Ken Cuddeback Trail in Amherst closed due to coyote attacks

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griffin

griffin

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Coyote attacks dogs in western Mass.
Updated: 05/04/2010 04:14:29 PM EDT

Tuesday May 4, 2010

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) -- An Amherst trail has been shut down after a coyote attacked two dogs being walked in the area.

Animal Welfare Officer Carol Hepburn said Monday that she requested the conservation trail be temporarily closed out of concern for the safety of smaller dogs until the coyote can be caught and removed from the area.

Hepburn tells The Daily Hampshire Gazette that the first attack on the Ken Cuddeback Trail occurred April 26. The dog was brought to a veterinarian for evaluation and treatment. A Labrador retriever was attacked two days later.

Hepburn says both dogs are expected to recover.

The coyote has been spotted by animal welfare officials, but remains on the loose.

Hepburn says there is no evidence the coyote is aggressive toward humans.
 
Interesting. This may be a sign of things to come as the coyote population increases, and we humans continue to make inroads into coyote territory.
Also, I recently read an article saying that the coyotes in general are getting bolder.

About four weeks ago one of my dogs was attacked by a coyote in Lyme, New Hampshire. He is a 50 pound shepherd mix - not of a size you would think of as easy pickings for a coyote. However, I think that the coyote was probably a female with pups. (I had previously heard a family of coyotes a few miles from where the attack occured.) I don't believe that my dog was a threat; but the coyote wouldn't know that. A lot of animals have young at this time of year, and you cannot blame a mother for thinking that she needs to protect her offspring.

We are now on leash-walks only until later in the spring (and until my dog is fully healed from the attack).
 
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Here in the Boston suburbs there have been a number of eye to eye confrontations, with the coyotes keeping a bit of distance, but no attacks I'm aware of. My dog is 75 pounds but is friendly and runs to greet other dogs, so I'm always a bit nervous when we are out there.
 
Augs and I have had a couple of coyote sightings in the Fells - the first time he definitely wanted to give Wile E a wide berth, but the last time he tried to follow the thing as if it were a large dog he might want to play with :eek:

He's a 30lb brick of muscle - I don't know if he'd look like a quick snack to a coyote, but I also don't think he'd do too well if one decided he was a threat of some kind.
 
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Pepper spray, of the kind often carried by cyclists to deal with aggressive dogs, couldn't hurt either. It's cheap and available at any bike shop, and I expect it would deter a coyote as effectively as it does a dog.

(In fact, if enough people pepper sprayed the coyotes AND used the air horn, I'm sure after a while we'd only need the air horn (thanks to Pavlov).)
 
Why did they close the trail to all users when the coyotes are no threat to humans, only to dogs?
 
Elizabeth said:
Interesting. This may be a sign of things to come as the coyote population increases, and we humans continue to make inroads into coyote territory. ...
Click to expand...

Actually, what we know today as the eastern coyote probably did not exist 100 years ago or before that. What we are looking at is an invasive, rather than native species, apparently. So to suggest humans are encroaching on coyote territory in the Northeast is quite in error. In fact, it evidently is the other way around.

That aside, the trail closure makes no good sense to me, unless there is something missing in the story. Could it be the authorities are concerned that some vigilante will try to administer a little dose of frontier justice to the coyote?

People who hike with dogs are responsible for the well-being and safety of their pets. The coyote attacks seem to make another strong case for keeping our dogs leashed while hiking with them.

G.
 
MichaelJ said:
Why did they close the trail to all users when the coyotes are no threat to humans, only to dogs?
Click to expand...

When I went to UMass in the mid 90's the trails had many families with small children. I can only assume it for their sake.
 
"What we are looking at is an invasive, rather than native species, apparently. So to suggest humans are encroaching on coyote territory in the Northeast is quite in error. In fact, it evidently is the other way around." - Posted by Grumpy


Our Eastern coyotes are thought to be part wolf. Maybe that makes them semi-native - like a person who is part Native American.

Humans eliminated the native wolf, and coyotes are filling in that niche in the ecosystem. As for whose territory it is, I guess that depends on your perspective. On any one individual site, either the coyotes or the people may have been there first. If the coyotes were there first, then the humans could be said to be the encroachers.
 
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audrey said:
Here in the Boston suburbs there have been a number of eye to eye confrontations, with the coyotes keeping a bit of distance, but no attacks I'm aware of. My dog is 75 pounds but is friendly and runs to greet other dogs, so I'm always a bit nervous when we are out there.
Click to expand...

My dog is the same way and it scares me. I am 99% sure she found her way to coyote pups last spring in the same area the article refers to she disappeared and we could hear the sound of puppies in the direction she went.

We hike in that area a lot and I have seen a coyote the size of a German Shepard. We will be hiking there in about an hour with the 2 year old and the dog who sadly will have to be leashed
 
Elizabeth said:
"What we are looking at is an invasive, rather than native species, apparently. So to suggest humans are encroaching on coyote territory in the Northeast is quite in error. In fact, it evidently is the other way around." - Posted by Grumpy


Our Eastern coyotes are thought to be part wolf. Maybe that makes them semi-native - like a person who is part Native American.

Humans eliminated the native wolf, and coyotes are filling in that niche in the ecosystem. As for whose territory it is, I guess that depends on your perspective. On any one individual site, either the coyotes or the people may have been there first. If the coyotes were there first, then the humans could be said to be the encroachers.
Click to expand...

Wolfs were native so are coyotes, a hybrid is close enough to native for me.

Many towns in this area in an effort to stop sub divisions have bylaws for 1 acre min building lots. It's a great way to destroy habitat turn 1 acre of forest( or farm land) in to an acre of lawn then shoot (or poison) any creature who dares venture on to your lawn.
 
Lou Hale said:
We hike in that area a lot and I have seen a coyote the size of a German Shepard.
Click to expand...
I saw one crossing route 2 in broad daylight that I though was a German Shepherd at first until I got closer - definitely coyote but boy was it big!

Lots around in my work location just north of Amherst - see LOTS of tracks in the area of the Pocumtuck Ridge Trail just before it crosses the river.
 
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