutionary strategy has coyotes giving birth to their young when they can feed them on newly-born fawns," Prange said. "Deer also evolved into what is called 'predator swamping.' The does all have their fawns at the same time, assuring the majority survives an efficient predator like a coyote."

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