Coyote Sighting
Dean Eyman
I turned the lights on that illuminate a deck at the back of out house =
and the back yard to look at the rain gauge mounted on the deck railing. =
As I stepped out the door onto the deck, a Coyote loped across our back =
yard, looking at me. I have seen Coyotes out west, at a distance, while =
hunting deer in Wyoming. This animal was no more than twenty five feet =
away and it was unmistakably a coyote. I came across your web site =
because I wanted to look at a photograph of a coyote while the memory of =
my encounter was fresh.
I am writing this note since I thought you might be interested.
D. Eyman
lde...@bellsouth.net
Garrison Hilliard
Hey, I have no doubts about coyotes existing in metropolitan areas... I've seen
several near downtown Cincinnati, Ohio... and I don't know what Karen
Daskawicz's problem about the possibility of urban coyetes was!
Barry Williams
Coming from Oak Ridge, I'm surprised it didn't have three heads.
Barry Williams
the Skeptic of Oz
Carey Carpenter
>From the Dec. 5, 1997, Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
SEATTLE (AP) - A coyote was being chased by crows on downtown streets and
ducked into a busy federal building to escape. It ran into an open elevator
and the door closed, trapping the panicked animal.
It may sound like an urban myth, but the bizarre episode actually happened
Wednesday in the Pacific Northwest's largest city.
"Fortunately there was no one in the elevator," said spokesman Ken Spitzer
with the General Services Administration, which supervises the Henry M.
Jackson Federal Building.
Animal-control officers removed the animal unharmed after about 2 1/2 hours
Wednesday, but it left a mess behind for building maintenance crews.
"I've been in this business 26 years, and this is the first time I've run
across anything like this," Spitzer said.
A witness "saw the coyote, which he thought of course was a wild dog,
running down First Avenue and it was being dived at by crows, and kind of
being harassed," Spitzer said.
As it ran past the federal building, an automatic door opened "and he darted
into the building and right into the first available elevator that had the
doors open," he said.
Seattle Animal Control manager Don Jordan said the animal appeared to be
healthy, though a little stressed. It was released later Wednesday in a
rural area east of Seattle.
-----Original Message-----
From: skeptix...@efn.org [mailto:skeptix...@efn.org]On Behalf
Of Garrison Hilliard
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 10:24 PM
To: SKEPTIX list
Subject: Re: Coyote Sighting
On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 05:12:17 +0000, you wrote:
>I live in the city of Oak Ridge, TN and about 45 minutes ago (10:45 pm), =
>I turned the lights on that illuminate a deck at the back of out house =
>and the back yard to look at the rain gauge mounted on the deck railing. =
> As I stepped out the door onto the deck, a Coyote loped across our back =
>yard, looking at me. I have seen Coyotes out west, at a distance, while =
>hunting deer in Wyoming. This animal was no more than twenty five feet =
>away and it was unmistakably a coyote. I came across your web site =
>because I wanted to look at a photograph of a coyote while the memory of =
>my encounter was fresh.
>
>I am writing this note since I thought you might be interested.
>
>D. Eyman
>lde...@bellsouth.net
Hey, I have no doubts about coyotes existing in metropolitan areas... I've
seen
several near downtown Cincinnati, Ohio... and I don't know what Karen
Daskawicz's problem about the possibility of urban coyetes was!
_______________________________________________
SKEPTIX mailing list
SKE...@efn.org
http://mailman.efn.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/skeptix
Joe Needham
> Coming from Oak Ridge, I'm surprised it didn't have three heads.
>
The three headed variety are usually found at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry.
--
Regards,
Joe Needham
Do NOT let them deceive you with the legitimization of their myth!?
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world.- Thomas Carlyle
John Stone
Not only is it not surprising .. except for the three-headed variety ... but
all sorts of wildlife is learning to co-exist in urban areas. I have a mama
Red Fox that lives in a grown up area of a cemetery less than 1/4 mile from
me -- she had four kits this year. I am getting film back from the lab this
afternoon and if any pics are good I will post one on my website. This is in
the middle of a 200,000 population city.
