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8:09:00 AM EDT
Feeling Sad
The Real Story on Hal, The Central Park Coyote
You can read about "Hal" on the following
> blog owned by a NYS licensed rehabber. You can read the article below or
> Click here............. http://foxwoodrehab.typepad.com/
Wildlife Rehabilitation Through Quality Care and Public Education
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Speaking Engagements
a.. Eastern Coyote - Friend or Foe?
April 13th, 2006 - 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Orchard Park Fire Department 30
School Street Orchard Park, NY Wild canine expert Elise Able will speak
about the Eastern coyote. Come and learn about the behavior of this
intelligent animal and learn to sort fact from myths and rumors. Elise will
answer questions as well as discuss how to protect your pets and livestock.
This program is FREE to the public. Seating is limited, so please RSVP
716-592-1861 to ensure your seat.
Fox and Coyote Information
a.. FoxWood Wildlife Rescue - This is What It Is All About
b.. Donate to FoxWood Wildlife Rescue
c.. Gunning of Coyotes Challenged - Gamecalls.net Outdoor News
Environmental Organizations
a.. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
b.. Animal Protection Institute
Wildlife Rehabilitation Organizations
a.. International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council
b.. New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council
c.. NWRA Cares
d.. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Information Directory
Saturday, 01 April 2006
The Violent Death of Hal, The Central Park Coyote -
Part II
So how does a healthy young male Eastern coyote wind up dead after being
kept healthy and safe for more than a week by skilled wildlife
rehabilitators? You may have heard the story about Hal, the young male
coyote who made the mistake of ending up in Central Park- where he was
surely going to feast on rats, mice, squirrels and other small rodents?
Instead he was terrorized, chased, darted, lost with the dart in him
(eek!!!) and then chased and darted again the next day. Though this animal
surely posed little or no threat to children, and small pets, he was hunted
down like a criminal and finally captured hungry, thirsty and exhausted
after two days of being chased.
He rested with a wildlife rehabilitator for a few days, ate a lot, drank a
lot of water and started to regain his strength. This wildlife
rehabilitator is very knowledgeable and reputable and consulted with me on
this coyote, as he did with another coyote just a few weeks earlier. The
other coyote was much luckier - having been spared the interaction with Dan
Bogan, a pompous Cornell graduate with an agenda unrelated to the well-being
of coyotes.
Rather than release Hal in a more remote place as soon as he recovered, the
rehabilitator was ordered to keep the coyote while the local biologists
decided "what to do with it". Meanwhile, The Cornell grad excitedly awaited
his opportunity to put an ear tag in it. I had previously warned this
student that the method he was to use for ear tagging was unnecessarily
harsh and violent - he wanted to use a catch pole, pull it out of the
carrier as it struggled and fought against such force and pin it down, and
fasten the ear tag. The rehabilitators had offered to tag Hal gently
themselves, but were told "No".
As soon as the trusting wildlife rehabilitator handed over the coyote to his
would-be killers, the horror began. Hal was snared around the neck with a
catchpole, and fought as Dan tried to drag him out of the carrier this way.
Any animal would have fought this type of handling. As wildlife
rehabilitators we NEVER use this method as it is unnecessary, dangerous and
harmful to the animals. As Hal fought for his life, Dan taped his muzzle
firmly shut, and then hog tied him. Again, this is highly unprofessional
and unnecessary restraint for a coyote. Imagine the stress and terror the
coyote felt.
Dan Bogan proceeded to straddle the struggling, exhausted coyote and then
sat on him for about ten minutes until his chest rose no more. The news says
"Hal suddenly and inexplicably died during the ear-tagging process???”.
Mind you, tagging an ear is like using a hole punch - very quick and easy.
How many people do you know died a violent death during an ear piercing?
For an experienced, knowledgeable and responsible wild animal handler,
tagging should be very non-stressful on the animal, quick and easy. But
no - Not for THIS crew.
No consideration was given to Hal, who had been a perfect patient, a very
docile, easily handled animal. These people were obviously afraid and
inexperienced. They roughly handled, over handled, over tightened and
pinned Hal for ten minutes, suffocating him. Wouldn't it have been much
more humane to just put a bullet in his head? I have worked with a lot of
Eastern coyotes through the years, vaccinating, worming, checking teeth, and
even bathing unrestrained, fully conscious, wild Eastern coyotes. Why?
Because they are docile and easy to handle. A simple towel placed over the
eyes and gently held in placed is the most restraint ever necessary. Poor
Hal died a agonizing, terrifying, and unnecessary death at the hands of a
fearful inexperienced person who obviously has no affinity for or respect
for wildlife. Why is this person “studying” coyotes? He certainly is not
fond of them or knowledgeable about them. I guess one will do anything to
get their name in a journal in order to support their own preconceived
agendas.
