spirobulldog

I also own a Jeep. My first thought was when going to Yellowstone a few years to take it and of course, you would want to have the top and doors off to ride around. It was probably a good thing that it had snowed there and was cold enough that we left the top on. Seriously, I wouldn't have taken the top off and I think one with a soft top would be really bad news in Yellowstone.

bettyk

I think of it as a form of natural selection. Maybe all the really stupid tourists eventually will be killed off by the bison, elk, etc., and replaced by those who seem to understand that these really are WILD animals.

Tomsd

Ohhh. The crowd got tougher after bettyk chimed in.

sylvia3

I suspect the wild animals in Yellowstone will grow increasingly skittish as the wolf population increases/stabilizes.

Truly awesome to see the wild creatures in their habitat; but oh, jeez, some people really think they're in a theme park!

BTW, I haven't seen a bear near the roads/people since before the fires.

hawksbill

Sylvia3, there were at least two mama black bears with cubs hanging out right by the road last week, between Tower and Canyon. They were very popular with the tourists. Not so much with the rangers, who had to go out there and direct traffic every day.

There was a lot of discussion among critterphiles about how the increasing wolf population is affecting other species in the park. The coyotes are not psyched. They're apparently being driven out of their prior neighborhoods, into areas closer to the roads. I had not seen any coyotes in prior trips, but this time I saw two, and in both cases they trotted right across the road and through small crowds of people who had gathered to look at bears.

nytraveler

Coyotes will go anywhere - we had a couple of Central Park.

As for bears - NJ is full of them and they routinely turn up in backyards - yes, drawn by the garbage.

When I worked in Jersey I got off an exit of Route 80 (6 lanes with heavy traffic at rush hours) and there was an adolescent bear sitting in the middle of the exit ramp. It was spring and I think the mama had a new cub and drove off the one from the previous year - who didn't have a clue. It just sat in the middle of the ramp and I had to drive around it. When I could pull over I called the police (not sure who else to call) - since it was lucky not to have been hit yet. (This is about 35/40 minutes from Manhattan - in an area with not not just private houses, but apartment complexes, townhouse colonies, office parks and a bunch of large strip malls.

Granted an adolescent black bear isn't a grizzly - but more than a match for anyone without a big gun.

kanukgirl123

No wild animal is dangerous, so long as you leave them alone and stay away from them. If you are stupid enough to get out of your car and try to approach them then you get what you ask for... Trouble. I seen people do just that and even send their child to get close just so that they can take a picture of the child with a Bison or an Elk and even an Elephant, ( which killed the child by the way). Use common sense and stay in the car with the windows closed, no matter how "cute" they look. The animals don't want to hurt anyone but if they think you are a threat to them they WILL attack. and they don't know the difference between you or your child.

LSky

While we're at it let's remind people (who, btw, won't pay attention to this either) that ALL animals can be dangerous.

While walking my Dalmation once, a man swooped his little kid off of his shoulder and stuck the kid in front of my dog's face. (dalmations are squirrely anyway) Scared the dog, if I hadn't had a good grasp of the leash ... well who wants to think about it.

These nuts should consider themselves lucky if all they find out is that Pepe le Pew isn't that cute close up.

Tomsd

All wild animals CAN be dangerous - but unless they are very hungry, or rabid - or you distrub them - especially if you seem like a threat to their young ones - you can wind up in a pickle - when ordinarily - they are happy to mind their own business.

And wily coyotes can live anywhere. We live in the middle of San Diego - just north of Mission Valley - two miles from the Ocean - near a branch of Tecolote Canyon and those dang "wild dogs" trot through the neighborhood every once in a while.

They are more aggressive in the spring/mating season - but rarely bother people - except the dummies who feed them and then can get bit when they don't have any more food for poor widdle Coyote.

And Coyotes live by killing their prey - and have long/sharp teeth. An animal control officer told me two coyotes - which only weigh about 30 lbs out here in west - and can weigh a bit more - 40 pounds some places back east - can easily dispatch (KILL) a 90-100 pound male Geman Shepard.

The domesticated dogs do not go for the throat in a dog fight - usually just snarling and snapping - and one coyote will go around behind the dog and bite at the haunches - and when the dog turns to snap at him - the other coyote will zip in and grab it by the throat and kill it.