The reasons are many, urban pressure on wild environments is one, since we
are now getting a migration of SW species into the Ozarks, such as collered
lizards, armadillos, etc ... I think there are two reasons, clearing of
vegetation, and climate change.
More importantly, and more seriously, is the effects on human health ...
West Nile, HIV, Ebola, hantavirus ... that are happening for the same
reasons, plus the incursion of humans into areas with the wild populations,
such as deforestation.
John
Barry Williams
I live less than 8km from the centre of Sydney and a few weeks ago I
was returning home from a Skeptics meeting when a fox galloped across
the road in front of me. Foxes seem to adapt to city life pretty well.
Garrison Hilliard
>I live less than 8km from the centre of Sydney and a few weeks ago I
>was returning home from a Skeptics meeting when a fox galloped across
>the road in front of me. Foxes seem to adapt to city life pretty well.
Foxes... bah! Look what we've got lurking about Southwestern Ohio!
http://www.enquirer.com/midday/07/07032003_News_mday_lion.html
>
>
>
>Barry Williams
>the Skeptic of Oz
>
Carey Carpenter
http://www.enquirer.com/midday/07/07032003_News_mday_lion.html:
"You can buy lions for $100 at a flea market..." [said Cathryn Hilker, who
has raised lions and founded the Cincinnati Zoo's Cat Ambassador Program.]
Really?. Does anyone on the list know of lions that have been sold at flea
markets?
Ric Carter
From: "Garrison Hilliard" <garr...@efn.org>
> Foxes... bah! Look what we've got lurking about Southwestern Ohio!
> http://www.enquirer.com/midday/07/07032003_News_mday_lion.html
OK, so a lion got loose from a zoo. This is paranormal? There have
been many recent Kucinich sightings also. Same thing. Now, if only
either Kucinich or the lion had been abducted, implanted, mutilated,
THEN we'd have a story.
Ronald Orenstein
>Really?. Does anyone on the list know of lions that have been sold at flea
>markets?
I don't know about flea markets (I suspect there is a bit of hyperbole
there) but numbers of big cats and other animals are on sale to anyone who
wants them at animal auctions in the United States. A number of the
auction houses advertise on the internet. According to the Exotic Feline
Rescue Center in Indiana, "For every cat the EFRC takes in, at least 40 are
turned away. Joe says, "There are probably more exotic felines in the
states of Texas and Ohio than in the wild." Both states hold large,
organized, exotic animal auctions. A recently rehabilitated female sibling
group of three tigers was purchased in the parking lot of an Ohio auction
for $25."
Here's an article on the subject from our organization's website (I should
mention that Rob Laidlaw, quoted in the article, is a colleague of mine and
is not an "animal rights advocate" as stated.
How zoo animals are 'laundered'
Thousands of exotic animals are bought and sold in North America every
year. Many go to respected institutions, but some wind up in the hands of
circuses, roadside attractions and hunting ranches.
Patti Edgar reports.
Patti Edgar
The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, July 07, 2002
The big tent of a one-ring circus in sweltering Puerto Rico is a long way
from home for three panting polar bears.
But their journey -- from the ice floes of Manitoba to a German zoo, and
finally the highways of Latin America -- might not be that unusual.
Thousands of exotic animals are bought and sold each year in North America,
including animals from respected zoos. Like touring polar bears Kenneth,
Baril and Royal who are star attraction in the one-ring Suarez Brothers
Circus, critics say some zoo animals slip into a world their keepers
publicly abhor.
Roadside menageries, circuses, hunting ranches and the exotic pet trade are
home to elephants, giraffes and
other animals from zoos, say animal rights organizations like Canada's
Zoocheck.
But the two professional associations that represent North America's
respected zoos say the accusations are
unfounded. They point to detailed guidelines for what is known in the
industry as the "disposition of zoo
surplus" -- selling or giving away animals that the zoo can't keep.
