Central Park Coyote

New helicopters hovering overhead!!?? No wonder the poor thing was so
scared. Gaaah, people are so STOOPID!!


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 22, 2006, 12:56 PM EST

A wily coyote led sharpshooters armed with tranquilizer guns on a wild
chase through Central Park before being captured Wednesday.

The coyote proved to be quite adept at avoiding capture, jumping into
the water, ducking under a bridge, and scampering through the grounds
of an ice skating rink after authorities thought they had the varmint
cornered Wednesday morning.

The coyote, a male believed to be about a year old, was caught near
Belvedere Castle, close to 79th Street and Central Park West, around
10 a.m. All the while, news helicopters hovering overhead tracked
every turn in the chase, and it was broadcast around the country.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said a NYPD police officer shot the
coyote with a tranquilizer gun at close range.

The hunt began Tuesday afternoon when Benepe, among others, spotted
the animal in the southeast corner of Central Park, not far from the
tony Upper East Side before he leaped over a fence and disappeared.

It's unclear when the coyote, nicknamed Hal by parks workers, first
arrived in the big city, but the first sightings of the animal came
early Sunday.

Hal is only the second coyote ever to be spotted in Central Park,
Benepe said, the last being seven years ago.

Interestingly, Benepe said both coyotes strayed into the same area,
the Hallett Wildlife Sanctuary.

"It's an area closed to people and dogs, so it's a good place for a
coyote to hunt for birds," he said.

While coyotes don't usually present a threat to people, Benepe had
warned that park visitors should keep their dogs leashed to protect
the pets.

Officials said one of their tranquilizers had managed to hit the
coyote Tuesday, but that it appeared to have no effect.

The coyote may have wandered into the city from Westchester County, or
perhaps swimming across the Hudson River from New Jersey, Benepe said.

Asked to speculate why a coyote would venture into Central Park,
Benepe said, "It's an immature young coyote ... at that age they're
frisky and curious to explore the turf." "It takes quite an
adventurous coyote," Benepe said. "You either have to swim or cross a
railroad trestle used by Metro-North and Amtrak that runs along the
Hudson under the George Washington Bridge and then goes through a very
wooded area." "They are very good swimmers," he added.

"He's recovering," said Benepe, who visited the coyote after his
capture. He said the animal would be taken to an upstate wildlife
facility "as soon as he is ready to be transferred." Coyote sightings
in urban areas are nothing new, but the critters rarely venture into
the concrete jungle of New York City.

The coyote that found its way to Central Park in 1999 is now kept in
the Queens Zoo.

"It's very unusual to have them in Manhattan," Benepe said.

"They have to be particularly adventurous." In Westchester County,
coyote sightings have increased rapidly since the 1970s.

In 1997, 15 sightings were noted, but many encounters are no longer
even reported -- unless they involve the loss of a pet. The animals
generally shy away from people and no attacks on humans have been
recorded, but several pet dogs have been snatched from back yards by
the predators.

Officials fear that as the coyotes settle into a suburban existence
they may lose some fear of people. The state and Cornell University
are planning a five-year study that will include attempts to trap and
tranquilize coyotes in four Westchester towns.





Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Make Levees, Not War

Kreisleriana wrote in
:

New helicopters hovering overhead!!?? No wonder the poor thing was so
scared. Gaaah, people are so STOOPID!!


This is so sad, and so stupid - that coyote has probably lived there for
his whole life. People don't realize it, but there are more coyotes in
urban environments than ever before, and the population density per
square mile is *much* higher in urban areas than in open prairie.

See: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/urbcoyot.htm for more.

Chak

--
I would like at least one political party in this country to be willing
to say that sex is fun and an important part of being human.
--PZ Myers, http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/

On 2006-03-22, Chakolate penned:
I would like at least one political party in this country to be
willing
to say that sex is fun and an important part of being human.
--PZ Myers, http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/

Wow, interesting blog there.

And what a quote. C'mon, who's going to stand up for sex when we
already ousted a general surgeon for daring to suggest that
masturbation constituted safe teen sex?

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2006-03-22, Chakolate penned:
I would like at least one political party in this country to be
willing
to say that sex is fun and an important part of being human.
--PZ Myers, http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/

Wow, interesting blog there.

And what a quote. C'mon, who's going to stand up for sex when we
already ousted a general surgeon for daring to suggest that
masturbation constituted safe teen sex?

I know! When my children were teens and pre-teens I stressed to them that
masturbation was not only "OK", but the *PREFERRED* method of releasing
sexual tension (expecially in this age of AIDS) as opposed to high-risk
teen-aged sexual intercourse.

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/




--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-03-22, CatNipped penned:

I know! When my children were teens and pre-teens I stressed to
them that masturbation was not only "OK", but the *PREFERRED* method
of releasing sexual tension (expecially in this age of AIDS) as
opposed to high-risk teen-aged sexual intercourse.

Yeah.

I don't really understand the issue. I guess it's that one line in
the Bible?

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
I don't really understand the issue. I guess it's that one line in
the Bible?

Well, you really *don't* want to look at the bible for sexual advise.
Otherwise I would have to go f*ck my brother's wife if he dies without
children. And adulterer women would have to be stoned. Not the men
though, it's ok for them to f*ck around.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

On 2006-03-22, Victor Martinez penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
I don't really understand the issue. I guess it's that one line in
the Bible?

Well, you really *don't* want to look at the bible for sexual
advise. Otherwise I would have to go f*ck my brother's wife if he
dies without children. And adulterer women would have to be stoned.
Not the men though, it's ok for them to f*ck around.

*I* certainly don't ... but a lot of people do! They seem to pick and
choose the parts they want, though.

The human mind is a fascinating place.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
On 2006-03-22, Victor Martinez penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
I don't really understand the issue. I guess it's that one line in
the Bible?

Well, you really *don't* want to look at the bible for sexual
advise. Otherwise I would have to go f*ck my brother's wife if he
dies without children. And adulterer women would have to be stoned.
Not the men though, it's ok for them to f*ck around.

*I* certainly don't ... but a lot of people do! They seem to pick and
choose the parts they want, though.

The human mind is a fascinating place.

Yes, and I believe it's called Selective Perception (see/hear/understand
only want you *want* to).

Chakolate wrote:

Kreisleriana wrote in
:


New helicopters hovering overhead!!?? No wonder the poor thing was so
scared. Gaaah, people are so STOOPID!!



This is so sad, and so stupid - that coyote has probably lived there for
his whole life. People don't realize it, but there are more coyotes in
urban environments than ever before, and the population density per
square mile is *much* higher in urban areas than in open prairie.

I didn't think they EVER ventured that far east of the
Rockies!



See: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/urbcoyot.htm for more.

Chak


--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 19:18:50 -0800, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:



Chakolate wrote:

Kreisleriana wrote in
:


New helicopters hovering overhead!!?? No wonder the poor thing was so
scared. Gaaah, people are so STOOPID!!



This is so sad, and so stupid - that coyote has probably lived there for
his whole life. People don't realize it, but there are more coyotes in
urban environments than ever before, and the population density per
square mile is *much* higher in urban areas than in open prairie.

I didn't think they EVER ventured that far east of the
Rockies!

Coyotes were once a western/Great Plains phenomenon, but they have now
spread to the entire contiguous USA, and probably Alaska as well. I
haven't heard of any in Hawaii. They have proven to be pretty
adaptable at living among humans, much more so than have wolves, whose
niche they are now filling. They also raid trash cans and eat the
occasional pet.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria