POTD: Ow-ow-owooooooooo!
Jan 28, 2009 6:00 - 3 Comments
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This photo is by Mark Pierzchala. Of it he says: “I took this picture from the Falls Grove bike path. When I read the sign, I felt as if it were sending a mixed message. The large ‘Coyote Habitat’ and the line drawing jump out at you and I thought at first it should be taken as a positive. But then reading the details, you get the opposite feeling.”
Indeed!
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It is sad that the coyote is not given a better PR face. This is a negative sign as it makes the coyote the interloper, not the people and the pooches. Coyote’s do a lot of good for us — they keep the rodent population down for one. >
And if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. This sign should be rethought so as not to scare people that the coyote’s may be there, but to inform then of the coyote’s and that we need to leave them alone.
They are also God’s creatures.
Jacquie
The sign is a little weird. It gives good advice, but does so in an alarmist way. It is good that they are still here as diversity is paramount to a healthy ecosystem. In addition to keeping the rodent population in check, they also help to clean up the deer carcasses. We have too many deer because we don’t have any of their natural predators (except us— but unfortunately controlled hunts aren’t allowed in many places) and that means more deer/vehicle crashes and more carcasses. So enjoy your urban friend the coyote from a distance and if you do see it, stomp and yell and pick tiny pooches up. They need to be reminded we are not food sources (fluffy may look like a treat on a leash) and they must respect our right to live here as we respect theirs. The trails can be shared, just not at the same time. The night is for them, the day for us. Here’s to a biodiverse Rockville!
Its cool, as long as people know how to handle themselves. Does this mean we all need to carry our 45 auto when we walk Falls Grove? Not quite. >
But literally, a question asked by visitors to Western MD…”How do you tell which bears are wild and which are tame.” Another was observed having their child feed a bear a hot dog roll. The signs are good to remind people separated by several generations from the realities of nature.
Like the saying goes, all fun and games until a toddler gets eaten.
“That dingo ate my baby!”