Chicago Using Coyotes To Fight Rodents

Brad Block, a supervisor for the Chicago Commission on Animal Care and Control says a coyote recently spotted downtown is part of a program designed to monitor the rodent population. "The animal has the run of the Loop to help deal with rats and mice," He said no one has called today to complain. “He’s not a threat. He’s not going to pick up your children,” Block said. “His job is to deal with all of the nuisance problems, like mice, rats and rabbits.”

Comments

Advanced notice?

[gandhi_2]

Wouldn't it be nice to tell the public BEFORE you let the coyotes run wild?

Oh, and by the way, we had to release some tigers to deal with the bugroeoning coyote population....

This is great

[Strange Ranger]

This is actually great. I sincerely wish Pennsylvania would culture a few nice wolf populations to control the deer. I'm tired of dodging them with my car.

Re:This is great

[sadness203]

Dodging them isn't the point. If a deer leap in front of the car and the driver didn't have time to steer or break, well tough luck. Good chance the car is going to be a total wreak, and the driver's dead or gravely injured.

A (well-feed) wolf doesn't have the habit of starring into coming lights, and in the case the driver hit it, well, it's going to be a bit less spectacular. A deer can weight up to 200kg, a wolf weight barely more than 60kg. Deers have an habit of smashing the windshield, wolves mostly hit the bumper.

Re:This is great

[roc97007]

You're talking to someone who has hit a deer at 50+ miles per hour. (I don't know what that works out to in KPH, sorry.)

Dunno about kilograms but the local DOT estimated the deer (a doe) weighed 160 pounds or more.

We were ok, and it didn't even break the windshield. It did do over $3000 (US) damage to the truck.

The secret to surviving a deer is to drive a truck of 1/2 ton or heavier, with the optional 4X4 package that jacks the truck up a few inches so the deer doesn't go over the hood.

The problem I see with wolves is, if it *does* go over the hood, then you have a really pissed off wolf in the car with you...

Say goodbye to the cats

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

One neighbor of mine watched a coyote carry off her miniature dog, and when coyotes start being sighted, the Missing Cat posters start appearing.

If only there were some

[Grapplebeam]

sort of small, furry creature, say one with a long furry tail, specifically bred for this purpose over the past several hundred years that people wouldn't mind seeing around... Maybe one that enjoys drinking milk and- ah hell, screw the sarcasm. Why didn't they just use cats??

This coyote survived being hit by a car at 75 MPH

[triclipse]

This coyote survived being hit by a car at 75 MPH:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/luckycoyote.asp

Coyotes are dangerous

[indytx]

“He’s not a threat. He’s not going to pick up your children,” Block said.

What an idiot. Coyotes kill pets, and evidence from the Carolinas indicates they are now affecting deer populations by decimating the survival rates of fawns. Coyotes are dangerous, and they attack humans. There were 142 attacks on humans between 1960 and 2006. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coyotes-suburban-attacks

Coyotes have spread naturally to all lower 48 states because of declines in wolf populations. Another interesting tidbit is that the coyote is the only predator in North America whose recorded population has NEVER decreased, only increased. Why someone would give such an adaptable predator a leg up when it is doing fine is completely beyond me.