Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Legislature Lawmaker Sounds Alarms: Killer Coyotes, Cat Food-Eating Racoons, Demon Pigs Lurk in the Dark!
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 10:45 AM
Their leader is Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Hollow Stump near Strawberry Plains. An Obama birther and conspiracy theorist par excellence, Niceley went on a bizarre rant—even for him—at last week’s meeting, accusing the state’s wildlife management agency of introducing coyotes into Tennessee and warning even our toddlers aren’t safe from these dangerous predators. Here are excerpts from his diatribe:
Let’s talk about the coyotes. The TWRA brought the coyotes in here to control the deer herd. Their biologists are not dumb. They knew these deer in an ideal situation like this would explode. So they brought these coyotes in here to try to keep the deer population down. Now then these coyotes, they kill the calves. There’s no telling how many calves disappear in the middle of the night, and you go out there and it’s not there and you know the coyotes got it. It’s a huge problem. I have 80 head of sheep and the coyotes got into them, and they killed 60 head of sheep before I could get them behind a tight fence.These farmers need some relief. Between the deer eating their crops and the coyotes eating their animals and the coons eating the cat food off the back porch, we’ve got problems, and you all are not addressing the problems.
Well the coyotes, when they get thick enough, will start getting kids out of the yard. In California every year you have coyotes going into subdivisions getting a toddler. It’s just a matter of time before you’re going to have that on your plate.
Niceley also claimed the TWRA is "demonizing the hog" with "money from Washington." Gasp! He won support from another committee member, Rep. Andy Holt, a pig farmer from West Tennessee. Holt complained about "radical environmentalists" who are stopping him from blasting away willy nilly at white-tailed deer or other wildlife that offend him.
"Who do you think owns the wildlife?" Holt asked. "We’ve established that there’s been wildlife preservation. My concern is who will stand up to preserve the rights of landowners who wish to optimize the use of their privately held lands which are now adversely effected by wildlife populations."
The joke around Legislative Plaza is that state officials gave coyotes swimming lessons in Arkansas and that enabled the animals to make it across the Mississippi River and into Tennessee. TWRA also is handing out little parachutes to rattlesnakes to bring more of them into our state. The chuckleheads on this committee would be really funny if they weren't in charge of making laws.
Comments (27)
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"The joke around Legislative Plaza is that state officials gave coyotes swimming lessons in Arkansas and that enabled the animals to make it across the Mississippi River and into Tennessee. TWRA also is handing out little parachutes to rattlesnakes to bring more of them into our state."
It's no joke! These vermin are literally taking over parts of middle Tennessee! Between the illegal Mexicans and the vicious Coyotes, I'm afraid to go out at night, and I live in Woodbury, not "the hood!" You have to ask yourself if it's just a coincidence that the Coyotes have moved into middle Tennessee, where the radical environmentalist, Spotted Algore reputedly also lives?!? Well it's no coincidence!
And all bad things originate in California! So if Coyotes are killing people there, it's only a matter of time until they start doing it here in Tennessee! And you libtard "nature lovers" will have blood on your hands!
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"Lions and tigers and bears (and coyotes)!! Oh my!!"
As for me, I'm much more worried about rabid flying monkeys in this state. I'd happily lead an effort to eradicate them from our body politic ... if only that were not wrong (to quote that famous Republican moderate, Richard Nixon).
According to my source documentary film "Project X", there are actually monkeys in the Everglades. And Matthew Broderick -- damn him -- put them there.
... and that actually makes more sense than Rep. Niceley's comments.
I live in the same town as Mr. Holt. I am a farmer. I cannot expand my farm because the city cannot afford to fix a sewer that runs across my land. in the past year an 8 acre field has been flooded with untreated sewage 4 times. I cannot grow, I cannot hire employees. Mr Holt thinks I should sue the city. our city cannot afford it. all im asking is for someone to keep sewage off my land, the city has been helpful. Andy Holt has not, Steven Fincher voted to take away the funding our town needs. you would think a man that owns a farm that is on an environmental committee would see how sewage spilling on farm land might be a problem. Yes deer eat my crops coyotes not so much and when i put out cat food on my back porch cats eat it. Simple solution 8' wire fence keeps out the deer and coyote. What can I do Mr. Holt? I live in this town, I love this town, I don't want to sue this town. I moved to this town to start a business and a new life and maybe create a few jobs along the way. you are preventing job growth in your town you are preventing job growth in your home state. How is sewage that dumps on private land and runs into a nearby creek not an environmental issue that needs to be addressed???? How are you not embarrassed by your state when your state cannot maintain it's infrastructure. Put up a fence Mr. holt and get the sewage off my land
If Andy Holt's contention is that the landowner "owns" the wildlife, he's dead wrong. This isn't Europe. In this state and country it's long been settled that wildlife are "owned" by the people of the state and country.
