[AT] Re New things was: The last question I had on my list for December. (OT

[Bob McNitt]

Ed -

In my 30+ years as an outdoor writer and magazine editor, the changes 
that occurred in that short span in nature still amaze me. Our variety 
of coyotes have gotten increasingly more brazen and can now be seen in 
villages and even small cities, where they prey on cats, small dogs and 
anything else that's readily available. When mowing hay, several will 
appear in the field and follow the tractor, as they catch and feed on 
mice and young cottontail rabbits that are flushed or exposed by the 
mowing. A few years ago I photographed tracks in the snow of a large 
male mountain lion that a friend had seen and tipped me off to. The 
wildlife biologists I showed the photos to grudgingly admitted it was a 
large male puma, but stopped short of admitting it "could be a wild 
one." SOP answer is these big cats are domestic "escapees." Must be a 
lot of people have mountain lions for pets and then let them go when 
they get too big. A friend who's a NYS Trooper had a pair cross in front 
of her patrol car, but was told by DEC they were just large coyotes 
whose tails were wet that made them "look like cats."
Bob

On 1/2/2010 2:05 PM, edchainsaw at aol.com wrote:
> We here have  coyotes and have for  30yrs  or  so--   they are a big help
> fighting off the ground hogs on the  river--  but they just can't keep  up
> with the beavers (not that I  think they try much)   we've not had much
> livestock  loss  either   now my cousins have lost a  goat  and another's  dog
> got in a fight  with some.    Now what does bother  me is  we have  neighbors
> that think the  coyote  needs  eliminated  and  hired  guys to come onto
> our property and   shoot them...    that's  stepping over the line
>
> he here also have   'big'  cats..  I saw a  black  one  several years back
> , so has my uncle and  a friend  ( 3  witnessess)    and  this spring   our
>    helper  who knows tracks  saw the   tracks...     again in our river
> bottom area .
>
>
> In a message dated 1/2/2010 12:05:21 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com writes:
>
> [AT] New  things was: The last question I had on my list
> for December.  (OT)
>
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