Coyotes
This morning as Mrs. Wigglebottom and I were eating poop out of the neighbors' yards... well, I was not eating poop, but Mrs. Wigglebottom was eating enough for the both of us... our neighbor, who keeps us up to date on the hobo activity in the neighborhood, came out to tell us that he was seeing coyotes along the train tracks.
I'd wondered where all the rabbits in the neighborhood had gone.
Back in February, there wasn't any place you could rest your eyes in our neighborhood without seeing rabbits and now? None.
He also pointed out something that I'd noticed. We have some enormous foxes in our neighborhood. I mean, like the size of a big raccoon. I'm checking out the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's page and they claim that gray foxes only get 7-13 pounds, but the one I see in my back yard could easily be 25.
Perhaps the hobos are breeding a strand of large mutant killer foxes...
If so, just remember that you heard it here first.
posted by Aunt B at 3/08/2006 12:33:00 PM
10 Comments:
One site I checked says gray foxes can push 20 pounds in rare instances, but maybe you're seeing one of the coyotes.
Not unless we have exceedingly fat coyotes. No, these look like a fox and a racoon had a baby. They're fat like a racoon, but not bumbly. I've gotten a good look at them. Unless we have some maskless racoons, they're definitely foxes.
Mutant ninja foxes.
Okay, maybe not mutant ninjas...
Do they look wily? Coyotes are supposed to be wily.
Sounds like you have some weird foxes there.
We have one of those shooting preserves in our neighborhood, where they release pen-raised exotic fowl so the clients can blast them. The local coyote population surged with the influx of baffled and wounded birds to eat.
We've been seeing a lot more coyotes, and a lot less groundhogs over where we live as well.
It's gotten so bad that Dad has been bringing a rifle with him when he goes to the farm.
Coyotes think calves taste yummy.
It's a problem all over Tennessee. The yotes are suddenly no longer afraid of folks and are getting brave. A few affluent subdivisions in West Knoxville have reported sightings and some small dogs (my sister's for one) have disappeared without a trace. Wigglebottom is safe, it'd probably take 6 yotes to take here down and she'd take a few with her. Yotes are opportunists, not suicidal. Of course, i recommend one of these for dispatching the unwanted vermin.
-SayUncle
I'm more concerned with the giant mutant foxes than the coyotes. As long as the coyotes stay down on the tracks and eat the rabbits, they'll get no interference from me.
And what an awesome gun! Though, I suppose it says something that the farther away a libertarian lives from me, the better an idea he thinks my being armed is. Notice Sarcastro never mentions it...
I'm thinking you're seeing a coyote rather than a mutuant fox. But either way, they could be pregnant(mutant bulge?) Wild Coyotes are not in the least afraid of people and city coyotes are worse. Make sure Mrs. Wigglebottom gets her rabies shot this year just in case.
Have you heard the coyote call tapes that hunters use to lure them out at night? Really freaky.
Don't forget Tiny Cat either, coyotes think cats are almost as tasty as rabbits.
I'm thinking pregnant fox over coyote unless we have a strain of very short coyotes. I mean, really, y'all don't even know how close I live to the train tracks. I'm seeing these animals at a distance of twenty, thirty feet right at dusk. They're definitely just big foxes.
No worries about the tiny cat. She's decided that, not only is she an indoor cat, but that she's going to spend a majority of her time in a box under the kitchen table.
Unless coyotes develop the ability to open doors, she's fine.
I wish the coyotes would eat our damn groundhogs. They're too busy chowing on the wounded birds. But I think the hunting preserve guys may be shooting and/or poisoning them, because I haven't heard them so much lately.
They do like cats, too. One more reason to keep our unruly gang indoors.
Ahem. Coyotes, wild or not, avoid people like the plaugue. I have entire packs of them living on my property. My large dog keeps them away from our house, but I see them coming in and out of their dens. There is ample cover for small game, so I imagine these coyotes are well fed. Tennessee coyotes are much bigger than those we have out West, the first time I spied one I thought it was a german Shepard. Anyway, your lack of rabbits may have more to do with the time of year. Plant a garden, see what happens...
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