Coyotes are often timid and will usually quickly leave the area once humans are present. However their ability to adapt to survive has made them bolder and easier to spot.

By Lori Larsen

As one of the native species to Alberta, coyotes can most often be seen wandering around the countryside in fields and skulking back into wooded areas, but have also been spotted in more urban areas, searching for food and shelter, and becoming more habituated to humans and human habitat.

Appearing as a cross between a fox and small collie or German shepherd, coyotes typically weigh between nine to 14 kilograms  (20 to 30 pounds). They are noted to be highly curious, intelligent and adaptable animals that feed primarily on rabbits, mice and squirrels, but as omnivores, also feed on vegetation. With a diet that is sustained largely on rodents, they are a valuable natural tool in pest-control.
 
However, the incidence of coyotes sightings closer to residences in the County and appearances within City limits have residents somewhat concerned.

“The coyotes are flourishing,” explained Camrose and District Fish and Wildlife District Officer Lorne Rinkel, attributing their increase in population to a number of variables.

“It started snowing on Halloween (last year) and then got really cold creating a hard snow pack, which has remained to date.

“That works to the coyotes’ advantage because they just run along on top, but the bigger prey (deer) break through the snow. So coyotes in this type of winter are very successful in taking down mostly deer.”

Rinkel said that as a result of the harsher winter conditions, the ungulates, mostly deer, are having a difficult time finding food sources and have resorted to feeding off farmers’ haystacks, which unfortunately, more often than not, results in their death because they cannot properly digest that feed. “This creates another easy food source for the coyotes. I don’t think they are suffering at all. They are having a good winter.”

Another natural food source that has been available to coyotes has been geese that have died as a result of the Avian flu.

“They have had a smorgasbord since last April,” commented Rinkel, adding that information recently released by the Alberta  government indicates that the Avian flu is jumping to other species, including coyotes. “As adaptable as coyotes are, if the coyote doesn’t die from it, they have yet another very available food source.”

While it is not the case this winter, Rinkel said if the coyotes’ natural food sources are depleted, they will come in for urban delights, such as dog or cat food. “When they are up on a porch or closer to a homestead, it is usually hunger driven or in February during mating season.”

He said that the majority of the calls received by Fish and Wildlife concerning coyote encounters occur in February and are usually filtered out by the dispatch centre, providing callers with recommendation and referrals.

“Whenever we do respond to call outs about confrontations between humans and coyotes, it is most often during that season, and there is almost always a domestic dog involved.”

Rinkel noted that during the mating season, coyotes will pack up and the males will cover a lot of ground. “They will attempt to call out domestic dogs and they use that strategy for two purposes. Either they are luring out female domestic dogs that may be in heat–I have seen coydogs, a cross between a coyote and dog–or it is territorial. They will call a dog off its property and attack and they will kill the dog.”

He said that in February, coyotes become even bolder and very vocal. “They do a lot of communicating, yipping and yapping.”
Rinkel speculated that another reason for an increase in the coyote population, hence increased sightings, may be the fact that there was less coyote hunters, trappers and snarers this season.

“From all the people I have spoken with, hunters, trappers and snarers, there is not a lot of trapping/snaring of coyotes occurring relative to the last five years,” which he said may be attributed to the low pelt prices. “People snare generally for profit, so when the pelts are going for lower prices, combined with these tougher winter conditions of drifted snow and high fuel costs, not a lot of people are snaring or trapping for profit.”

He did, however, say that there are some people who are still trapping and snaring as a method of control, but overall it is down. “I haven’t had a single complaint of a domestic dog being snared and generally I have four or five (per year).”

While snaring or trapping can be used to control pests, Rinkel reminded residents that in order to do so, they require a trapping license and it must be done during the legal trapping/snaring season.
“However, any Alberta resident can shoot a coyote al year without any licenses, as long as they have access to property (ownership or permission). And then hides do not have to be salvaged. It is just a varmint animal.”

Coyotes birth the end of March and into April, and after productive winters, such as they have experienced this year, can have anywhere from 10 to 14 pups in a litter, which may also explain the sudden increase in coyote numbers.

“When coyotes have their pups, they are in a den and the mother will guard the den, including from domestic dogs roaming or even on a leash. In April/May, we will get the occasional call of coyotes following people with dogs. There is generally a den in the vicinity.”
 
Rinkel advises that if you should encounter a coyote, back off, make loud threatening noises, maintain eye contact with the coyote and never run. He advised throwing a stick or other object at the coyote and keep yelling at it until it leaves the area.

“It is very rare that coyotes will bite a person. It does occasionally happen, and almost always there is a domestic dog involved. It is like anything in life, people need to be aware and take precautions to ensure the risk of an encounter is lessened.”

Rinkel added that he has never encountered coyotes trotting down the streets in Camrose. “That’s not to say they aren’t around or here at night, but unlike other cities, I have never seen them in daylight on Camrose streets.”

