What triggers canine dispersal???

[Nightwish (Catpaw)]

Could be a good discussion giving the season is just beginning...

In my opinion, the change of weather, lack of food, harvesting of crops, and a natural internal instinct triggers canine dispersal. Although it varies from area to area, I think many of the above factors can be taken seriously.

This year, we have warm weather here in the east, so I look for fox dispersal to be slow and behind schedule. Once we have the first major frost/freeze things will kick in. Its critical to kill off all the insects....food staple for the pups.

Thoughts?

[RonMarsh]

Family feud

[Bob Jameson]

All of what you said.

[bobwendt]

research shows it really never gets into full swing till dec and peaks in jan. october there is nil, almost zero, no matter what. very little in november either. from hard factual research on 700 ear tagged wild fox and lesser numbers of radio collared fox. " the red fox of iowa" by ron andrews. dated pre coyote days, so still relevent for se pa/md, but probably nowhere else. we are swamped here again. ran from midnight till 3 a.m. and barely beat the rain, and it came in buckets after a 1,000 year drought that killed most all crops including trees all summer. hmmm. messages from god, leave the east forever. it will never be a good place for a canine man to live. big ugly coyotes, cheap coon, no cats or otter and always floods, lol, and the million peaple and associated b.s. /square mile. soon lord, soon.

[trappnman]

Speaking on coyotes.....

I have a real problem with "traditional" dispersal that one often reads about. Coyotes all migrating at once, moving long distances at one time. Not quite that definitive, but close.

I just don't see it here.

I think dispersal in my type of country, is more gradual and certainly less in scope.

Time of year plays a factor, simply because of the natural progression of the pups. At about 6 months of age give or take, they are already becoming independent and although running together some, seen solo more often than not. So minor dispersal is already starting.

The absolute key here in my area, is harvest. Harvest is the beginning of dispersal and controls the spread and duration of it.

And why it does so is obvious, it the mass destruction of habit. So coyotes are going to be on the move- with shooters and trappers family groups are broken apart earlier rather than later.

I'm convinced, that the dispersal here is more of a shuffle, that they just move far enough not to be crowded. Prey is not a problem, small game, birds, farms are common- so they don't have to go far. With the hills and coulees, lots of natural breaks in or boundaries in territory.

And as new stuff gets harvested, then as snow comes, the shuffle gets a little bit more refined.

[bobwendt]

research doesn`t agree with you tman, on coyotes. fox too.

[trappnman]

interestingly enough- the research HERE- agrees with me.

and if you have any study- showing dispersal rates, duration, distances in this type of hill farm country, I'd like to know about them.

All studies I've seen are either fox, or western.

I don't know of any in this type of area- any such study would have to have been done in last 20 years or so. Before that, we didn't have enough coyotes to disperse in any patterns.

[bobwendt]

I have nothing specific to your county. do you? of true scientific merit and numnbers enough to be relevent? purdue has done some collaring anf taggingstudies here andf found the whole litter dispersed, some as far as 350 miles to wisconsin! I figure that expl;ains the occasional trash coyote they catch up there.

[trappnman]

most canine studies are done with small groups -very, very seldom is over 50 animals. Of true scientific merit? I'm guessiong the U of MN and the MN dnr are as sceintifically advanced as Purdue....

I don't doubt that some disperse long distances, but I do not bleieve its te norm here.

I don't mean specific to my county (the study here was speicifc to my county and trapline) but specific to type of area.

small farms, hill country.

[trappnman]

Bob- don't get me wrong- I'm not saying I'm right- all I'm saying is my conclusions based on observation.

and I do know one thing I'd put in that 98% category- by Jan, Feb- the dispersal is nonexistent.

So it either occurs much later- after breeding season, or much earlier, or not at all.

I think rather than a time of year dispersal, that here, by necessity, the units are broken up long before winter.

and that most don't go far, because there is no need to.

One other thing that factors in- you can judge on how much - is the turnover of populations each year.

we had almost a 100% turnover every 2 years- so that means that each year, roughly 50% of the population changed...

lots of good open area right next door.

so what becomes the issue- do coyotes disperse when there is no real need to? Territory wise?