Those guidelines say animals should be sold only to other accredited zoos
or carefully scrutinized individuals or facilities who won't resell the
animal to inappropriate homes. Both organizations also specifically forbid
animals from finding their way onto hunting ranches.
Zoo patrons baffled by the debate don't have an impartial source. In Canada
and the United States, little legislation covers the lucrative world of
exhibiting, buying and selling animals and there is no public registry for
exotics. "People go to the zoo and they figure when they get a new gorilla,
monkey or zebra, then it's there for life," said Rob Laidlaw, a director of
the Canadian watchdog organization Zoocheck. "They are quite surprised to
learn that might not be the case."
After four years scouring thousands of public documents and exotic animal
advertisements for the Centre for Public Integrity, author Alan Green
concluded that many U.S. zoo animals were making their way into what some
call unsavoury homes -- from cramped cages in a collector's basement to
ranches where hunters pay thousands to shoot a lion or an aoudad (a North
African animal also known as a Barbary sheep).
"Once that animal leaves the zoo, they are going to be sold and resold
again and again to places the zoo could never keep track of," said Mr.
Green, who published his findings in Animal Underground. "Zoos have created
an infrastructure that allows them to launder animals into obscurity."
The majority of surplus zoo animals are common species such as plains zebra
or reticulated giraffe that are overbred, in part because zoo patrons like
to see cute babies, said Mr. Green. With a flood of those animals
on the "market," zoos need to look outside of their accredited community
for homes.
Today, respected zoos won't sell their animals directly to places like
hunting ranches or animal auctions, he said. However, unethical animal
brokers employed by zoos can make the sale for them. In other cases, the
animal's care just becomes increasingly substandard as it changes owners.
Two studies seem to support his research. The first was by a researcher at
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control who was concerned about the growing
number of monkeys being kept as pets. Stephanie Ostrowski concluded that
from 1975 to 1995 accredited zoos had transferred eight per cent of
unwanted primates, or 2,500 animals, to unaccredited individuals or
institutions.
Three years ago, the San Jose Mercury News published the results of its own
two-year study of data from the
U.S. zoos' confidential reporting system. From 1992 to 1998, 38 per cent,
or more than 7,000 animals, went to dealers, auctions, hunting ranches,
unidentified individuals, unaccredited zoos or game farms whose owners
actively bought and sold animals.
Zoocheck's Mr. Laidlaw believes a similar scenario is playing out in Canada
on a smaller scale. With few provinces keeping track of incoming exotic
animals and privately owned zoos, and animal dealerships free from public
scrutiny, there is next to no paper trail involved. But Mr. Laidlaw stands
by his allegations.
"I've been involved for 18 years. I know most of the players. I visit the
zoos. It is just like any other field. Like in politics, where there are
all kinds of things that are common knowledge for those that are in the
political game that may not be written down on paper but are accepted fact."
While zoo associations may hold up their guidelines and codes of ethics,
they are voluntary organizations that can't keep track of every sale, he
said. Some zoos, such as the accredited Bowmanville Zoo in Ontario,
directly rent their animals to circuses. And trusted zoos can go bankrupt
and be forced to put their animals on the auction block, like the Alberta
Wildlife Park in 1993.
Zoo animals also cross borders, making it harder for zoos to track their
fate. More than 120 exotic animals, bears and sea lions left Canada in
1998, according to records from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Mr. Laidlaw points to the Toronto Zoo, Canada's flagship facility and
respected worldwide for its conservation efforts, as an example. Three
years ago, a Toronto newspaper revealed that the zoo may have inadvertently
sold several animals to hunting ranches or the pet trade.
Among the sales:
- The 1988 sale of a pair of Manchurian sika deer for $500 to the Y.O.
Ranch in Texas. The rambling ranch is
home to 10,000 animals today, of which 25 different species are available
for hunting.
