On the heels of Coyote Awareness Week...it's National Coyote Day!
The most widespread member of the genus Canis in North America presently, one of the most adaptable major predators in the ecosystem, and for good reason our mascot here at Carlton Carnivores (say hi to Embron in the last photo!). Unfortunately...also one of the most persecuted mammals in the country and fraught with an obscene number of misconceptions and myths that pervade society despite all evidence to the contrary and attempts to educate otherwise. Why? Partly because our Western European predominant culture still pushes the notion that any predatory animal is automatically a direct threat to people and property, and that influence builds stories about monsters that lure pets into the dark, "vermin" (a terrible curse word) that are overpopulated even when all research says otherwise and pose a threat to other wildlife (when really they're just some of our best remaining population control for things like rabbits, voles, raccoons, and yes as much as you might hate to hear it...deer and turkeys), and so many other nonsense tales that paint Canis latrans as some hungry evil out to get you.
The reality is more along the lines of what indigenous people taught for thousands of years before colonialism moved in: Coyote is a wily, adaptable creature, curious and playful but wary, cautious, a critical cog in the fabric of nature and a creature that deserves respect, not derision.
#canis #canislatrans #coyote #mammals #animals #educational #wildlife #nature #conservation #carltoncarnivores
The most widespread member of the genus Canis in North America presently, one of the most adaptable major predators in the ecosystem, and for good reason our mascot here at Carlton Carnivores (say hi to Embron in the last photo!). Unfortunately...also one of the most persecuted mammals in the country and fraught with an obscene number of misconceptions and myths that pervade society despite all evidence to the contrary and attempts to educate otherwise. Why? Partly because our Western European predominant culture still pushes the notion that any predatory animal is automatically a direct threat to people and property, and that influence builds stories about monsters that lure pets into the dark, "vermin" (a terrible curse word) that are overpopulated even when all research says otherwise and pose a threat to other wildlife (when really they're just some of our best remaining population control for things like rabbits, voles, raccoons, and yes as much as you might hate to hear it...deer and turkeys), and so many other nonsense tales that paint Canis latrans as some hungry evil out to get you.
The reality is more along the lines of what indigenous people taught for thousands of years before colonialism moved in: Coyote is a wily, adaptable creature, curious and playful but wary, cautious, a critical cog in the fabric of nature and a creature that deserves respect, not derision.
#canis #canislatrans #coyote #mammals #animals #educational #wildlife #nature #conservation #carltoncarnivores