Shame - but it happens.

nytraveler

Yes, well - dogs ARE domsticated - except those that have been abused and trained to fight.

Over 100,000 years they have been partners of humans and trained how to behave around us. Naturally they aren't a match for wild animals that have to hunt to eat - instead of being fed wonderful doggie food twice a day.

nytraveler

Yes, well - dogs ARE domsticated - except those that have been abused and trained to fight.

Over 100,000 years they have been partners of humans and trained how to behave around us. Naturally they aren't a match for wild animals that have to hunt to eat - instead of being fed wonderful doggie food twice a day.

StantonHyde

The coyotes live on the hill behind my house. And when I lived in Idaho, they would come downy to the barn in winter to eat the mice. We quit keeping barn cats because the coyotes ate them. They never bothered our med-large dogs and never have bothered me. I would much rather encounter a coyote than a bull moose in rut (or a cow with a calf) ANY day!!!! And bison are so big, they just don't care

Tomsd

Nytraveler? Not sure I understand your point?

Normally - a mammal over twice as big as another similar species usually has the upper hand - but not so for the 90/100 lb domestic dogs v. 30 lb Coyotes.

Even Pit Bulls don't usually go for the throat - they just grab with their incredibly strong jaws - and hang on and tear flesh. Very gruesome - but that's how they fight in the pits.

And Stanton: They old saying is that if a cat gets away from a Coyote the first time - they usually learn their lesson -but you didn't find that to be the case?

Coyotes normally don't bother humans - but sometimes they will kill domestic dogs just for the sport.

Tomsd

Well, for the "sport" and also a meal.

spirobulldog

NYtraveler and Tomsd. Look up and American Bulldog. My AB was a great family dog(left alone many hours with 4 and 5 year olds in the back yard and never an incident, but could also catch wild hogs(we're talking very aggressive hogs with cutters). AB's are similar to a pit, but bigger and usually less agressive. Petie on Little Rascals and Chance on Homeward Bound were both AB's. Actually, there were several different dogs on Little Rascals with a painted eye. I had a litter of puppies from Chance and my female(his real name was Rattler), from the first Homeward Bound. Rattler was a certified arson dog, anda catch dog(hogs and cows)and a certified therapy dog and visitied hospitals and nursing homes regularly.

nytraveler

The point is that dogs are domesticated and have lost the instinct to hunt and to kill. Coyotes have not. That's why they can kill a dog. And why a 30 lb lynx can bring down a deer.

StantonHyde

Tomsd--the cats have to get away first!! Ours did not. We just kept repleninshing until my mother decided she wasn't running a winter "coyote soup kitchen" I'll take coyotes over many other wild critters--they really don't bother people in the intermountain west. And I like hearing them yap at the moon!

Tomsd

Spiro - am familiar with the distinction between the "Pit Bull" and the American Bulldog. As far as I know - your pet/his line - don't have anywhere near the frequency of bites/maulings that the Pits do.

LOL Stanton: A "coyote soup kitchen". And sorry your pet cats kept getting nailed - and yes, if the cat gets away the first time - a big IF - they seem to learn their lesson about the wily coyote.

This same animal control officer said sometimes coyotes would scratch around - outside a fence where a domestic dog was kept - and when the dog came out to investigate - the Coyote would jump the fence and kill the dog.

The Coyotes have been survivors forever. Even when ranchers tried to eradicate them - you had to do it three years in a row or they just had more pups in the litters and were back to full strength the next year.

Tomsd

And NYT: You know what they say about an attack by a wild cat? It's like getting hit with several buzz saws - and I don't know about the smaller Lynx - but the Cougar/Puma/Mountain Lion - and their counterpart - the African Leopard - can inflict something like 100 stitches worth of damage to you in about a second.

4 whirling claws of steel to go along with the ripping teeth.

nytraveler

Naturally the Lynx are much smaller - but can kill something way bigger than they are. I had 2 Maine Coon Cats - big for cats but perhaps 20 pounds to a Lynx at 30 or 35 - and they were practically impossible to handle they were so strong (not mean, absolute sweeties) but it took 2 grown people to get either one into a crate to go to the vet.

Animals are REALLY strong for their size.