Coyote Trouble

I could have gone to a hundred different places. But for some reason I was drawn to a place that I have not visited in 15 years. As I drove to this area I felt isolated, surrounded by towering white pines on either side of the car, dust flying up behind me, insects banging on the car windows and hood, sometimes sounding like large solitary raindrops hitting the car. ‘Good thing I wasn’t walking through this’, I thought to myself. I would have been bitten by horseflies, mosquitoes and no-see-ums.  The road narrowed and I was now driving over tall grass that brushed the bottom of the car and the sound of a constant high pitched “thrash” seemed to be coming from the bottom of my feet. If I was Fred Flintstone, I would have needed DEET on my legs to keep the ticks off.

As I ended the long straight drive through thick, dark forest I turned left around the only curve over the past three miles. Suddenly, the landscape changed and I found myself driving past a brilliant, eye-squinting sand pit on my right bordered by a large stand of dark forest. On my left there was a huge wide meadow with chest high tawny grass blowing gently in the morning breeze. A hawk screeched from above the field. Probably upset with this large vehicle disturbing its morning hunt.  At the end of the grassy road I saw a pup slowly emerge from the forest. Gray fox? Red fox? Wolf pup? Something was not right. Its face reminded me of Dobby from Harry Potter. Was this some sort of house elf genetic experiment gone wrong? Nope. Just a coyote pup.  But not your average happy go lucky coyote puppy. This puppy had seen hard times. And it showed this with its haunting black eyes.

As it sauntered towards my car, I was amazed that it had not scampered away into the dense forest. As I quickly reached for my camera, I knew that I had a few seconds to take a picture before instinct told it to run from this huge, engine-whirring monster. But I was dead wrong. This pup was not afraid of a 2000 pound car.  It had other things on its mind. It must have had little sleep, because it stopped every few seconds to bite and scratch at a different part of its body. Its eyes looked right through me. I felt its despair. The coyote pup lowered its ears and then quickly perked them up if an insect buzzed by. I watched it catch and chew a small flying insect that literally flew right into its mouth.  This carnivore was definitely starving. I took a few more pictures and then watched as it leaped into the woods to chase some unknown sound. I had a strong feeling that it was an orphan. And I know that orphaned animals do not last long in the wild.

Even so, this rarely happens. I have seen coyotes before but never a coyote cub. Most animals hide and watch as you hike by. This was such a unique experience that I brought my daughter to the same spot later that afternoon. I just wanted to show her where I saw the pup and teach her about the tracks and the coyote scat I found nearby. But again, as I turned left around that corner, the coyote pup was there! Right in the middle of the road and it was eating an unusually large gray squirrel. The pup grabbed its meal and moved it under several pine trees to protect it against me or any other predator that may want to take it away. But as it was moving its catch, something caught my eye. Its food was not a gray squirrel. It looked just like the coyote cub itself. The gray scraggly hair, long thin legs and black pointy nose; it must have been a sibling. No wonder its black eyes looked right through me earlier that morning. Starvation was forcing it to consume a fellow pup that it probably played with just a few months earlier. If I was that hungry, I would not have been afraid of a 2000 pound engine-whirring monster either.

Road Kill in Rhode Island

Road Kill in East Greenwich

I feel awful when I think about it. Yesterday I hit a chipmunk with my car. Most of the time I give a quick honk to scare any animals off the road if I see them but in this case I saw the chipmunk a bit too late. It was so small, literally hugging the road’s surface when it dawned on me that this small “stick” was a living, breathing Tamias striatus or Eastern chipmunk. I review it in my head and yes, I beeped my horn and even minutely swerved a little, but I felt and heard a “thump” under my tire. I gasped and took a quick look in my rear view mirror hoping to see it scurry away but there was only a lifeless lump near the side of the road.  Unfortunately in East Greenwich, I am not alone.

