When you eliminate...

[trappincoyotes39]

Heck tman tough to say really. When they move up on sheep I would see that as a need to feed and makes life easier. AS the summer goes on in areas of less smaller prey and more larger like deer and antelope and the summer has things dried up, getting after the fawns now older themselves harder to catch, so the sheep are a no pressure deal to them. When hungry take them down and teach the kids how to hunt. Nothing better than a defenseless lamb.

I could as see it as nature as them being vocal critters they could use nature as a means to move into a new area. Hearing the neighbors partying at night would make one want to search out what the heck is going on over there. I see that more as a nature thing.

Deep winter, food harder to find and more prey concintrated in areas would be out of shear "need" to survive I would think. Like the deer yards in the NE or winter wheat fields in NW SD and the shear numbers of antelope, or close by the haystacks and the 100's of deer camped out eating on those stacks.

Early spring pregnant female coyotes and early spring calvers and the abundance of after birth and the smells and sounds associated with such. High concintrations causing more boldness amongst the large group of gathered coyotes. Leading to calf depredation and the shark like attitudes. The smell and sounds of blood get them worked up into a frenzy.

I remember the worst calf killing I saw was a guy calving on some deeded ground in a remote area of the cheyanne indian reservation , snow on the ground and I found 4 dead calves from the night prior and hardly anything left on any of them. Driving down the big hill to the grounds I saw 4 coyotes all heading out. I looked at the carcasses and looked at the sign in the snow a real blood bath, I hid the truck and glassed for about 45 mins and lit up my siren on the truck I had coyotes answer from the N,S,E and W.

A major concintration for sure, the most I have ever witnessed come out of 9 sq miles of ground over the next 7 days.

I don't think this guy could have chosen a worst spot to try that year to calve out in. It had it all cover,food and water along a major drainage and isolated to boot! A perfect storm for all of those coyotes for sure. Can't say for sure if it was need, greed, nature or opportunity! Maybe all of the for mentioned?

Your thoughts?

[foxman]

Tc I say greed is there nature.

[trappnman]

my country is for sure different- #1 we have large small rodent prey base, #2, we have for the most part, an oversupply of deep cover (wooded coulees, etc)

I don't know enough abotu it, but here I think, we don't have a migration or dispersal like many talk about. Instead, I think we have a "slide over" thing going on.

I trap coyotes in that last period of fall, before winter. I personally don't think I have much drift or dispersal going on during that period of time- beyond the "natural" drift coming from harvesting crops/working fields.

while the fields/corn/set aside are where they are making a living for much of the year, when winter and snow comes, their options (although not acres) change.

and until spring and breeding season comes, the held territory from the previous years, is unused and unoccupied.

while I do think nature is part of it (inbreeding rates in the Chicago study show this) insofar as breeding opportunites etc I think overall, drift comes more from need, than nature. And that to me means that most coyotes (here at least) stay put until a need occurs.