UPDATE TO THIS BLOG
this photograph was taken with a cuddy game camera which I set.
insofar as this image is a good advertisement for the cruelty
which a leg hold trap or wire noose trap can impart to
an animal I relinquish all commercial copyrights to this image and
anyone who would like to use this image is free to do so and
I would like for people to consider contributing to organizations
which promote wildlife and especially what are referred to as predators.
I had seen this animal a couple of miles away a week before when I was at the
top of a hill and her mate ran across the desert towards cover...a few minutes
later she appeared limping towards him....
I felt bad for her as I know that these coyotes have to dig
for their meals a lot of the time...she must have been hungry.
It was near dark and I had not put out the game camera yet
and she appeared as she came out of the dry wash...
I grabbed the game camera and set it up and returned
to the van to see if she would return to finish her meal...
she did...
the next day about 10 in the morning I heard a bunch of dogs barking coming
from where some folks had set up their camper a half mile away
near the mouth of the canyon. then about half an hour later a lot
of gunfire...I assumed they had spotted the coyotes and were having
a bit of target practice...
I shot and killed a coyote in my younger days and most people
assume that all coyotes are vermin and need to be killed because they
are bad for the environment... actually these animals are an important
part of the environment and removing them from the environment can
cause the prey animals (rabbits, rats, etc.) to multiply to such an extent
that their activities damage the environment. Some native Americans believe
that coyotes will be the last animals alive on the planet...certainly they are
one of the most resourceful animals alive. In my three winters frequenting
this part of the desert I have only encountered coyotes twice...and they may
have been the same coyotes both times...seeing them raises my spirits...
We need to take a thoughtful approach to what animals we choose to
eliminate from the places we inhabit.
"What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts
were gone, men would die from loneliness of spirit,
for what ever happens to the beasts also happens to the man."
Chief Seattle (1885)
Bayes Theorem
