Massachusetts meets reality
Small Game
It's a peninsula, heavily developed, no open land for hunting. (House on a quarter acre valued about $750k.) Laws re. shooting close to houses in effect.
Why sharpshooters? Trapping would be the ticket several undeveloped areas according to that map like the golf course. Hell no need to shoot just bring your choke poll. Pretty unconcerned about the problems of people living in million dollar homes.
Agree with PushCoArcher, if their target number is a dozen, they'll be lucky to kill two or three with sharpshooters until the yotes wise up to who it shooting them... What are these sharp shooters going to do, call them in, it's not like they'll come to a corn pile... Trapping would be the feasible option...
They swat/poison flies and step on ants in the house, don't they?
My mouse traps in the garage have been untouched for months. I freshened up the peanut butter on the triggers and caught two the first night. I wonder if I can collect tax dollars to buy more peanut butter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_campaign
With the house density there I’m sure there isn’t an abundance of wildlife for the coyotes to hunt, therefore they could probably be called in relatively easy the first time.
That said, I agree with the above statements that trapping/snaring would be the best option in that demographic area.
There shouldn’t be much danger of an incidental catch since most “strays” have already been eliminated.
Not certain but I'd bet the town has 'leash laws'. Agree re. trapping but licensed pros charge a bundle.
I’m thanking God I don’t live there, and not because of the coyotes.
That state is a prime example of the results of leftist stupidity
Dale06 x 2. Read some of the comments from the opposers at the end of the article.
Oh, wouldn't it be lovely to restore parts of America to how it was when the noble natives peacefully accomplished so much advancement of society? Let's turn some carnivores loose "over there where it is wild" like Jackson, WY, and let them prosper. I will so enjoy knowing all is well as I sit many miles away in my urban sanctuary.
Oh, look at the poor scrawny coyote. Let's feed them some scraps. They are so cute.
Oh no. Where is Fluffy? This is unacceptable for a civilized society to allow possibly rabid animals to attack our pets and children waiting for a school bus while the aroma of lunch wafts out of their tiny backs. We need laws!!
My neighborhood has bobcats, coyotes, and sometimes a stray mountain lion. Pets disappear from backyards. Encounters get tense will on dog walks with the dog leashed. I don't need wolves placed here nor grizzly bears to make things more natural so someone many states away feels they are solving some sort of problem while creating safety issues for my family.
Let biologists come up with solutions because Aunt Betty in Manhattan has a large wallet to send money to all sorts of causes including bad ones either misguided or intentionally wreckless.
You don't know the half of it. We listen to this lefty BS all the time here...on every subject. You learn to ignore it and live your life the way you see fit. I hope more communities get involved and kill some of these coyotes.
These dogs will smarten up in no time. Trappings the way to go. But the leftist will cry inhumane to trap the cute cuddley coyote even tho he ate Fido alive
I fail to see the connection between a coyote problem in a small, heavily populated area that seems geographically difficult for the coyotes to escape from and "leftists" or "liberals".
Some pretty uniformed comments after the article, but some pretty funny ones, as well.
“Being on an peninsula, the coyotes have had some problems getting their shipments of ACME products”
“They just simply need to import some roadrunners…problem solved”
On a serious note I wonder what prey species live there other than family pets. Prey controls predator population as much as predators control prey.
Maybe a few mice, squirrels, rabbits, birds. Same as most anywhere in MA. Nahant is about 1 square mile with a population over 3000, so not much space for wildlife.
Prob want to do sharpshooters, because traps could likely get household pets. Catch a dog in a foothold and it's coyote food in no time lol. Rifle is very discriminate.
Anti hunters wrecking our country..who knew?
It seems to me that a very large % of Antis are also Liberal Progressive types….just saying.
I'm actually a fan of a lot of MA stuff... But this is an area where things get wonky. You really dont have space to hunt anything in Nahant or similar towns here given human density. Trapping would be great, and I can see how sharp shooting could be useful. The simple reality though is that in urban areas it's not easy to manage this stuff.
I'm going to view this through a positive lens. If people start to realize that wildlife interactions are not always warm and fuzzy, perhaps laws will change here in parts of the state where hunting can happen - Sunday hunting, reduce the 500 food setback on dwellings at least for archery, stuff like that.
What is comical to me is that the same people who insist on keeping their dogs and cats indoors also insist on 'free-range' chicken and eggs ;-)
Just curious, Hackbow, is forbidding weapons discharge in an area with a 3200 people/square mile population density a dirty bleeping 'liberal' policy? Sheesh, dude, give it a rest.
Years ago the game wardens told me to kill every coyote I saw. Could hunt nights and Sunday, night or day. Killed a bunch of foxes and coons, calling at night and trapping. Have only seen two coyotes in my area. They told me the coyotes would kill the red foxes but it hasn't happened. I wonder why? I see plenty of rabbits, foxes and coons in my garden but no coyotes.
