One of the dangers of wildlife living in suburbia is when well meaning,
uninformed people go out of the way to feed them, (sounds like your average
democrat ; ) ). This is dangerous for the animals and the homeowners who
leave food scraps for the wildlife. Here is a cut and paste that discusses
the dangers in relation to Coyote.

Coyote Cautions
As humans expand their living areas and coyotes expand their range as well,
contact is inevitable. Most of the time, coyotes go out of their way to
avoid humans, but they are discovering that humans are a good source for
food. Resourceful and adaptable as coyotes are, they will take advantage of
this when they can. In urban areas and in some National Parks the coyotes
are changing their behavior.

The most serious problem is that the animals may become habituated to
people. As they lose their fear of people, they will become bolder in
approaching people and may put themselves in hazardous situations they would
normally avoid.

Coyotes, if fed regularly by people, will come to depend on people for their
food. They won't starve if you stop feeding them, but they will be hungry
and unafraid of people. They can get very aggressive in approaching other
people. Some of the national parks now have coyotes that are begging for
food. Children and adults are being bitten by coyotes in California, Arizona
and other states. The most danger is in urban areas where young coyotes have
learned to steal and beg for food. If they can't find food, then the small
animals in the neighborhood will become their targets to solve their need
for food. Children will also be at risk of being bitten.


Coyotes are not your average dog -- they are not to be messed with. They are
smart, and they learn quickly. They can be dangerous, and when it comes to
urban coyotes, steps should be taken to avoid encouraging them to visit your
neighborhood. That means close garbage can lids tightly, do not leave pet
food outside and do not leave small pets outside unaccompanied.

Coyotes love nothing better than cats and frequently take small dogs. Inform
neighbors of your sighting and encourage them to take steps NOT to attract
the clever little varmints. Remember: Make sure that no pet food is ever
left outdoors.





"Starbuck's" wrote in message news:...
I live in suburbia, and we have a red fox, grey fox and a coyote living in
our area. All the them sharing the same territory, keeping the rabbit
population in check.



"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

thunder wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Sep 2005 10:20:02 -0400, Harry Krause wrote:


I haven't seen beaver or coyote or otter in my woods, but I have run
across bear tracks.

You mentioned that you have fox. An outdoorsman I know told me, you can
have fox or coyote, but not both. Apparently, coyote will kill foxes.
Bear are becoming quite common here and are a joy to see, but are a
little
spooky to me. They have never shown any aggression to me, but neither
do
they seem to fear me. I'm not used to that. I prefer wild animals,
especially large wild animals with big teeth, to fear me.

I don't know about that. Mrs. E and I enjoy coffee in the morning sitting
in
the garage with the doors open, watching the wild life making their way
across our property. In addition to regular visits by deer and rabbits,
we
have seen a coyote from time to time as well as a little fox that visits
once or twice a week. The funniest sight is the wild turkeys. They fly,
but not very well. Landings are your basic controlled crash.

Eisboch