- Sales of animals from hippos to apes until 1992 to Robert Troumbly, owner
of Northland Wildlife, which is
also a hunting ranch supplier. The zoo stopped working with Mr. Troumbly in
1992, when he was indicted for
bringing primates into the U.S. with bogus paperwork. William Rapley,
director of biology and conservation
at the Toronto Zoo, bristles at having those sales trotted out by animal
rights activists. Not only was there never any proof that Toronto Zoo
animals were ever killed in penned hunts or sold to the pet trade, but the
sales happened more than a decade ago. The Toronto Zoo has never
intentionally sold animals to hunting ranches or other inappropriate owners
and never will, he said.
"We stipulate that our animals or their offspring can't end up in a pet
shop, can't end up in a canned hunt or on a farm. We are very, very careful
about those things," he said.
In North America, most respected zoos are members of one of two
professional organizations -- the American
Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) or the Canadian Zoo and Aquarium
Association (CAZA). The Toronto Zoo is
one of a handful of Canadian zoos that are members of both.
Last year, the Toronto Zoo shipped away 186 animals, including 65 mammals.
But the zoo only sends its animals to accredited zoos and proven,
non-commercial breeders. The receiving institution signs a contract that
covers the animal's resale. Staff also ask for anything from a videotape of
the zoo to a detailed care plan to ensure the animal has a good home.
"If you sit back and look at the total picture, the zoos that are members
of CAZA have tried very hard to set a standard, keep ahead of the changes
and have policies regarding the disposition of animals," said Mr. Rapley.
"But there are probably thousands of groups out there in Canada that have
animals and do nothing, absolutely nothing. It's like from one extreme to
the other and that's really sad."
In Canada, there are 25 accredited zoos and an uncounted number of
unaffiliated "roadside" zoos that can be as small as a Northern Ontario
meat packing company exhibiting Siberian tigers. Both the Canadian and
American zoo associations have created committees to help roadside zoos
join their organization or at least bring their facilities up to the level
of accredited institutions.
"They try to do their best with their animals, but they are tourist places
and small-time businesses," said Diana Weinhardt, a co-ordinator for U.S.
association. "Once the black bears aren't cute and cuddly anymore, they go
to the animal auction and the next summer they get black bear cubs again."
Roadside zoos, hunting ranches, animal auctions and the exotic pet trade do
contribute to the problem and should be put out of business, says Mr.
Laidlaw. Other solutions range from creating zoo-run "retirement homes" for
unwanted animals to a national registry for exotics.
But Mr. Laidlaw says the easiest way to keep zoo animals from ending up in
poor homes is to stop breeding common animals with no intention of keeping
their offspring.
Responsible, accredited zoos already do, says Michael Takacs, president of
the Canadian association. Many animals are prevented from breeding through
birth control. Those that do are bred only with careful consideration for
the need to create a healthy gene pool within the zoo community.
And Mr. Takacs points out that since he became involved with the
association five years ago, there hasn't been one formal complaint about
members violating his organization's code of ethics. Unethical selling and
over-breeding of animals among zoos is a problem of 20 years ago that the
zoo community has corrected, said Ms. Weinhardt. "Could what happened to
the polar bears of the Suarez Circus happen today? No."
Patti Edgar's article on the plight of the Canadian polar bears travelling
Latin America with the Suarez Circus, entitled 'The six lost bears,'
appeared in yesterday's Citizen.
© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen
See http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=1292 for an alert from an
organization opposed to these things (and I agree with them).
--
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2 mailto:orn...@rogers.com
Peter Bowditch
> I live less than 8km from the centre of Sydney and a few weeks ago I
> was returning home from a Skeptics meeting when a fox galloped across
> the road in front of me. Foxes seem to adapt to city life pretty
> well.
Tell everyone about the camel, Barry. In Roseville.
--
Peter Bowditch
pet...@ratbags.com
The Millenium Project http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles
The Green Light http://www.ratbags.com/greenlight
Barbara Meissner
winter. They basically deal with civilization (in it's literal sense) by
ignoring it. They are so damned big, they can get away with that.
