Winter 2015
Prairie Woodland Journal
Coyotes
Brad Halterman, GCCB Natural Resource Manager
Coyotes are the most common large predator and well
known wild canine species in the state of Iowa. Coyotes are native to only North America. Their range is
continually moving south because of their extreme
adaptability to different habitats and environments.
Coyotes once preferred to live in open spaces like the
prairies and deserts. This style of living earned them
nicknames such as “little wolf” or “prairie wolves”. As
their open habitats shrank, the coyote adapted to living in timber, forests and mountains. Today, their
adaptability has them living closer to humans than
ever before, some live in highly populated areas such as Chicago and New York.
A coyotes coat color can differ greatly from one population to the other. Coyotes in desert regions tend to be lighter in color than populations from high-elevation areas. Northern populations will typically have more dense and longer fur than those populations further south.
Coyote pups are taken care of by both of their parents, this increases the pups chances of reaching adulthood. The pair will bond over the winter when the female enters estrus. The relationship is solely monogamous. An average of 5-6 babies
are born just a few months later in a den that was
dug out by the parents or cleaned out from a previous
resident like a skunk or woodchuck. The size of the
litter can be larger or smaller depending mainly on
conditions and abundance of prey. The whole family
will stay at the den location until late summer or early fall.
When food is plentiful during the warmer months of
the year, young coyotes may be solitary animals. In
the winter, they become more social.(cont. pg. 3)
A View from the Roadside
Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management
A question was phoned in to the office concerning the right time to do a frost seeding or a dormant seeding of
switchgrass. The caller was from Dodge Township up west of Bagley. He thought it might amount to about four
or five acres. The following text is supplied by the Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management technical manual, 2nd Ed.
FROST SEEDINGS
Frost seeding is performed by sowing seeds on soil surfaces made
friable by freezing and thawing. The soil surface is usually
“honeycombed” with small cracks. Frost seedings are usually made
in late February and March on seedbeds prepared the previous fall.
The seedbed should then be mulched or a temporary cover crop
planted to prevent soil erosion from occurring over the winter. Ideally, temporary matrix species should have developed enough roots
to stabilize the soil and nutrients over the winter so that no additional ground preparation will be necessary. University of Northern
Iowa IRVM recommends the base seeding rate for native grasses be
increased by 25% for frost seedings. Frost seeding should not be
made on areas covered with ice or snow, nor on extensively eroded
seedbeds made evident by numerous rills and gullies.
DORMANT SEEDINGS
Dormant seedings are performed late in the fall just prior to winter freeze. Normally this period
begins about November 1 in northern Iowa and November 15 in southern Iowa. The period
would end at the beginning of the frost seeding period. However, no seedings should be made on
snow or ice covered ground. Cool season seeding mixtures are best for this period, but some
prairie restorationists claim that dormant seedings of native warm season species imitates nature. Use regular seeding rates if cool season seeds are incorporated into the soil using a no-till
range drill. Warm season grasses rates can be increased by 25%. Coating seed with a fungicide
such as Captan has been recommended by some agronomists to prevent seeding loss in early
spring.
We also had a question about the Iowa Weed Law. (Chapter 317, if you are interested, but I’ll spare you the details on that one.) It established the office of
County Weed Commissioner and defines the program of weed control, giving
notice, and enforcement. Each year the County Board of Supervisors, by resolution, orders a program of weed control. Dates are set and published for the
destruction of various primary and secondary noxious weeds. Although any
plant can be considered a weed if it is unwanted or out of place, noxious weeds
have been identified as having undesirable characteristics by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. This brings us to an interesting
aside. I compared our current weed law to a copy of “Iowa Laws Relating to
Noxious Weeds,” issued in 1955 by the Iowa Department of Agriculture. What
changes have there been in the last 60 years? Most of the weed law paragraphs
are not “word for word” the same, but they are similar. There have been notable additions to the noxious weed list, however, including musk and tall thistles on the primary list and wild sunflower, curly dock, poison hemlock and
teasel on the secondary list.
Eric Whitver, Conservation/Roadside Technician
COYOTES CONT.
Coyotes can run up to 40 miles per hour, so even a
small pack can be formidable when out hunting
looking for food. Pack of coyotes are either family
groups centered around the reproductive female
and mate, or a totally unrelated group who are either bachelors or to young to reproduce. The packs
that are family usually stay together for at least a
year if not a little longer. Non-reproductive females
who are sisters or daughters may stay with the reproductive female for another year and help raise
the next litter of pups. Even when they leave the
pack, females will generally stay closer to their
mothers home range than the males (brothers) do.
Most people believe that coyotes, because they are in the canine family, are carnivores or
meat eaters. Coyotes diets are actually quite diverse. Coyotes willingly eat everything from
fruits, grass and insects to pet food and trash. This varied diet makes them omnivores. Coyotes obviously do eat meat also. They will often hunt an eat rabbits, mice, shrews and other
small mammals which in turn helps control the pest populations. They will also eat deer depending on the time of year. Coyotes are sometimes regarded as pests themselves because
they have been known to kill domestic animals and smaller livestock like chickens, lambs,
goats and calves.
