"Compensatory Reproduction" in Coyotes, why killing them equals more coyotes and less deer

[SAJ-99]

I dont think anyone would argue that skipping predator control for a year wouldnt result in them coming back, im missing the point you are trying to make. And while they do eat other things - the target things like sheep/deer during fawning.

My point is it makes sense that it doesn’t matter the time of year you kill them just that you have to kill them every year. Cost and effort become the main factor.

Regarding the last sentence or that small game populations didn’t matter, I’m going to give the side-eye on that. I want to see a complete study. Making a conclusion on a variable of the study from the data is a common problem. Then consider that both small and large game will be affected simultaneously by other variables (weather, fire). I’m not going to claim it is the same for all predators but coyotes eat a lot of different stuff. They pick what is easiest. If mice and voles are plentiful, no reason to risk a hoof to the face for a meal. In a good weather season with more fawns, then you need to control for that. But yes, predators probably slow MD population rebounds a bit.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Regarding the last sentence or that small game populations didn’t matter, I’m going to give the side-eye on that.

youre not allowed to question scienitific studies here.

The larger point- i dont think theres definitive settled science as some have claimed - that supports the hypothesis that killing coyotes (when and where does matter, but where matters more than when according to the study) makes no positive difference in deer populations.

 

[SAJ-99]

youre not allowed to question scienitific studies here.

The larger point- i dont think theres definitive settled science as some have claimed - that supports the hypothesis that killing coyotes (when and where does matter, but where matters more than when according to the study) makes no positive difference in deer populations.

Agreed, because we want the answer to one of the variables when there are a dozen variables. We haven't even discussed habitat change, where a field of grass and sage brush gets turned into a corn or wheat field. The does drop their fawns on a smaller piece of covered land the coyotes are like a kid in a candy store. Again, this has been studied a lot longer on ducks. Check studies with DU. Habitat ends up being the key, and it is hard to find land that isn't developed, plowed, or grazed.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Agreed, because we want the answer to one of the variables when there are a dozen variables. We haven't even discussed habitat change, where a field of grass and sage brush gets turned into a corn or wheat field. The does drop their fawns on a smaller piece of covered land the coyotes are like a kid in a candy store. Again, this has been studied a lot longer on ducks. Check studies with DU. Habitat ends up being the key, and it is hard to find land that isn't developed, plowed, or grazed.

So does shooting them help?

Or do you care - and youre gonna squeeze on em anyway?

I shot one in the ass (make sure your red dots have batteries) in may harassing some does. Not sure if it made a difference. Maybe. More likely than the ones i dumped last fall. Im still gonna send lead on them.

 

[SAJ-99]

So does shooting them help?

Or do you care - and youre gonna squeeze on em anyway?

To quote your study, helps marginally. I don't shoot them, but don't hold it against those that do. Do your thing.

The whole study is not controversial, or even interesting. The question really is the cost/benefit of implementing the conclusions below. The problem scientists who do these things have is that they can't eat the sunk cost, so some sort of conclusion is coming one way or the other. If they spent money to shoot coyotes does it mean more tags? And how long before the additional tags drops the population back to the level the habitat could support?

Our results underscore the need for coyote removal programs to (1) employ removal efforts over consecutive years to maximize effectiveness, (2) conduct spatially explicit removal efforts targeting fawning habitat, and (3) occur when the likelihood of additive mortality is high and prey populations have the resources available to grow.