Or do they just shuffle until they find their needs- and not more (with exceptions)?

another way of looking at it- say a young coyote disperses 10 miles, finds a Friend and a good prey base area, good escape cover, a real coyote home.... the good life.

Does he stay- or does he move on and on and on- until one day he just stops?

I don't know- I'm wondering.....

don't be afraid to jump in here guys.....

[bobwendt]

my opionion, there us no dispersal to speak of untill jan feb, when it peaks. my proof? you can trap them out in oct and they stay "out" till dead of winter, then they are everywhere in herds. north south east west, never seen it any different. that is why fall fur trappers are near worthless for adc benefits and we still need ws every spring. also, yes, they disperse even when they don`t have to. even if the territory next door is vacant, it`s too close to home. it`s like getting your kids to work for you. they `ll work like dogs at the burger king, but try to pay them to mow the yard , clean their room, whatever, no way.

[Nightwish (Catpaw)]

Here is PA, we see dispersal start in Nov, peak in Dec and begin to taper in jan/Feb.

This can be proven due to the large numbers taken as well as a few catch/release studies trappers have done in the past.

I too have the Iowa Fox studies and book, red Fox in Iowa. I'll have to dig them out but I thought I read that they concluded it began in late Nov and Dec.

I think studies are subject to debate due to the vast amount of variables with geographic locations, various Red Fox species, coyotes and population. The data in these studies is accurate but not foolproof or constant. Variables always trump studies, especially with wildlife on such a scale as Fox or Coyotes in geography like the USA.

Here in PA, we want the crickets and grasshoppers dead to trigger hunger in the pups as the main food source of the pups throughout the summer is insects...not mice like some would think. Mom teaches them to hunt/eat crickets and 'hoppers first...thats what they know to do. A good 3-4 day killing frost kills the insects and triggers the movement. This along with other variables.

Lastly, I agree with John Graham....in low fox populations, dispersal is virtually non-existant....

[bobwendt]

your last statement, totally false, if the reason for low pops. is coyotes. they will push fox pups 20-100 or more miles to find safe areas. the dispersal with coyote inter relationships far surpasses that of straight red country. I`ll refresh your memory, the iowa study found the avg female a calender year later was 5.8 miles away, the average male 10.4, with rare 300 mile buggars. and population density while a factor, did not stop migration even in very low populations. it`s natures way to prevent excessive line breeding. who wants to boink your ma or sister, yuk!

[musher]

The first snow fall. It's magic!

[trappnman]

is 5.8 miles dispersal, or normal range?

[bobwendt]

where they physically are 1 year from birth, straight line crow fly. that is the average. the range of course was the same ( zero) to 380 miles or some such thing. females only, the males were twice that , and that was red fox, not coyotes.

[trappnman]

just to be clear- if the avg on females was 5.8- then half would be below that, correct?

any figures on yotes?

[trappincoyotes39]

coyote density's play into dispersal, the lower the population the less dispersal/ higher the population the more dispersal.Winter will have an effect as well, early snows and the family group will hang together to kill larger prey, later dispersal then.

If your quoting study then the Iowa study showed that coyotes mean average for dispersal was 18.9 miles for males and 19.5 for females in a westerly direction due to more heavy hunting pressure and more room for those coyotes. The onset was stated as November and that it fell in line with other states listed as Minnesota and Texas study.

In another study it showed those coyotes that had the least interaction with litter mates where the first to disperse.

What is the major food supply in the area? What kind of habitat is present for denning locations? What is the density of the area, is the population increasing/decreasing or stable? How much human disturbance is there? Are there larger predators in this area?

All of these questions will have an effect on dispersal.

[bobwendt]

tman, no. you are talking mean, I`m talking average. mean is the point where 1/2 are below and 1/2 above. average could be nineteen going 1 mile and one going 100 miles, so 119 dived by 20 gives an average of 5.4. the iowa study was on 700 head if I remember right, so probably not weighted.

[trappnman]

ah- got cha!

was sent a good study on yotes- if I can figure put how to link it, I'll post it.