And TWRA (hardly a bastion of radical anythings) has permits and programs for landowners and farmers with problem wildlife. HIs arguments are a red herring.
Blatant Lies!!! Rep. Frank Niceley is just creating a smoke screen because he is trying to get his Deer Farm Bills pushed through the legislature..... which is another disaster waiting to happen!!! He, plain as day, doesn't know a damn thing about wildlife, wildlife habitat, or wildlife management.
For one thing, in Commifornia, the habitats of native animals is being replaced by concrete everyday to make room for a new mall, 8 lane super-highway, or condo cluster. Where do you expect the expelled wildlife to go...... When in fact, you are building a buffet for the coyotes by giving the prey a place to live in your nice flowerbeds and manicured lawns. Your little yapping lap dogs and cats replace the rabbits and other natural prey they feed on. Same thing will/is happening right here in good ole Tennessee. With the population growth, so is the infrastructures..... thus causing the wildlife to adapt.
As far as hog, coyote, racoon, and deer problems, how about letting hunters have the opportunity to hunt your private lands..... As with ALL groups, there are a few bad apples in the bunch, but most are respectable and responsible hunters. Public land gets overcrowded at times and private property would be greatly appreciated. If your worried about legal issues, have an agreement signed when permission is granted that you as the landowner is not responsible for anything within reason.... ie, hunter has hunting use of said land at their own risk. The media more than not blows things way out of proportion as do some lawmakers to grab the attention of the naive.
Coyotes, rattlesnakes, deer, racoons, wolves, and many other wildlife have been in this country since before the Indians..... the difference is, we humans are taking their habitat away and they have fewer and fewer places to retreat. Live with the animals, or go live in the big city!!! It's time people wake up and use some common sense.... killer coyotes, I guess if Mr. Lawmaker ever predator hunted, he would know that when a coyote smells human scent, it will run the other way!!!
I have seen a coyote in broad daylight on the ramp from 440 East to I-65 North. This coyote is living on cats and small dogs when it can't find a possum, or a raccoon, or catch a squirrel. To think otherwise is to admit ignorance. Even in the middle of a city like Nashville coyotes can find refuge. Your small dog or cat may be lovable to you but to a coyote it's tasty.
Some years back, in the city of La Mesa, California, pet owners began losing their animals to coyotes that lived in a strip of brush along the highway. The idea of bringing in varmint hunters was addressed at council meetings but nixed (can't have rifles going off, they're noisy) until the mayor (Jerri Garcia, believe it or not) watched in horror as a coyote jumped over her fence, grabbed her champion Persian cat, and disappeared with the cat back over the fence. Hunters from a local varmint hunters club were brought in and they killed a half dozen coyotes and at one spot in a ravine found dozens of skulls and collars from cats and small dogs.
Good post Brother Gast! Our local libtards are oblivious to the killers amongst us! And if they have their way, President Osama will get reelected and it's already common knowledge that his first order of business in the new term will be to disarm all God-fearing Patriots, leaving all of us as potential prey to these varmints!
Check out the link for recent sitings of C. latrans in our fair city.
http://www.nashvillecoyotes.com/sightingsm…
The Oct 7 picture is a pair in my backyard. Cat is now an inside pet.
Coyotes are the ultimate Survivor reality participants. You cannot kill them off, they respond to population dips with increased fertility. I saw a coyote near Memphis almost 35 years ago, so they have been in TN at least 40+ years, and no, TWRA did not stock them, that's paranoid BS. Yes, they do prey on pets, and anything else they can catch. In fact, a great way to hunt them is set up a stuffed animal in a clearing and call one in then grease it with a .243.
Niceely is an idiot, and any legit deer hunters should be opposed to his deer farming scheme, About Fed Up is right, Tennessee doesn't need to open up that can of worms, it would cause serious problems and isn't legitimate hunting anyway.
Is it "fair chase" to shoot one at 400 yards with a rifle that will hold a 1" group at that distance?