Let us hope this group who caused Hal’s death takes responsibility for his
unnecessary death, and learn from this travesty so that no wildlife is ever
again subjected to such an agonizing demise.
Saturday, 01 April 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Violent Death of Hal, the Central Park Coyote - Part I
for keeping things updated, expressing views and opinions, and even
"conversing" with visitors. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works.
For the time being, I won't spend time describing who I am or the specifics
of Fox Wood Wild Life Rescue - for that, please visit
http://www.foxwoodrehab.com.
Regarding the title of this post - In the past few weeks, there's been a
news story about a coyote wandering around Central Park in Manhattan, dubbed
"Hal" by the media. As the media tells the story, it was darted and
captured, and was going to be released in another "wildlife friendly" park
well outside the city. A subsequent news story this morning reported that
the coyote died, and it was attributed to "stress from being darted and
captured". This is far from the truth. His death was a direct result of
careless and inhumane handling by the Cornell Graduate student during an
unprofessional and careless tagging process.
I am a coyote expert - that's why the New York Post has called me several
times in regard to this story. I was consulted by the caretakers of this
coyote as to how he should be handled - keep in mind that all I can do is
advise - there is no way I can force people to take my advice.
I will be posting the details of what went wrong shortly, just as soon as I
finish setting up this blog. Once you get done reading the details, you'll
soon see why we cannot trust the media to accurately report things,
especially when certain species of wildlife have a completely unjustified
negative stereotype.
Please check back - this is an example of a story that needs to get out...
-------
Personal Comment: I have no doubt about this expert's story.
As alluded to in the write up, several weeks ago another Coyote was captured HUMANELY by New York City cops without the use of darts.
I was at the Manhattan AC&C when the coyote was brought into the shelter, fully conscious in a large dog crate. Police told me they were able to corner and corral the coyote in the crate, presumably the same way they do with stray dogs.
Once in the shelter, the coyote was very stressed and terrified when having to be handled by a "catch pole" and put in a cage.
No media was called on that event, and perhaps that is for the good.
The next day the coyote was quietly transferred to wildlife rehab (as described in the blog entry above) and apparently later, safely released.
Unfortunately, poor Hal became a "media event" here and apparently the wrong people were called in to handle him.
While media also reported on Hal's death, they described it as a "mystery."
Well, I hope the comprehensive blog entry above, clears the "mystery."
Don't expect the media to report the whole truth on this.
As one who for years has enjoyed Central Park and its assorted wildlife (including, on occasion, raccoons), it will always hold a note of sadness for me now with this tainted memory associated with it.
Central Park has always been the one safe place for animals, but it wasn't for Hal.
Better to put out rat poison, than "hire a coyote" to take care of "nuisance" rats and mice. -- PCA
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...yunno, the red flag always goes up for me when I hear anyone refer to a living being of ANY species as "IT". Semantic polemics aside, people who refer to other beings in the same term they would use to talk about an inanimate object lack something called FEELINGS. It's no wonder this educated idiot resorted to such crude and callous methods of dealing with "the unknown" in the form of a coyote.
Send him to the war zone, he'd be taking potshots at innocent civilians and probably animals in the streets of Kabul or Baghdad.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
4/6/06 3:36 AM
these disturb me, a great deal, Patty.
i have as much or more reason than most to despise coyotes. in Los Angeles, however unlikely it sounds, coyotes are everywhere. "adaptable" i think you said? what an understatement. and clever. the Mexicans used to tell me that coyotes have strange magic, can move through a solid wall. i believe it. we had one dog killed, another hit that survived, by an unusual reddish coyote. in the second attack, you could hear it happening, be there in seconds and, poof, gone. most vexing couple of months of my life. i'd see it trotting back up the high part of the property at dawn, stop, look right me. i'd throw a rock, no reaction because it knew the rock was off line. i found its toilet and "marked" it myself, just to piss it off. cat and mouse. animal control laughed, literally, when i asked about trapping it. too smart. (makes me wonder how your coyote #2 was taken). a hunter friend of mine, after observing the torment this animal was creating, that i tie a chicken to a stake and wait with a shotgun. i don't have the temperment for that. ultimately, a car killed it; unmistakable, i'm sure it was the same one. so, this bogan, is it?, guy is an idiot for his disrespect (although i guess he wins on points, hm, overwhelming power in the situation?). coyotes' despicableness for their practical "intrusive" destructiveness (they'll attack a small child, too, despite what you said) is overwhelmed by the magnificence of their adaptability, guile, chutzpah and, in my experience, power even over the mind - make you crazy like a Kubrick film. i hope that for the researcher's sake, Hal never locked eyes with Hal before he died....although he will deserve the fate that surely goes along with that.