The Old Folks Home

[CapricornFarm]

50° outside! I got the frozen water out of all the waterers, scrubbed and refilled. The birds and i are all happy.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Yup about 50 out here no rain in site no snow just sun birds all cleaned spiffed everyone having fun 3 eggs 1 blue 2 green under two broody silky

 

[drumstick diva]

no homeless around here. I wonder if the deer are getting that "wasting" disease or if they are being managed (eliminated) by the county. Haven't seen or heard the coyotes either. They used to go up and down our street - like they lived here.

Maybe every critter comes out during my naps.

 

[getaclue]

Bunny, our temps are all over the place too.

 

[getaclue]

micro, so sorry about your dog.

 

[getaclue]

The local news channels are warning pet owners, in the city, to be careful regarding outdoor pets, due to coyotes. I grew up here, not in the city proper, but on the outskirts. I do not remember hearing, or having any sort of coyote population to speak of, when I was growing up. Not because there weren't any, but there was plenty of woods, and you didn't see them. With so many people here now, the wooded areas are disappearing. This is the first year that it's been so bad that they are giving warnings on the news, especially in the city.

 

[pennyJo1960]

That is happening all over now clue Olympia is in a world of hurt they annexed and cleared allot "green space" people in the city wonder where the kitties are "getting lost" or someone that has birds for 20 years now loose them to coyotes the folks that gave me the tractor I have she had chickens 35 years they cleared behind them for more homes her birds started getting killed she finally said no more

 

[drumstick diva]

How sad

 

[pennyJo1960]

These folks bought their first and only home in the country but it isn't now I felt so bad for them the tractor is really well made and they gave it to me .... but bedtime here now
goodnight all

 

[Bunnylady]

The local news channels are warning pet owners, in the city, to be careful regarding outdoor pets, due to coyotes. I grew up here, not in the city proper, but on the outskirts. I do not remember hearing, or having any sort of coyote population to speak of, when I was growing up. Not because there weren't any, but there was plenty of woods, and you didn't see them.

Most likely because they weren't there to be seen. Coyotes are historically creatures of the Midwestern plains; they don't "belong" anywhere on the East Coast. But people killed off most of the native predators, then a change in attitude toward predators during the last century has allowed these extremely clever and adaptive animals to greatly expand their range. 50 years ago, there weren't any coyotes in North Carolina (other than a few introduced by hunters), but they started migrating into the western part of our state in the 1980's. I'm about as far east as you can get in NC, and we now hear coyotes howling/yammering nearly every night - they've been here for a while, though their numbers only really got high enough to get them noticed in the last decade or so.

Deforestation is a separate issue; if anything, it has helped the coyote expand its range, because coyotes are native to more open country. Coyotes are scavengers as well as predators, and can adapt to a wide range of habitats. Like rats, they will take advantage of any food source, and they are getting more and more tolerant of humans (partly because a lot of them are coyote-dog hybrids). The urban coyote is a common phenomenon throughout the country now.

Just something I saw:
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ote_Canis_latrans_in_the_Florida_Keys_Florida