In 2015 I helped coordinate the SCDNR part of a 3 state coyote study...The SCDNR trapping was done by myself and my trapping partner along with Rusty Johnson and Mark June, those familiar with the trapping world will recognize the names of those two icons...Headed up by Prof. Joey Hinton of UGA, GA took the lead role for AL, GA and SC...We trapped and did a biological profile, including DNA, sex, age and weight on the average of 35 coyotes in each state...Each one was then fitted with a unique numbered $3,500 GPS transmitter which would send out a burst signal to a satellite every 4 hrs to plot on the master computer at UGA it's location.
Purpose of study was to gather information on the travel habits of each coyote, the type of terrain they preferred to inhabit on a seasonal basis, the type of terrain they preferred to hunt in, etc...Many follow up trips were made to the target areas to gather scat and DNA match it to a particular coyote and determine what it's diet consisted of...Untold man hrs went into the study from paid professionals and volunteers.
The ULTIMATE GOAL of the study was to LEARN more about coyotes so we would understand how to TRAP AND/OR KILL MORE of them in the future...So many people are so construed as to how we could possibly trap a coyote and then release it...I will tell you from first hand experience, the knowledge gained from this study has caused mega multitudes of coyotes to meet their demise far beyond those few we originally trapped and collared.
We are currently doing a study in McCormick County that is along the same lines of the original one, but it will also include GPS collared doe deer to more closely study the interaction of coyotes and deer during the fawning season...After a doe fawns, it's inserted uterine device will alert researchers to the fawning and they will then locate and GPS collar the fawn... This study is a cooperation between SCDNR and Clemson...I just spent the day yesterday in McCormick with my good friend Rusty Johnson, and the amount of data they are gathering and preparing to compile in the upcoming fawning season is immense.
Information from these studies help us to better understand our world...The technology is impressive.
For a quick take-off, there's a few things that jump out at me...SCDNR had been accused of transplanting coyotes into SC to help control the deer population and/or satisfy vehicle insurance companies...This is blatantly false... Nobody believed how far a coyote travelled until some were GPS tracked...Coyotes trapped in Saluda County wound up being killed in Union SC, in Walterboro, SC, one was almost in VA before the collar battery died, one crossed the Savannah River and went on to Fort Gordon Military Base to set up residence...And some stayed within a few miles of where they were originally trapped and collared, those being some of the ones which have been trapped a second time...There seems to me in my own "unprofessional opinion" coyotes that are "Transient" and also those that are "Resident"...Study shows no difference in age or sex of either.
What this does tell the wildlife manager is that there is no way to keep a coyote from being where it wants to be, and there's no way to eradicate them from an area...If you trap out an area for a period, coyotes from many miles away can move in literally overnight...The only effective deterrent we have at the present is to trap religiously year after year after year.
The more information we gather and the better we understand them, the better chance we have in developing a plan to help control them.
Bookmarks