I was wondering why bow hunting was not suggested. 3000 people per square mile explained it to me. many people would see animals running and bleeding. Even if a coyote died in seconds after a shot I don't think it would give hunters good press. I am not sure sharpshooters will do better. I suspect that trapping would be effective for a quarter of the population but they learn about danger fast.
They do make cage traps for coyotes and I have been told they will go in them, that being said, I have never tried one. That's a catch and release option if Fido goes in.
“What is comical to me is that the same people who insist on keeping their dogs and cats indoors also insist on 'free-range' chicken and eggs ;-)”
I know you’re poking fun, but you know…. ALL cats should be kept indoors - they’re an aggressive, invasive predator which is wiping out all manner of native species.
Of course, the same can be said of coyotes and red fox.
If we had that issue in my neighborhood, I’m thinkin’ the smart move is a hunter safety class and a Wrist Rocket for every child 10 and up. That’d probably make ALL KINDS of predators think twice. JMO, it’d be healthy on all manner of levels to teach kids from an early age to watch out on behalf of anyone more vulnerable than they are, and step in as a protector when needed.
“Pretty unconcerned about the problems of people living in million dollar homes.”
LOL. First off, there’s a pretty fair chance that you live in a bigger, nicer house than a bunch of these people that you’re so unconcerned about.
Second, there are children who WILL get mauled if they don’t educate or eliminate these coyotes; but I suppose caring about the health, safety and well-being of children regardless of their parents’ income and life choices is a “liberal” thing, and the important thing is to make sure that all children just get born in the first place, and after that, well, them’s the breaks.
If you want people on the coasts to hear your concerns about predators in your neighborhood, it would help to care about the problems they’re having with theirs.
Corax that did come off a little cold hearted. I live in Oklahoma you don't here me whining about how we need to alter the weather so x number of kids don't die in tornadoes. There are risk associated with anywhere someone lives coyotes eating pets is small potatoes compared to many risk. As far as the "kid snatching coyotes" fear it's a emotional reaction not based on logic or facts. From my understanding there's been one confirmed death of a child in modern times in California. If I'm wrong please add links so I can read about these kid killing coyotes.
Hackbow nailed it that city should pay a couple of professional to come in. Set traps at sundown check traps right before sunup leaving popped during day eliminating most pet catches and hunt bait with high power air rifles at night. That would eliminate 99% of pet catches and with a properly set leghold any pets caught could be released with minimum to no damage. If you loose a few to coyotes waiting to be released that's just the price of doing business 1 or 2 to savehundreds is a no brainer. Keep it up till kills and catches drop off then have a guy come back every winter for continued management so it doesn't become another emergency. I'll send them a estimate.
If the people of that communities government are to stupid or broken to fix the problem why should I care? By the way don't want or need help from either coast we handle our own problems where I'm from.
Those folks don’t need your “help”, but All Of Hunting could benefit from having more non-hunters educated as to the fact that wildlife cannot just be left to manage itself. Call me crazy, but I suspect that people who Get coyote problems are more likely to understand wolf/lion/bear problems. Certainly we had a fair number of folks here experiencing a change of heart towards Whitetails when they got hungry enough to gnaw on the cedar siding on their houses…
I guess the irony to me is that Mass is basically an anti gun state as a whole but yet they are resorting to guns to solve a problem. Not saying everyone in the state is anti gun but it is ironic to me.
Trust me, Mass. politics may be anti-gun but the citizens are not. Unfortunately the Mass GOP is lame af and the leftist radicals stomp on people. Loudly.
Dana, the leftist radicals are winning at the polls so the citizens must be mostly anti-gun, pro abortion, gender bending dirty bleeping liberals. Your words.
Is 51% 'mostly'? Because that's how 'democracy' works ;-)
51% majority doesn’t allow the accurate predictions analyst make on election night. 15 minutes in and they announce it as such and have never changed it. In my memory.
No not 51%, MA is more like 60% Democrat as shown in this years election.
The best part of the story is the "comments" section.
My favorite one: "Best way to handle coyotes is a roadrunner. Every kid who grew up in the 70's knows that!"
Pete
Better leave well enough alone and use guns. If they trapped they would demand live trapes and relocate to the open west.
Spike, by voter *registration* Mass. is 60% 'Independent'. Which is why we had a Republican Governor until this week...
PS Statistically there are probably 450 or so gun owners in Nahant MA. (No idea how many could hit a coyote with a Glock...)
Definitely not too proud to be a MA resident with the way this state is run...
Ungie x2 dana none can hit with a Glock seeing their not allowed in MA! Haha
Or coyotes…..
Or coyotes…..
Just bring a 1/2 dz wolves in and the yotes will go away, nature's way of resolving a problem, may have to keep lil Fidos in seclusion.
Stupid politicians write stupid laws. Stupid people vote for stupid politicians . They deserve the coyotes. Fido does not, because he can’t vote.
