Yote pups...


woolybear

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Out looking for antlers today when I got sidetracked by 8 coyote pups in a big hollow tree. Four of them ran inside with mom, and the other four were playing in the treetops down below. I sat outside the den for 5hrs. and got a few keeper shots of them as they'd peak their heads out.

Mama yote was inside the den letting out some low frequency "growls" every time the four outside started to get close to the den. She was warning them to stay away, and every time she did that, they ran back to hide in the fallen tree tops again. On my way out, I stopped to see the straglers outside and they just layed there at my feet. It took everything I had not to toss the 4 of them in my pac,lol! Sure wish I had the new camera today but I'm glad I had something!

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I'm actually a little surprised by the replies to be honest with ya. I can respect where many of you are coming from with the explosion of yote populations across the country and their impact on other species, but I could never bring myself to harm the pups. I guess to me it was just a rare encounter that I enjoyed being able to witness and capture. I would imagine even with a litter of this size, they still have a pretty rough road ahead with no gaurantees of survival even without my intervention.

I suppose maybe I'm getting soft since I picked up a camera and eased up on the hunting. Oh well, this batch will be around for everyone to enjoy in their own way or wage war against in the future. Good conservation needs both sides to keep everybody happy and the critters in check without wiping them out completely.

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Aww come on Matt, you can smile and take pics and then club them like baby snow seals later, it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition!

Besides, who said anything about wiping them out, just think how many more deer you've killed than yotes, now go out and try to achieve some balance!

:rolleyes:

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Would not bother me a bit to get rid of them. Momma yote will kill a lot of fawns to feed those babies.

Well good for you. I couldn't do it, they look too much like domesticated pups to me. And I don't know how many actual fawns a coyote gets a year.. I think they do get a few, but Id say they rely on rodents, rabbits, and carrion more for food. I'm not suggesting they shouldn't be thinned out, I trapped them hard for 2 years at the big farm I deer hunt on.

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They look cute now and there was a time I would have thought the same way Ethan, I do understand and appreciate your view but in many places yotes are reproducing way too fast and they need dealt with. Around here I won't pass up the opportunity to kill any of them I can regardless of whether they are pups or full grown. Read that you kill off as many as you can out of an area and they will just increase the litter sizes to adjust, they are very good at adapting.

I watched one last summer walk across the road in front of us in our durango around 8 am one morning, it walked into my neighbor's pasture with his cows and small calves and paid no attention to the donkey in his pasture or us as it was headed towards his calves. I don't have very many cows, I sure cannot afford to lose any to predation.

Have read some pretty interesting articles over the years. Think one I read was at qdma and suggested that a female yote in a study killed 70 some odd fawns over about a month to feed her young.

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I completely understand they need to be thinned out, I have killed plenty of coyotes myself. I don't care if people want to kill the pups, no need to justify that action to me. I understand that, and fully support that decision. I was just saying I couldn't, not saying it was wrong too. I don't buy into 70 fawns a month at all. That's around 2.25 fawns per day... No way that's occurring. The deer population would be wiped out in no time, considering the number of female coyotes per square mile. Around here, I would guess that farmers cutting hay and harvesting wheat claim almost as many fawns as coyotes do.

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Great photos wooly! I wouldn't be able to find it in my heart to harm them....It's like the fox take our chickens and ducks...one year there was a bunch of pops in the road, sure I could have run them all over with the car but I couldn't....not intentionally. you definitely got to experience something not many others can!

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Thanks Ruth and everyone else I may have forgot to thank!:)

No worries William, I think it stayed on topic just fine. Good discussion here about a controversial subject that affects many of us. Seeing this post make it to 2 pages reminded me of the good ol' days here,lol. Can't complain about that!

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