Friday, May 25, 2012

When coyotes attack - By Ian Merringer

Rating: ****

I am sure many of you have heard a coyote before. Maybe you might have even seen one! In fact coyotes are coming closer and closer to humans and towns… Most of us are not too worried about them, but maybe we should be! The article “When coyotes attack” gives you all the information you need to know.

It was in 2009 when Taylor Mitchell was attacked and killed by 3 coyotes… during the day and on one of the busiest trails of Cape Breton Highlands National Park!!! In Ian Merringer’s article the whole story of Taylor Mitchell, as well as some other coyote-attack-stories are discussed. The article also gives a lot of information about the evolution of coyotes. Furthermore it is concerned about the fact that coyotes are losing their natural fear of human beings and therefore see them as an alternative prey species. Studies have shown that the frequency of coyote encounters has been increasing steadily since 1985, and it is a fact that coyotes bit 159 North Americans between 1960 and 2006. Those frequent attacks lead to an angry and worried society that will kill and hunt many coyotes down! As it is written in the article we have to react to the fearlessness of coyotes. We have to try to keep them afraid of human beings, for our sake and theirs. At the end of the article Ian Merringer gives advice how to react if you would encounter a coyote.

In my opinion this was a really interesting and well written article! I have never heard the fatal story of Taylor Mitchell before, but now I know that coyotes can be dangerous! After all they are wildlife and natural predators. I liked that you can learn a lot about their history and evolution in this article, and that the author also provided tips how to deal with an encounter. This was a really good article!

I recommend this article to everyone because it is useful for all of us to be aware of the “coyote-attack-problem”.



Source:
Explore-mag.com. Ian Merringer. "When coyotes attack". 22 Feb 2010. Web. < http://explore-mag.com/558/adventure/when-coyotes-attack/1 > 25 May 2012.

No comments:

Post a Comment