The coyote has been a prominent character in North American folklore usually depicted as a
trickster. As with other trickster figures, the coyote acts as a hero which rebels against social
convention through deception and humor. After the colonization of America, the coyote was
reviled in the culture as a cowardly and untrustworthy animal. Unlike the gray wolf, which
has undergone a radical improvement of its public image, cultural attitudes towards the coyote remain largely negative.
The coyote was first scientifically described by Thomas Say in September 1819 on the site of
Lewis and Clark's Council Bluffs, fifteen miles up
the Missouri River from the mouth of the Platte
during their expedition. He had the first edition
of the Lewis and Clark journals in hand, which
contained Biddle's edited version of Lewis's observations dated May 5, 1805.
The coyote has been described as the most vocal of
North American wild mammals. Their vocal range
lead to its being given the binomial name Canis
latrans, which means "barking dog". At least 11
different vocalizations are known in adult coyotes.
Director’s Column
Joe Hanner, Exec. Director GCCB
I had an interesting experience in early November while walking in to bow hunt
for deer that took me back quite a few years. I still had about 300 yards to go
when I heard a sound that caused me to stop and think, “What was that? I should
know what that is.”
About three to four seconds later, I heard the
sound again followed by an eruption of wings
as a covey of bobwhite quail exploded into
flight about ten yards ahead of me. The sound
that I heard was an alarm call that quail make
when they are nervous.
Unfortunately, it was a sound that I had not
heard in several years. I always find amazing
the number of sounds and smells in nature
that take me back to earlier years. The sight of that covey rise put a smile on my
face and took me back to the 1970’s, 1980’s, and early 1990’s when coveys of quail
were quite common in Guthrie County and southern Iowa.
In my youth, it was common to stumble into coveys of quail north, east, and west
of Stuart, Iowa, where I grew up. Around the age of 16 or so (1978), driver’s licenses became available for my friends and me so we began ranging out more to hunt
small game such as pheasants quail, rabbits, and squirrels. In the fall, I would expect to find multiple coveys of quail where weedy, brushy habitat intersected corn
or soybean ground. This pattern continued into the early to mid-1990’s. After that,
there seemed to be less and less quail and even pheasants for that matter.
Heavy spring and summer rains coupled with a changing agricultural landscape
impacted ground nesting bird reproduction and sent populations in a downward
spiral across Guthrie County and the State of Iowa. Sightings of quail were uncommon locally over the past couple of decades.
Over the last two years, I started hearing reports of more pheasants and even
quail from local outdoorsmen. I had been seeing more pheasants and even a few
quail during spring and summer months so I should not have been surprised
when I heard that warning call from the covey and the eruption of wings. It was
truly a beautiful sight and sound, one I hope to experience more and more in the
future.
What a difference
a couple of days
make. Top picture
is at Lenon Mill
Park on December
11, 2015. Fisherman and women
took in the 60 degree temperatures
and unseasonably
good fishing.
The bottom picture
is taken on December 14, 2015. With
snow on the
ground and waters
rising to flood
stage, Lenon Mill
Park was closed off
due to flood waters.
Nations
Bridge Park
flood,
December
14, 2015.
Wildlife Law Enf.
Jeremy King 712-250-0061
WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST
Josh Gansen 515-432-2823
WILDLIFE DAMAGE
Bill Bunger 641-344-4021
FORESTRY (DNR)
George Worford 515-993-4133
FISHERIES
Brian Hayes 515-432-2823 WILDLIFE REHAB
ISU Wildlife Care Clinic
515-2944900
EXTENSION SERVICE 641-7472276
SOIL CONSERVATION 641-747-3812
HUNTERS SAFETY
www.state.ia.us/government/d
nr/organizal/fwb/enforcmt/cour
se.htm
GENERAL DNR INFO.
Hunt Info. 515-281-HNTR
Fish Info. 515-281-FISH
State Parks 515-281-TENT
Forestry Info 515-281-TREE
GUTHRIE COUNTY
CONSERVATION BOARD MEMBERS
Jeff Bump, Chairman ——————————Panora
George Hemmen, Vice Chairman——Guthrie Center
Scott Benton ———————————Guthrie Center
Mike Laabs —————————————— Jamaica
Gary Thompson ————————————— Stuart
GUTHRIE COUNTY CONS. BD. STAFF
Joe Hanner —————————————— Director
Brad Halterman —————Natural Resource Manager
Ted Scheuermann ———— Maintenance Technician
Eric Whitver—————————-Roadside Technician
Kristine Jorgensen ——————— Museum Curator
Karen Gerlich ———————————— Secretary
WEBSITE; www.guthriecounty.org/gccb
GCCB office...641-755-3061
Historical Village...641-755-2989
Nations Bridge Park...515-523-1789
[email protected]
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GUTHRIE COUNTY CONSERVATION