Coyote trapping incentive program ends in Nova Scotia. But did it work?
Program meant to encourage trappers and scare coyotes wraps up after five years
For the first time in five years, coyote trappers in Nova Scotia won't be able to rely on a program that boosted the price they earned for a pelt.
The coyote "pelt incentive program" was supposed to encourage more people to trap for the animal by paying them an additional $20 for every pelt brought to market.
The five-year program, which has now wrapped up, was launched in response to the death of Taylor Mitchell, the Toronto folk singer who died after being attacked by coyotes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in 2009.
The idea behind the program is the pack animal would become more fearful of humans, and likelihood of attack would drop, as more coyotes were trapped.
Soren Bondrup-Nielsen, a wildlife ecologist at Acadia University, says coyotes travel in groups.
"When one coyote is caught in a trap and then killed, the other coyotes in that group ... see what happens. They're going to learn from that," he says.
After Taylor's death, the province was under public pressure to do something about aggressive coyotes.
The program wasn't a straight-up bounty on the animals: You couldn't just drop off a dead coyote at the Department of Natural Resources and demand $20.
The coyotes had to be skinned and the pelt properly prepared and then sold on the fur market. Only then would trappers get the $20 on top of whatever price the market paid.
Hundreds of trappers provided a total of 11,605 pelts over five years, generating a cumulative payout of $232,100.
Program meant to scare coyotes
But did the program work? The jury is still out.
Mike Boudreau, a human-wildlife conflict biologist with the province's Department of Natural Resources, says analysis will be intensive and won't be easy because there are many factors involved.
There are definitely fewer human-coyote incidents, Boudreau said. (He and his team at DNR generally refer to an "incident" as any time a coyote gets too close to a person, but even a coyote visiting an empty schoolyard could potentially be counted.)
In 2010, when the program started, there were 18 incidents. In 2015, so far, there have only been three.
Even with those lower numbers, Boudreau cannot say for sure if the program worked. That's because along with the incentive program DNR focused on teaching people how to behave around coyotes. Boudreau says that might also play a big role in keeping the number of incidents down.
"People might be learning to live with coyotes a little better," he says. "Therefore, they're not calling all the time when they happen to see one."
Don't feed the coyotes
When Boudreau does get a call, he often finds it's from people whose behaviour is encouraging coyotes to lose their fear of humans.
He says some people take photographs of coyotes that come onto their property, instead of scaring them away. He's also taken calls from people who say they have a nuisance coyote, but he then finds out they've been inadvertently feeding it — for example, by leaving their compost bucket outside.
There have only been two deaths from coyotes in recorded history in North America: one was a child in the eighties in California, and the other one was Taylor Mitchell.- Soren Bondrup-Nielsen
Feeding coyotes, intentionally or otherwise, makes them comfortable with people.
People in parks may also be trying to get close to animals, or leave food around for them.
Boudreau says even though most coyotes live in rural areas, most of the reported incidents occur where people live or in parks. In each case, fur trapping is not allowed
At Acadia University, one of Bondrup-Nielsen's students is studying the coyote population within the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and outside of the park in the Cheticamp area where many coyotes are trapped.
Research shows coyotes in parkland are more active in the daytime and attracted to areas with humans. Outside parkland, coyotes were active at night and avoided people.
Coyote pelt prices good at the moment
Al Worthen, who is on the board of directors of the Trappers Association of Nova Scotia, believes the program worked in that it encouraged more people to set traps.
Worthen, who's been trapping and snaring coyotes for roughly 20 years in the Greenwood area, said fur prices are good, so trappers will in any event likely be after more coyotes.
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"Coyotes are the only thing half decent this year as far as fur prices go," he said, adding that only bobcat prices compare.
If fur prices drop, Worthen says, he'd like to see the pelt incentive program come back so that trappers keep trapping and coyotes stay fearful.
Boudreau said the program only stopped because it was slated to last five years. It could be reinstated, depending on DNR's data analysis.
Bondrup-Nielsen agrees this is a good time to stop the program and analyze the data, but says it's important for people to put coyote attacks in perspective.
"We have to keep in mind that there have only been two deaths from coyotes in recorded history in North America: one was a child in the '80s in California, and the other one was Taylor Mitchell."
He notes the chances of being bitten by a dog are much higher.
"It's so interesting, I think, that the dog is our best friend and the coyote or wolf is our worst enemy, but they are basically the same organisms."