Alpacas look like minature llamas and the wool is highly valuable. One alpaca farm in Western Massachusetts is under attack by coyotes.

Tom Remington

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Like similar studies done in Maine and New York, a recent study conducted in Massachusetts by Bradley White, a conservation geneticist at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, showed that the state’s coyote there is also a mix breed. The tissue samples that were collected for the study was done by wildlife biologist Jonathan G. Way of Marston Mills.

For years many have believed that the coyote found in the east was some kind of cross between a western coyote and a wolf because the eastern coyote is considerably larger than the those found in the west. New York and Maine have conducted similar studies to show that what we call an eastern coyote is a cross or hybrid mix of probably a western coyote with a Canadian eastern wolf.

Read more about this study and its results at the Republican on MassLive.com.

Note: Top photo is of an eastern coyote and bottom photo of a western coyote.

Tom Remington

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Massachusetts wildlife officials say that just about every inch of the state is saturated with coyotes, “filling all suitable habitat”. Therefore in a unanimous vote, the state wildlife board decided to lengthen the hunting season for coyote by about 5 weeks. But officials say the lengthening isn’t about reducing the population.

Although the number of coyotes is believed to be growing in the state and complaints about them are increasing, the measure was taken not to control their population but to “enhance opportunities” for people to hunt coyotes, wildlife officials said.

In fact, “The proposed hunting season will neither decrease nor increase the population,” Thomas O’Shea, the assistant director of wildlife for the State Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, told the board.

Politically well stated although I don’t disagree with their assessment. Coyotes are a highly adaptive animal making it extremely difficult to alter their populations.

Hopefully hunters will have better opportunities to get out and take a few coyotes and help matters out a bit.

Tom Remington

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Coyote populations are on the rise all across this country and more and more each day we hear of increased human/coyote/pet encounters sometimes not ending in a happy way. In Ohio, a woman was attempting to move what she thought was a dead coyote that had been hit by another car. When she went to move the animal, it bit her.

In Illinois, Claudia Daigle took her award winning poodle out into here own backyard around 11 p.m. when I coyote came running out of the woods and grabbed the poodle by the neck and ran off. The coyote dropped the dog just into the woods but the dog died on the way to the emergency room.

Meanwhile in Massachusetts, residence there are discussing increasing a hunting season on the coyote. The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is proposing a lengthening of the season to hunt coyotes because of the effects a growing population is having on other wildlife species and increased human encounters.

As one would expect there is opposition to any kind of hunting from animal protectionists.

“The coyote does not necessarily pose a public safety threat,” Scott M. Giacoppo, deputy director of advocacy for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said in speaking against lengthening the hunting season.

Too many coyotes necessarily can pose a public safety threat. People are getting bitten, dogs attacked, etc. The truth is the coyote needs better management and history has shown that doing such is a difficult task. The last thing the animal needs right now if further protection.

Tom Remington

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A brazen coyote in Weymouth, Massachusetts attacked and ultimately killed Ralph Tarina’s female rottweiler. Apparently, Tarina had put a leash on Daisy and was getting ready to take her for a walk. Within moments of stepping outside, a coyote attacked the dog. It took several attempts by Tarina to get Daisy free from the coyote and they both went inside where Daisy died, believed to be from a heart attack suffered during the exchange.

Residents in that area are being warned about this and other coyotes and what they are capable of doing.

Tom Remington

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*WARNING!!! I MIGHT SAY SOMETHING OFFENSIVE!!!* If you don’t want to be offended, don’t look…..but I know you can’t help yourself.

When I was a child, I really believed that if I covered my eyes so I couldn’t see anything, nobody could see me either. Now that I’m not a child anymore, I think I have finally figured it out. Not true for some though.

In Upton, Massachusetts, biologists working for the state collecting data which is critical to the management of a healthy deer population, set up a check-in station in the parking lot of the VFW hall. This area was about 100 yards away from a town playground, according to Danielle Williamson of the Milford Daily News. This offended one man so he complained to the Chief of Police, Thomas Stockwell. Stockwell then asked that the station be moved.

Officials, perplexed that someone would complain, ended up moving the station out behind the building but that didn’t stop those curious enough to go check out the happenings.

*Oh, oh, oh, be careful. You might not like what comes next.*

Hunting is very much a part of American heritage and I have news for those who might think that hunting is going to go away. It’s not. While I don’t propose forcing anyone to look at a dead animal who doesn’t choose to, I also don’t believe that covering up your eyes and pretending it isn’t there is the answer either.

100 yards is the length of a football field and for anyone to take offense would have to be doing the “heavy looking on” as the old saying goes. There are many things that we all can find “offensive” but tolerance, respect and understanding can go a long ways - or does that only pertain to others concerning things you don’t like?

*It gets worse!*

I personally find it offensive when fat people wear tight fitting clothing but I don’t run to the police to make them stop. I find it offensive to see two men holding hands and kissing in public but I don’t run to the police and make them stop. I find liberals offensive to listen to but I tolerate them.

If you don’t like what you see by craning your neck to observe, stop looking. Or maybe a better thing to do is let your child’s own curiousity ask questions if they see fit and you as a responsible parent can use the opportunity to educate them as to what living in America is ALL about. But if you don’t agree, you probably think that playing tag on the playground is a dangerous game and is unfair and may cause a child to grow up with inferiority complexes because they were tagged more often than the other kids.

*You really don’t want to read the rest. It’s bad.*

If that description fits you, I would suggest burying your head in the sand somewhere and just pretending that Ted Kennedy is a Massachusetts conservative, that John Kerry is president and Al Gore really won the election in 2000. Life couldn’t be any better for you. Oh, yeah! And you can go down to Wal-Mart and buy a plastic gun to protect yourself and your family, because in Massachusetts, guns aren’t allowed. Oh, no, wait! Wal-Mart won’t work either because they run an unfair business, underpricing other companies and hiring disadvantaged people and forcing them to work for substandard wages and benefits.

I’m glad I don’t live that way.

Tom Remington

And now you can cry in the comments section about what an evil person I am because I think people should be free to live. Oh, nasty, nasty statement to make to a control freak.

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Governor Mitt Romney of Massachussets has signed into law a bill that now requires all new hunters to take a hunter education class before they can get a hunting license. Those holding a hunting license in the past will be exempt.

Tom Remington

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Evidently, Burlington, Massachussets, a suberb of Boston, is scared to death of one. Last weekend there were three seperate reports of mountain lion sightings in around some of the streets of the town. None of the sightings were confirmed, but police armed with guns and riot protective clothing (this part is a joke) picked up the telephone and placed reverse 911 calls to residents warning them of a possible mountain lion roaming the city and gave them tips on how to protect themselves from the cat.

Tom Remington

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