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A good reading story.  We now have coyotes in our neck of the wood. I suppose they have been here for some years, but I was unaware of it. In the last year or so, more and more signs of them, and their nightly howls. I have now spotted a few, and their territory, the woods behind my house is being dozed down for a new housing project. The coyotes, plus the deer, squirrels and rabbits, and other wildlife and birds will have to move on or die.  It has meant so much to me and my family to watch and learn over the years of the animals that lived in and around our backyard…

Very complicated subject, hunting is

Like religion and politics, never going to change the mind of those who see the world differently than u

For me, the predator class of animals u leave be, via territorial and food and mate requirements, they self regulate their populations and help optimize the health and diversity of the rest of the plants and animals they share terrain with

My take

Rick
Meril

Let us count the ways—the succession of poor decisions/choices in this account—from continuing to hunt with a damaged rifle; to, apparently, not being sure of his shot; to then shooting (with the rifle that he thought was “off”) at one of three bears (maybe not the one he’d already wounded); to taking a five-year old on the search for the wounded bear; to not having a functional compass; to ...

This entire account does not speak well of hunting but, unfortunately, it’s far from the worst possible situation.

Thank you for this very thoughtful essay.

Hey Susie, what a beautiful piece of writing and sentiment. Amazed you learned all you know growing up in Brooklyn.

Tom beat me to it. Go howl, they often howl back.

You just made my morning Susie.  As a northerner, a parent and a neighbor to an eastern coyote myself, I very much connected with this writing. Thank you for an educational and insightful article. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey Susie: Go ahead and howl at the coyotes…they may howl back!

And its very therapeutic.

I just read the article Susie Spikol Faber wrote, “Coyotes Prepare for Winter,” and loved it! Natural history presented in this way is both enlightening and enriching: The reader learns about the subject at hand and the information is reinforced through the author’s personal story and anecdotes. That, to me, makes the material all the more memorable. Her last sentence brings a smile to my face and fun image to mind each time I read it. Thank you for this excellent article by an excellent writer.

Hi Graham,

The fridge should be fine in the workshop. I keep both fridge and freezer in an unheated garage and have never had a problem.

Do all mammals, including aquatic, become “long in tooth” (a.k.a. receding gums) with age?  Same question extended to include all modern dentates?

Don’t know if it’s just me, but Jim Roth looks a lot like actor Cliff DeYoung. I thought they could be brothers or at least cousins. Google it and see.

By the way, you guys are awesome and your craft is phenomenal!  Thank you for all you do.

In anticipation of using a frig to execute the dry aging process, I recently moved an extra fridge (we redid our kitchen) into my detached and unheated workshop. I even bought a small fan. 

My question is, will freezing temperatures ruin the fridge, esp., if it’s not running?

I wasn’t planning on turning it on until I had a deer hanging?

Wonderfully informative. A pleasure to read and re-read..

Thank you.

Conibear-style traps are designed to kill, so hopefully you never have to release a pet from one. To open them, compress the springs one at a time: there’s a hook that will hold each spring in the compressed position. Once both springs are compressed, the trap will open. If you’re having a hard time picturing this, Google: “opening conibear using rope.” The video will give you the gist of the mechanics of the trap; a dog leash could also be used as a stand-in for the piece of rope. Honestly, though, to save a pet you’d likely have to rely on hand/arm strength and a surge of adrenaline to compress the springs. The traps are design to dispatch quickly and humanely, so you likely wouldn’t have time to toy around with a rope or leash.

Because conibears are a lethal risk to pets, most states have laws that stipulate that they be set in water. The laws will vary based on your state, the time of year, and the size of the conibear. They’re not used to catch foxes or coyotes – wild canines are too smart to walk into them. And so it’s probably fair to say that there’s a very small chance your dog will encounter one.

When pets are caught in conibears, it’s usually a small dog or a cat and it’s usually in either a raccoon set or in a fisher set. Where it is legal to set a 220 conibear on land, trappers should never do it if there’s even a remote chance of catching a pet. If you’re a raccoon trapper, my advice to you would be to take the bucket set right out of your repertoire. Use dogproof traps instead – they’re a safer and more elegant trap for a raccoon, and your catch rate will probably go up. If you use conibears for fisher, set them up on a leaning pole 5 feet off the ground. If you’re worried about pole-shy fisher, use coilspring foot traps for your ground sets. Even one pet killed in a conibear is too many, and it doesn’t matter if the trap was legally set or if the pet owner should have had their dog on a leash. It’s the trapper’s responsibility to ensure such a scenario never unfolds.

I noticed a strong skunk odor coming from inside my shed. I opened the door and discovered a couple potheads.

I’ve tried this with a tire before but it was a massive headache. Turns out I didn’t have the foresight to actually attach it to the stump with screws like you did. Seems so obvious now.

11/2017 There were four hares here this summer.  We live with ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and Larch around our cabin.  When the squirrel was cutting the pine cones, I noticed a hare eating the needles of the pine, right down to the bundle sheath.  As we had such a hard winter last year, I set some of the branches aside, putting them under the eaves.  Sure enough, we have seen a hare munching on the needles.  I bet they really like when the snow is deep enough to reach some of this forage themselves.

Thank you for your site. It helped me identify the Isabella Tiger Moth, a common moth caterpillar, but all the same , exciting to identify and know it will emerge in the spring! Looking for others now in the first frost of the season!

Thank you for writing your suggestions in a balanced and accurate manner.  This is an emotional topic for dog owners, and for trappers, many of them dog owners.  I ran a trapline as a teenager and had the misfortune of catching a beagle in a leg hold trap.  The trap was in a very small space so I don’t know how the dog managed to get caught, but surely his nose led him to the spot.  The dog was trembling with fear, and I was very upset, hoping to release him quickly.  I did not know enough to restrain him so the dog bit through my rubber waders in panic, but at least he was free and unharmed.  Hopefully events like this are very rare, and your information can help the humans, and animals involved.