Although I don't agree with all of Nicely's comments, you have to be a moron to not know that coyotes have been known to attack people. Especially children.
Nicely and Holt have axes to grind with the TWRA for some reason and Nicely is trying to use his power as legislator to destroy the agency. He is out of touch, out of control and out of his twisted mind. He needs to go. I pray that the voters in his district can see him for the snake in the grass that he is and get him out of office.
Nothing the TWRA does would surprise me, but if they brought in coyotes, they did it to help "manage" the deer overpopulation the TWRA has encouraged and enabled and which in itself is an imbalance that serves as a Nature call.
Coyotes have been moving eastward for quite a while. My end of Maury County is full of them. People here have lost dogs, cats, chickens and other livestock. Coyotes hang out in our yard, in everyone's yards, and near the fence across the road, eyeing the horses. Day and night. When the a cow gets out, we have to find her before the coyotes do. A pack can bring down a large animal. Two of my cats were killed by coyotes, one in our backyard in an intown subdivision near Atlanta. It wasn't unusual for me to drive up to my house there and see a coyote at the top of the drive. They didn't run away. They've lost their fear of humans.
Large dogs may not keep them away. Coyotes have attacked large dogs in my neighborhood.
We don't let our grandchildren, even the older ones, play outside without supervision. Because of the coyotes.
We didn't have these worries when I was growing up here. Coyotes are not native to this area, and they have no predators. Their food supply (other animals) is plentiful here, so they are multiplying and are damaging the ecology. They are killing machines with litters to feed. They may have a right to live, but so have the other animals. Generally, I'm opposed to hunting animals, and I'd hate to kill some baby's mama, but in this case, I advocate the hunting of coyotes (not deer).
Coyotes being brought to Tenn by TWRA doesn't sound legit to this reader which
makes the writer's entire story ring less than factual. While they may not be
a problem in one's downtown office building, they sure are in many other areas
of Tenn and should, if safely done, shot on sight!
NeverFear, "the writer" is not the one claiming the TWRA introduced the Coyotes. Rep. Nicely did. And I too find the claim somewhat laughable, not because agencies like this sometimes make moves in this fashion, because they do (see Wolves in Yellowstone). It's laughable for several reasons, one is that the Coyotes have moved into all our surrounding states also and two, Coyotes aren't effective at controlling deer populations, largely because that isn't their main food source.
Donna, coyotes were native to this area in small numbers 100+ years ago, but red wolves were much more common then and their extirpation may be one reason coyotes came back strong. TWRA is a very well run organization, that does not depend upon tax dollars, but is self-funded through license sales, Pittman-Robertson excise taxes on ammo and gear, and other sources. TWRA has been able to avoid being dragged into being a political tennis ball since a group of far-sighted Tennesseans formed it back in the 50's from the ashes of the politically-run group that preceded it. People like this idiot Nicely would drag TWRA squarely back into the political arena, to its, and all TN hunters and fishermen's, detriment. The idea that TWRA "stocked" coyotes in TN is ludicrous, and without the least basis in fact or proof. If Nicely says that, he needs to cite actual proof, or admit he's a liar.
Packrat, I don't know that they are native to this area, but they've been here for a while. My vet thinks the ones we see in daytime are coydogs, but I doubt that myself -- the ones near my place anyway. They can jump some fences, by the way.
Yes, some have interbred with dogs, that's right. They are native as well, going back to pioneer times. I've seen and encountered hundreds over the years, hunting and hiking, etc. I've shot a couple. Never been threatened by them once. They are definitely a threat to smaller pets and possibly small children, but let's don't get hysterical; wild feral running dog packs are much bigger threat to humans, and I know this b/c I've encountered them and had the sh!t scared out of me by them (and I don't scare easy in the outdoors). Feral dogs don't generally have an inbred fear of humans (coyotes do have it) and they run in packs, which coyotes generally do not hunt in packs, although they sometimes gather together in groups. They are usually solitary hunters, unlike wolves and dogs.
The Coyote problem is more evolutionary than anything else. These creatures have evolved to a point that their survival exceeds the areas they live in. ie. they can go for incredibly long stretches time without eating or even drinking water. That is why eradication attempts simply don't work. It's hard to get rid of and animal that can go 4-5 weeks eating nothing-just conserving energy and waiting for an opportune time to eat.