Road Kill Data

Since 2002 I have had my students collect road kill data, analyze it and practice their graphing skills by hand and on computer. They graph the “Top Ten Road Killed Animals in East Greenwich”, the “Five Deadliest Streets” and the “Deadliest Quadrant” which is found by using the free map given out by the Chamber of Commerce. You can see this data near the bottom of a webpage at this link. http://bit.ly/nuxrvb 

Every year the data reveals things that are a bit different but there is one glaring constant. Squirrels are number one on the animals killed list. A quick addition exercise had me count 487 squirrels as road kill since 2002. Compare that number to 87 chipmunks killed in the same time and you can see the huge discrepancy. I think I found the crux as to why squirrels are always going to be number one for this study. Reproduction.

Gray squirrels mate twice a year giving birth to between 2 to 8 young. The first litter arrive in early spring and the next litter are born in June or July.  The only time we collect road kill data in East Greenwich is in the fall so there is a possibility that a lot of the sightings are of inexperienced squirrels trying to cross the street or of any squirrel trying to gather food to stock up for the upcoming winter. In addition, squirrels are most active at dawn and dusk when drivers are rushing to work or hurrying to come back home. Overall, it still remains a mystery and it is pretty sad to see any dead animal along the side of the road.

How to Avoid Hitting Animals

I have asked law enforcement officials what to do when you see an animal in the road. The answer is counterintuitive. Do not swerve. If you swerve, you risk going off the road or going into oncoming traffic. You could obviously injure yourself and others if you swerve. When I swerved yesterday, I made sure I stayed in my lane.  In addition to the non-swerve advice, brake gently and honk your horn if you have time.

But I believe one of the biggest ways to reduce road kill is to be aware. Be aware of the animals and of the time of day. Animals are most active at dawn and dusk so pay extra attention at those times. Just last year, I was driving along Carr’s Pond Road and my car was picking up speed around those bends. I realized that the sun was setting and I slowed my car down only to see two deer camouflaged by the side of the road a few minutes later. Lucky deer and lucky me.

Two Animals That Can Kill You in Rhode Island

There are two animals that can kill you in Rhode Island. Black bears and mountain lions. You may snicker at how unlikely it is to happen, but it is not impossible.

Rhode Island is a Refuge for Young Black Bears

A black bear mother literally chases its young bears away and out of its habitat two years after they are born.  If you have a friend that has a child that is in their thirties and still living in the basement, you may want to tell them what black bear mothers do. So this may be the reason why young black bears find themselves in Rhode Island, looking for their own habitat.

If you followed the news last spring, a black bear was blamed for killing some sheep in southern Rhode Island. The Department of Environmental Management sent an official to look for the bear. What this really means is that when they find the bear they will shoot it to protect Rhode Islanders. But the official never found it. My guess is that the bear moved on into Connecticut or Massachusetts. But there is a possibility that it is still in Southern Rhode Island.

How to Protect Yourself Against a Black Bear

Make noise. Be very loud. Hopefully you will have a plethora of friends with you so all of you will make crazy menancing noises. If it attacks, fight back. Do not be submissive and do not run away. You cannot outrun a black bear. If you are only hiking with one other friend, at least outrun your friend so that the bear catches your friend first. Then you have the easy job of calling for help while your friend tassels with the bear. OK, seriously, help out your friend and fight the bear even if it catches your friend.

To make up for killing any black bear that even thinks "Rhode Island", the Department of Environmental Management made this cute, informational brochure about black bears. http://1.usa.gov/nC6XQl

One of my favorite parts of the pamphlet is the "Don't Fear the Bears" phrase. I totally agree with this statement. Do not fear them. Unless you see one in your backyard or out in the woods while hiking. In that case fear would be a positive thing because seeing a large predator and being scared go hand in hand. Fear may actually help you back away or run a bit faster from a dangerous situation.