The fact is that the environment is changing (cities) and some animals are
adapting well and others aren't. I never understood what Kaye's problem
with the Nashville coyote sightings was. Their populations have been
growing in most of the country since everyone stopped automatically killing
them on sight. They may be thought of as a Western animal, but in fact,
their range is over most of North America, except the more northern regions
of Canada.
Some people claim to have seen camels in West Texas, supposed remnants of
the attempt to use them by the cavalry around the turn of the 19th century
(or a little earlier), but I have serious doubts about that. These days, we
also have a lot of African-American game animals (especially black buck and
springbok) wandering around loose in the less inhabited parts of the
state...escapees from wild game ranches. They seem to be doing quite well
out there.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Bowditch [mailto:pet...@ratbags.com]
> Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 10:00 PM
> To: SKEPTIX list
> Subject: Re: Coyote Sighting
>
>
Barry Williams
>> Barry Williams said:
>>
>>> I live less than 8km from the centre of Sydney and a few weeks ago I
>>> was returning home from a Skeptics meeting when a fox
>> galloped across
>>> the road in front of me. Foxes seem to adapt to city life pretty
>>> well.
>>
>> Tell everyone about the camel, Barry. In Roseville.
>>
>> --
>> Peter Bowditch
>
It's true I tell you. One day my daughter arrived home and told me
there was a camel in the street. First I advised her to take more
water with it but then walked out and saw the camel. All iuuu dressed
up in saddle and trappings. (that "iuuu" shows there are also cats in
my office).
Dan Fingerman
>It's true I tell you. One day my daughter arrived home and told me there
>was a camel in the street.
I had my first close encounter with a mammal larger than myself this
morning. A deer was out in my driveway -- standing next to my car,
snacking on our landscaping. She bounded away awful quick when I
approached the opposite side of the car.
--
DTM :<|
John Stone
> -----Original Message-----
> From: skeptix...@efn.org [mailto:skeptix...@efn.org] On Behalf
> Of Barry Williams
> Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 4:58 PM
> To: SKEPTIX list
> Subject: Re: Coyote Sighting
>
> >>
> >> Barry Williams said:
> >>
> >>> I live less than 8km from the centre of Sydney and a few weeks ago I
> >>> was returning home from a Skeptics meeting when a fox
> >> galloped across
> >>> the road in front of me. Foxes seem to adapt to city life pretty
> >>> well.
> >>
> >> Tell everyone about the camel, Barry. In Roseville.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Peter Bowditch
> >
>
> It's true I tell you. One day my daughter arrived home and told me
> there was a camel in the street. First I advised her to take more
> water with it but then walked out and saw the camel. All iuuu dressed
> up in saddle and trappings. (that "iuuu" shows there are also cats in
> my office).
>
>
> Barry Williams
> the Skeptic of Oz
OK -- that one has me stumped .... can't find on google even ...
I stuck up a pic of my urban fox at
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jxstone/fox2.jpg
Dan Fingerman
>I never understood what Kaye's problem with the Nashville coyote sightings
>was.
I thought she stated it pretty clearly in her first post:
Recently, there have been reports of coyote sightings
in relatively congested close-in neighborhoods around
Nashville. Mind you, no one has yet produced an actual
photo of one of these coyotes, much less captured one
alive. [...] They may exist -- I'm just saying that *I*
and every single person I have asked about it have not
yet seen a photo.
She admitted that it COULD be happening but pointed out that the only
evidence came from eyewitness reports. She went on to discuss how the
rumors were growing through her neighborhood's traditional gossip
channels. Her aside on kangaroo sightings went on and on, but I thought
the main point was clear. She drew out the parallels between the Nashville
coyote sightings and sightings of bigfoot, Nessie, and the whole
netherworld gang.
In later posts, she wrote about how the neighbors who swore to having seen
coyotes were the sort of neighbors who spread scarelore routinely -- the
sort who forward email warnings to everyone in their address books. I am
not sure if she stated it expressly, but the implication was that these
people were already prone to believing in every new danger to their
neighborhood and families.
--
DTM :<|