They Don't like large livestock herds-especially goats who attack them instinctively.
sp
@Spooky: Goats attacking coyotes? I don't think so, or maybe they were really dumb goats that didn't understand the situation. Rep. Nicely lost 60 of 80 sheep to coyotes, so he started out with a large livestock herd which coyotes made into a small livestock herd. Four to five weeks without food? Maybe captive in a pen where it didn't have to expend energy hunting. I don't know where you got your information but it looks like someone is treating anecdotes as fact and you might want to look elsewhere.
For general information: I was watching a PBT show the other night and researchers, selectively breeding foxes (basically a small coyote), in several generations changed them from feral, instinctively man-fearing animals, into fuzzy little people lovers, begging for food and behaving like dogs. It could probably be done with coyotes but what would be the point?
A little history here....TWRA reintroduced deer into the state after they were pretty nearly hunted to extinction by the 1930's, and has managed the herd for growth ever since, making lots of money from the sale of hunting licenses, as somebody pointed out. The unintended consequence of our growing deer population has been the toll deer take on agriculture. I began farming in Tennessee in the early 70's, before the deer population boom, and it was no big deal to grow strawberries, sweet potatoes, apples, and many other common crops. The deer population exploded during the late 70's and early 80's, and the last years I farmed I lost literally acres of vegetable crops to deer, who also ate my apple trees as high as they could reach, depriving me of half the crop. Fencing to keep them out is expensive and only marginally effective--I took care of a friend's orchard for a while, and deer would regularly jump or slip under the electric fence that was supposed to keep them out.
The situation in which I was farming was such that shooting the deer who ate me out of business was not an option--long story, not relevant here.
I also noticed that the deer ate up all the understory trees in the woods around me. No more wild plums, cherries, hawthorns, and many wildflower species disappeared as well due to the deparadations of TWRA's deer herd.
I don't think it's wise to simply slaughter deer because they are a nuisance--they are also an excellent food source. Coyotes---hey, they eat dogs in some cultures, I hear. Coyote chili, anyone?
Has TWRA ever acknowledged the destruction their intentional proliferation of deer has visited on agriculture in this state? I've never heard about it. I n general, I don't have a lot of sympathy for Nicely and his severely conservative ilk, but, as an ex-farmer whose ability to make a living from the land was destroyed by deer, I can certainly understand his feelings of frustration on this issue.
Yes, BrotherMartin, this was deliberate human manipulation to vastly increase deer reproduction, to justify hunting. Setting out food, killing female deer, and other human-instigated manipulations of habitat and animal population had a natural effect on deer population -- increasing it. The resulting natural imbalances were just what the TWRA intended. Left alone, Nature would have managed the deer population to a lower level to match existing animal population, food supply, and other environmental factors.
Deer meat is not even safe to eat, because of the spreading deer disease that is similar to mad cow disease. Of course, this will be another excuse to justify hunting deer. Meanwhile, deer hunters continue to dump venison at homeless shelters, etc. -- possibly infected carcasses the hunters never had any intention of eating themselves.
We have a major problem in Nashville with coyotes and it is only getting worse. 20 years ago I could let my cats outside but would never ever do so now. I hope anyone that has a neighbor that keeps small pets outdoors will alert them to this danger before it is too late. Many years back one could excuse a pet owner for not knowing of the danger. Today, everyone should know that no pet is safe outdoors.
http://www.nashvillecoyotes.com/
Also, I was appalled to learn last year that TWRA allows hunting of deer with arrow and firearm in Davidson County. If my neighbor wants to shoot and kill deer next door during hunting season he is allowed to do so,,,no matter how many houses are in sight around him! Oh, and if the wounded deer comes into my yard, what choice do I have but let him come get it. Ridiculous. I have no problem with hunting, but in neighborhoods?
http://www.wbir.com/rss/article/156718/2/H…
small "d" says:
"As for me, I'm much more worried about rabid flying monkeys in this state.
and don't ask says:
"According to my source documentary film "Project X", there are actually monkeys in the Everglades. And Matthew Broderick -- damn him -- put them there."
Just be sure and "Don't Say Gay" around those monkeys, flying or otherwise, especially those in TN. Before you know it, Stacey Campfield will be introducing a bill to ban "Curious George" books from school...uh, oh, hope I haven't given him any new ideas.
Rorohonda, Curious George does promote an alternative lifestyle- single man living in the city with a monkey. Maybe Rick Santorum can talk about that on the stump and ride it to the nomination.
