No coyotes but we have feral pigs attacking the house. They undermine footings and retaining walls. Looks like a bulldozer goes through the forest turning everything over. Here's one with her babies by the side of the road.
Obviously messed up. Meant to say "The stray car population is now close to zero. The truck population is slowly returning. The armored vehicle population was unaffected."
Just takin' the piss out of ya. It was too good to pass up, being on a "car" forum. Too bad about that truck population. OMG, you're the first person to ... oh wait.
Nice photo. When I was a kid living here there were semi-feral (got out of the pen a lot) hogs. Yes they can cause quite a mess, quite a nuisance and somewhat dangerous (larger ones here in the states...here's a link to a pdf on Texas feral hogs if you care to look http://wildlife.tamu.edu/publications/B6149FeralHogs_low.pdf). Does anyone still hunt wild pig in Hawaii? I believe those wild pigs were brought in by the native Hawaiians who settled the islands? As you may know hogs are omniverous. In fact, when I was growing up we had a problem with chicken snakes (rat snakes) eating our eggs. Nothing quite as thrilling as putting your hand in a nest and feeling the cold writhing body of a snake instead of an egg. I was much less sensible as a boy about those sorts of things. One or two times I would take the snake by the tail and spin him around my head. Prevents biting don't you know. Curiously, now I have trouble getting myself to touch a snake. Anyway, the object was to throw the snake in the hog pen. Big Red, our 500 pound Duroc sow, liked to dine on snake. Approaching the snake like a coyote approaches prey (have watched coyotes pounce for rodents in South Dakota) she would quietly move close and then deftly place one hoof on the snake and dispatch it with a quick chomp. Big Red was also a pretty good chicken hog. Any chicken unlucky to get in the pen had its life ended in a glorius shower of feathers.
I think that it is probably a good thing. With the rapidly expanding whitetail deer population here in the East there is a ready food supply for the coyotes. The scat that I and others have examined is full of deer hair. This evidence is reinforced by information like that provided by WV DNR West Virginia DNR - Coyote Anyway, for those of you living in an East Coast Suburban Area, sitting on your porch in the wee hours and hearing the yipp of the coyote, know that the eternal struggle of predator and prey is right at your back door. Interestingly the large deer population may pave the way for the more visible return of another visitor...the panther. Here is one of many articles on the subject...Outdoors: Those lion sightings could have some teeth My Mom was returning home in the early hours a year or so ago. She and her friend swear they saw a panther cross the road in front of them on a creek bottom heading towards the White Oak river. Spring before last we heard a piercing scream come from the swamp...who knows. When I was a kid we rarely if ever saw a deer, now there are coyotes, there are definitely black bear near here, a thriving alligator population and well maybe one or two cougars.
We've had a family of Great Horned Owls living around here. I like to wake early in the AM and watch them move to their roosts. Told my wife that between the Bald Eagles, Great Horned Owls and Coyotes she needs to keep an eye on our Shih Tzus.
When I was a kid one of my teachers, a former F-4 backseater, told the story of how he was out skiing in Bouge Sound, about a mile or so from here, in the early 70's. One of his squadron mates got in touch on the CB and told them about the school of Hammerheads following the boat! Needless to say, they got out of the water.
I've posted pictures and decided, after doing a little research on the difference, that its really a wetland garden/pond. Anyway, click here if you want to see the most current, literally under construction, photo. Projects . The excavation is now full due to recent rains. As for plantings I think I'm move one of my cypress over there, maybe plant some joe pye weed and mallow. I like cat tails also...I just do. If the seal holds and my wetland has a pond (if it seals) then I'll put in some water lilies, water hyacinth and a catfish/bream/bass or two from my neighbor.
I see it daily since I feed birds. Used to cringe and feel saddened when the hawks would visit and now I can appreciate the balance they create. I especially appreciate that they seem to love feasting on the Starlings......two kills just this week. I still get a little squeamish cleaning up the kill. Had a rabbit skin on my front stoop one day. The rear legs, back hide and tail were present but the rest of the bunny was eerily missing.
I recently moved to the suburbs of Denver, and I was surprised to see 2 coyotes hanging out on an undeveloped lot near a busy intersection in my area in the middle of the day. I moved here from TX, where the attitude towards coyotes is much different. People think of them as "varmints" that need to be shot (for no good reason, apparently). Here, people seem to take them in stride, although I did have a conversation with one guy who shoots any coyotes he can aim at. I do have 2 cats, so there is a risk they'll get eaten, even though I bring them in before dusk.
Hell, I saw a fox in the middle of our street at 2:00PM the other day (in Westminster, CO). We had a bit of a stare down. He wanted to go past me, but didn't have enough room to suit his liking. So he ending up sulking off into someones yard to get out of sight. I've seen this particular fox a number of times at night, but never in the middle of the afternoon!
no wonder he looked so narked that he couldn't get by me. ha ha. Poor little bugger, if only I'd known.
Here are some more pictures taken this AM. Pond is now full after recent rain. Really more of a wetland garden project pond. The pond is is about 2.5' deep. Plantings will take place over the next year or so. I need to wait to see if the pond holds water before selecting some plants.
