Coyotes Are Problematic For Farmers In Cape Fear Region

The Fayetteville Observer is reporting an ever increasing conflict with farmers and coyotes in their area as the coyote population solidifies its presence in the state.

Cumberland County farmer Tracy Gardner figures that coyotes have killed as many as 30 of his calves in one winter.
Clifton McNeill Sr. said that over a period of three to four weeks recently, he has lost six or eight watermelons a night to the animals.

The coyote is certainly a critter of opportunity and it will prey on whatever it can find to eat be it wild animal, livestock, or family pet.

“There ain’t no telling how many calves I lose with them,” said Tracy Gardner, who is 53. “It’s a mess. It’s been a mess for the last 10 years. They’re here. You can hear them, and you can see the tracks.”
Livestock farmers on River Road have found calves killed by coyotes in pastures, according to Eastover Mayor Charles McLaurin, who owns Eastover Artworks and Furniture Sales.
“One was killed here maybe a month or two ago below a house on Baywood Road,” he said. “It was about 40 or 50 pounds.”
“We hear about them all the time, and we have for years. It’s not just started happening.”
Much of the attention the coyote gets is from its tendency to prey on cattle. Small farm animals such as goats, sheep and foals may be at risk as well.

The coyote will also target crops like the watermelons in this story or the figs I reported on a few weeks ago.

“They’re hard to see,” said McNeill, an 82-year-old produce farmer in Gray’s Creek.
Protected by the night, the animals can destroy a watermelon patch. “Those strong teeth and jaws they have,” said McNeill, “they’ll bite right into a watermelon and ruin it. They eat what they want and leave the rest.”
Likewise, he has seen the damage they can do to a field of sweet corn, tearing down the stalks.

The coyote’s adaptability has certainly help it expand into the eastern United States and will pretty much guarantee it is here to stay. In North Carolina there is no closed season on coyotes so hunters can pursue them year round. As with any wild animal the coyote population needs to be kept in check and hunting and trapping is the best cost effective means to do that.

While I do not see the coyote as a positive addition to the wildlife scene in North Carolina I also do not see it as the worst or most destructive. I believe the rapidly expanding feral hog will be a bigger nemesis to farmers and landowners and will overshadow the coyote in ten years or so.