Mountain Bikers and Grizzly Bears

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by Dekonick

Right now I am listening to coyotes howling... I wonder how a pack of coyotes would react to a mountain bike...

Seriously, in Baltimore I worry far more about the squeegee kids than the bears in the state parks... or coyotes (unless you own a cat).

Much more likely to die from a car jacking than a bear jacking.

I use to ride at night in the Headlands of Marin. There were packs of coyotes howling in the valleys. I have seen plenty of coyotes during the day and in fact encountered two coyote pups which I took a picture and posted it here somewhere. Coyotes don’t bother you and neither do bobcats. Mountain lions, I rather not find out although I seen two while riding. One (juvenile) I did spook on a fire road causing it to run about 100-150 ft ahead of me before stopping, staring at me and exiting into the brush below the fire road.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

coyotes will run in small family groups but are more likely to be solitary when encountered in the wild. In any event, I encounter coyotes, usually singles, quite regularly on my bike. They stop and stare or they run. You're right, much more danger posed by two legged carnivores.

And in keeping with the theme that what applies to one part of the country doesn't necessarily apply to another ...

Coyotes are not native to the eastern US, and the animals that have migrated to the eastern states (referred to as Eastern Coyotes) are actually coyote/wolf hybrids (and sometimes mixed with dogs). These hybrids are typically bigger than western coyotes, and are more likely to hunt in packs. There has been at least one documented instance of a pack of eastern coyotes killing a human.

[benb]

The Eastern Coyote supposedly has Dog mixed in with Coyote + Wolf.

It all seems pretty complicated so hard to say they are not native. I think Dogs were the only ones who weren't originally here. They can all breed with each other too.

I have seen Coyotes riding here.. even while road riding. Interestingly I have never seen more than one at once.. but I suspect the others are there. Same thing with wolves I think you would typically only see one unless you're about to be attacked.

There are still a lot of dogs on/off leashes that scare me a lot more than the Coyotes if I'm riding. Dogs are way more likely to be aggressive & out of control in my experience.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by benb

I can't even count the # of times I've come across White Tailed Deer riding mountain bikes.

Originally Posted by benb

I have seen Coyotes riding here.. even while road riding.

Still waiting for the pictures! Better yet would be a picture of the White Tail Deer and the Coyote riding a tandem!

Originally Posted by benb

It all seems pretty complicated so hard to say they are not native. I think Dogs were the only ones who weren't originally here. They can all breed with each other too.

The fossil record and genetic studies shows that coyotes originally didn't exist in the east. Apparantly, after the Eastern Wolf populations were hunted to extinction in the eastern states, coyotes migrated to the east to fill that niche in the eco-system, and were better able to blend in to the landscape that had been altered by humans. On their way from the west, coyotes mixed with populations of Eastern Wolves that still inhabited the northern mid-west states, creating the current Eastern Coyote Hybrid.

[beeatnik]

Dangling modifiers are so weird.