I believe tred wolf was reintroduced because it is a rare and historical species for the southeast. I suspect timber wolf would not be received well by the general public in the southeast.
My understanding is that coyote in the northeast already has a fair percentage of red wolf genes. When coyotes came in strong in the Boston area about ten years ago they pushed the deer around, I saw the deer behavior change post coyote invasion. The deer have been maintaining a lower profile in marsh, scrub and grassland areas. In the woods there seems to be little change in local deer population. It may be that coyotes can take more advantage of deer in grasslands and marshes. I've found fresh fawn "chunks" in the local woods, apparently from a coyote kill. A friend has watched coyotes following does about to give birth, multiple times (he had a security job with a high observation view over some land with deer on it). I think the coyotes are impacting deer population now, might be in a minor way but it is happening. The feral cats have taken a big hit in my area, or at least they're maintaining a very low profile since coyotes started patrolling my city neighborhood 2 years ago. Red fox has also had to deal with coyote, they've been pushed around and some reported killed by coyote but they seem to be adjusting their habits and holding ground. What Lee said about the non-effect of coyotes on deer populations in his area makes sense. I think the difference in New England is how large some of the coyotes are, they look big enough to take down a smaller deer especially if they're working in a pack. We've had Common Raven move into the Boston area in a big way in the last 3 years (we've had none for 60+ years), some have proposed the theory that they're following the larger eastern coyote in a kind of symbiotic relationship more typical with wolf populations. Of course I like seeing or hearing Common Raven because they are gravitating to pockets of more mature forest just south of Boston where I like to go, their presence creates a feeling of wild places even near the city. Andrew Joslin Jamaica Plain, MA At 03:29 PM 1/2/2009, you wrote: >Christine, > >Here in Western North Carolina, Coyotes are common. I see them fairly >often. I have also read that Red Wolves have been implanted in the >north-central part of NC and in the Great Smokies. Most people here >dispise coyotes and hunters shoot them on sight. I have never worried >much about them. If they don't bother me or harm the environment then >I have no problem with them. But do deer really need to be controlled >by coyotes? After all, hunters kill many and many hunters dislike >them because they fear that they could affect the deer population. >Many dislike the idea of wolves too. You mentioned that the red wolf >will breed with coyotes while the Canadian ( Timber or Grey? ) wolf >will only breed with other wolves or wolf-coyote mixes. It makes me >wonder why they have chose to re-introduce the red variety and not the >timber wolf. The timber wolf is much more likely not to have it's gene >pool contaminated and remain a pure stock. > >James Parton --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