New England is now Cougar Country
I thought it was huge news that the DEM reversed their position on a mountain lion sighting in Matunuk and actually confirmed it! More on this can be found at this link http://bit.ly/oDtrss. In most cases when someone spots a mountain lion the DEM tells them that it must have been a large coyote or a bobcat and that is the end of the story. Very frustrating for the people that actually see the large tail, the black marks on the face or the cold stare of its eyes. After reviewing a map of southern Rhode Island, I can see how an elusive mountain lion can be living around the Great Swamp area.

How to Protect Yourself Against a Mountain Lion

Do not play dead! You must fight back! Make yourself look bigger. Stare at the mountain lion. Do not take your eyes off of its face. If you have a child with you, pick up the child to protect them. But you have to fight. Throw a rock, back away, yell, call for help. So fight the good fight, and if the child is not one of your own, you can even offer up the child as a sacrifice so you can escape. OK. Not really. That's really mean. But do fight.

One Brown Moth in Rhode Island

I stepped out onto my deck at 10:45 pm  to see if there were any foxes, coyotes, deer or mountain lions rummaging around in my backyard. Dead silence. Very calm and serene. Nothing seemed to be moving but one wrong step and this moth would have been smushed. Down by my feet was this big brown moth. I took a picture and looked it up and of course, absolutely no pictures matched this moth. The closest ones were called a Clothes Moth and a Potato Tuber Moth but I'm pretty sure it was not one of those. And although I almost stepped on the well camouflaged animal, it was intelligent enough to stay on the warm deck. The bats above my head would have a lovely meal if its radar bumped off of this Goliath!

Unknown Moth. If it is a new species I may name this melissifica to honor my wife!

I Love Rhode Island Mosquitoes!

I am so glad to be home. And it is all due to the fact that I stepped outside of my house without any immediate fear of being attacked by a nose diving, bullying mosquito. Like a strong magnet attaching itself to your fridge, the mosquitoes I encountered while on vacation were attacking and feasting as fast as they could. Even in the middle of a warm sunny day. Even if you went jogging and stopped for a minute to look at the scenery. Even when you were sitting on the beach watching your kids swim! This experience with mosquitoes was different for three main reasons.

First, our beach house was adjacent to a salt marsh. I have a truism of life when it comes to fighting. (Besides don't fight). I never want to fight a hockey player, a wrestler or a rugby player. These sports lend themselves to physical brutality and I believe these athletes have a natural edge. In the case of mosquitoes; never live near salt marsh mosquitoes. They aggressively attack like a grizzly defending her cubs. So our choice of habitat was like choosing to sleep in the middle of the savanna with fresh meat strapped to your body. I have to agree with a New Jersey official when he stated that it was "not a mosquito problem, but a people problem." The problem is that towns let developers build houses that are surrounded by swamp land or salt marshes and after people move into these developments, they complain about mosquitoes. The insects were there first and no matter what, they will not be wiped out.

Speaking of eradication, I hate the fungi kingdom. Allegedly, it was a fungus that had killed ALL bats in New Jersey. Considering that one bat can eat 3000 mosquitoes an hour, a vital element of depressing the mosquito population was lost due to this fungus. As far as I can observe and  research, we still have bats in Rhode Island. Whew! So when you get a bat flying around your house, don't kill it unless you want me to curse you by having 3000 mosquitoes bite you all at once. Catch it with a net and let it go. Preferably near my house.

Lastly, the species of mosquitoes the live in salt marshes are a bit different from the ho hum mosquitoes that fly around at dusk while you are finishing your barbecue. The Asian tiger mosquito was seen along with some other ones down in Jersey and those invasive blood suckers have no manners at all. Flying fast and biting quick, these mosquitoes landed over 20 bites on my daughter's face after she went outside at night to have a chat with her cousin. Little did these kids know that when you drive hundreds of miles away for vacation, your habitat changes and you have to adapt!

Seriously, the mosquitoes were so bad, that you could not even swim in the outdoor pool in the middle of the day. So do I love Rhode Island mosquitoes? No, but they are more polite and docile than their brutal friends down in New Jersey!