Here in the Natural State we’re living with wildlife…even in Little Rock. That right and one of the most unlikely critters are….get ready for this…coyotes. They are on the prowl not only in the suburbs, but in downtown Little Rock. There have been several confirmed sightings. Yes, and since coyotes are very secretive animals, the spotting of three or four flashing by as they cross a street indicates several dozen, in various neighborhoods, are roaming the streets in our capital city.  Well, surprise, surprise.  I guess we can accept coyotes living in downtown Los Angles or Santa Fe, but the idea of coyotes actually running through the alleys and across parking lots in Arkansas cities seems out of character, or is it? Our state is still very rural with a wide variety of wildlife scattered through our countryside and in our cities.  A late night drive through even the most urban areas of our state will vividly demonstrate that wildlife lives literally right under our doorsteps. Raccoons, opossums, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, skunks, and several hundred varieties of birds all live within the confines of even the largest of our cities.  So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a natural predator of these small animals would follow them into the heart of urban Arkansas. That is just one of the ways Mother Nature balances our ecosystem, and if the supply of food continues to be available, the coyotes will multiply. Coyotes are smart and they know to avoid humans, and for Animal Control to try and trap or shoot them is probably above their grade level. Let's face it folks, the coyotes are here to stay, and we’re not going to make a dent in the coyote population with tranquilizer darts or shotguns.  As long as they have abundant food, they will be a part of our urban environment. Yes, they may pick off a fawn or two, but they aren’t a threat to the overall deer population.

            One hundred years ago, very few coyotes were found in our state. However, after our grandfathers eliminated the red wolves and the cougars, the coyote’s natural enemies, the coyotes began to multiply to fill this environmental vacuum. It may surprise you that wolves control the coyote population, but that is exactly what game biologists found out when wolves were re-stocked in Yellowstone. I’m not sure why, but one of the many improvement in Yellowstone, from the restocking, was the help from wolves to control the coyote population. I don't believe we are going to see the restocking of the red wolf or the cougar in sufficient numbers to make any dent in the coyote population anytime soon. If that is the case, then we have no choice but to accept coyotes as an integral part of our state's natural surroundings, and yes, even a part of our cities' wildlife. 

            That is called living with wildlife, and here in Arkansas, while it might seem to be something that would happen in rural Montana, it does happen here in the Natural State, and that makes us that much more natural. Any species that has abundant food and an absence of predators in a natural ecosystem will increase in numbers until enough predators appear to control them or until their food supply runs out. I think it's clear, as long as our cat, rat, little dog, and coon population stays the same or increases in the urban environment, the coyotes are here to stay. Even professional government hunters can't even make a dent in the increasing coyote population. Is that really a bad thing? I don’t think so, and here is why, what may seem to you an unwanted part of nature the coyote fits into a link in the ecosystem. Consider this:  A fly, which is a pest to you, is dinner to a frog. (My brother-in-law Charlie Burton passed that one on to me.) In nature everything is connected and has a purpose.

            Of course, the coyotes are not just roaming the streets of Little Rock. Even though I have only spotted a couple of them, I have heard them yelp on numerous occasions when I have come in fairly late at night. However, they do seem to have one enemy, the automobile. While walking along the 167 By-Pass a couple of weeks back I spotted a large dead coyote in the ditch. It was big enough that for a minute I thought it might have been a wolf, but on closer inspection, I confirmed it was just a large coyote.

             Should we be concerned about Little Rock's or El Dorado's infestation of coyotes?  Not at all.  And here is why. First, they are no threat to humans, not even to small children.  However, if you are a slow, fat, house cat that’s another matter. Or if you are an opossum, raccoon, rabbit, rat or even a small dog, you are a potential meal for a hungry coyote.

            A while back, I read where a Beverly Hill socialite was in her back yard with Mitsi, her miniature French poodle puppy, when a coyote hopped over the low hedge, snapped up little Mitsi, and cleared the hedge again with poor little Mitsi in his mouth as the lady screamed.  Folks that is just nature's way of giving our environment balance, and while you may think that is grim, if it’s your cat or dog becomes a coyote snack, it is just Mother Nature at work.  On the positive side of the environmental equation, for every stray cat a coyote eats each year a 100 more songbirds will survive. And just think of how many rats, opossums and raccoons that scavenge through our garbage each night, which need to become coyote meals. The numerous Arkansas coyotes are just part of Mother Nature filling an environmental vacuum.

Well, I can live with the coyotes that patrol our city streets.  In fact, I could use a hungry one right now to thin out stray cats hanging around my bird feeder, and to reduce the coon family living under my deck.

            Here’s another example of living with nature, and this one is on my bad list. Over the last few months a great blue heron has been a regular visitor to our back yard pond. The pond is about an acre in size, and we frequently see the heron standing motionless in the shallow water on the back of the pond waiting for a fish to swim by. However, “Houston, we have a problem!” Yep, the great blue heron has found a pool of water that is easy pickings. It’s in our courtyard of all places, but horrors! The damn bird has made off with two koi weighing about a pound each from our courtyard pond. Yes; I bought ten little four inch koi about two years ago, and they are up to about a pound apiece….Except for the two that were blue heron snacks. I’m working like crazy to come with something that will frighten it away…and no, a shotgun is not on the list. The bird is on the Endangered Species List.

            Chief Seattle said it better than I can; “All things are connected. Whatever man does to the earth he does to himself.”