Rinkel also noted that generally coyotes will not take down livestock. “Rarely they may grab a sick or unattended calf, but the herd is very protective and coyotes have a hard time getting into the calves.”
 
Rinkel recommends the number one way of reducing the risk of encountering coyotes close to home is to  remove all possible attractants (food sources) such as pet food, fallen fruit and garbage from your yard. “If there is nothing to eat, they will move on, unless they are there because it is mating season.”

Other tactics people can use to reduce the risk of coyotes entering urban areas are: ensure property fences are in good repair; close off decks, patios, outbuildings and any areas that may be accessible to coyotes for shelter; install motion-activated lights in your yard; clean up dog and cat feces; and supervise your pets whenever possible, especially during mating season.

“The key is to make all human contact unwelcome and unpleasant for coyotes, or any wildlife for that matter,” said Rinkel.
 
According to Rinkel, there are two animals in North America that are specialists in living in urban Alberta–coyotes and deer.

“Coyotes are number one, because they are the most adaptable animal for living amongst humans. They can modify themselves to make it work. Normally, they would have a fear of humans, eat wild food and use wild cover. But they can very easily adapt to using backyards as cover and feeding from garbage or pet food.”

He noted that other than humans, a coyote’s only real natural predator are cougars that will go out of their way to kill coyotes, because they are a threat to their food sources.

“I like to refer to coyotes as generalists. Animals have to be a generalist in order to survive, adapt quickly. The more specialized an animal becomes, the less adaptable they are,” concluded Rinkel, adding that any animal or human, for that matter, that can adapt to general life situations has a better chance at survival.
For situations involving aggressive encounters, phone the Report-A-Poacher number at 1-800-642-3800 and report the details.

Recognizing concerns by County residents regarding coyotes, Camrose County Agriculture Services Board adopted a Coyote Control policy in December of 2021. The purpose is to assist livestock producers in reducing or preventing predation of domestic livestock by coyotes.

Under Section 6 of the Agricultural Pest Act, the duty of the local authority shall be to take active measures to prevent the establishment of, or to control or destroy pests in the municipality. Coyotes are deemed a nuisance under Section 3 of the Pest and Nuisance Control Regulation; therefore, under Section 14, a person may be issued control devices under Form 8 “Agreement to Use Nuisance Control Devices”.

For complete details on the policy, visit camrose county.civicweb.net/document/505/.

Perhaps the “Wile” coyote cartoon is really not far off the mark. He was portrayed as indestructible, tenaciously seeking out food sources and extremely adaptable, including concocting absurdly complex contraptions to catch his prey.

We could learn a lot from their behaviour and, by staying educated and using precaution, can coexist with them.

Jerry Kallal, top, restored a 1963 snow plane to travel around the prairies.  Kevin Ball, lower right, helped tear down the old plane to prepare for restoration. The planes were invented to replace the one horse open sleighs.  

By Murray Green

Jerry Kallal of Tofield owns a 1963 Crosby Snow Plane.

Snow planes became popular in the 1930s through to the early 1960s. They served as transportation to go over snowdrifts and impassable roads.

“The sled was originally built in Crosby, Minnesota. This unit is one of the few snow planes built with a serial number in Crosby, Minnesota.

“I acquired the sled in April 2020.  The restoration process has taken me over two years,” said Jerry.

Jerry’s dad, Charles Kallal, had several different snow planes leading to the interest in owning one.

He purchased the sled, west of Edmonton,  from Tim Sevenson, who had purchased it from Marvin Robinson of Yellowknife.  Marvin acquired it from Alberta Government Surplus.

“The unit had sat outside for more than 20 years and thus required a lot of work to do a complete restoration,” stated Jerry.
The original engine Lycoming 0290G is a surplus ground power unit GPU. This engine needed a complete overhaul. “I acquired a running 0290 D (125 HP) aircraft engine, which has aircraft induction and dual magnetos making plenty of power. I ordered a new wood propeller from Sensenich, a propeller manufacturer, in Florida,” he shared.

“The engine firewall had to be replaced. Norm Duffy offered to replace the firewall which was made from three-quarter inch fir plywood and had to be fiberglassed in. Fiberglass preparation, for the outside body, took 90 hours and was done by Jerry’s brother, Vern Kallal. Painting was completed by Zach Smuk at Tofield Autobody,” said Jerry.

The unit also required a new Sensenich propeller and propeller cage.

A new propeller guard was built. A new engine mount was also built for the Lycoming engine. New stainless exhaust with heat exchangers for the cabin’s heat, was completed by my friend Warren Varty.

“Building the skis was a bit of a stumbling block. Finally, after some research, I created a proper mold so steam bending the ash wood could take place.  The skis were originally made of ash and I wanted to restore it to original as possible. The process of finding wood of this size was difficult. The wood was nine inches wide and nine feet long and was finished with three layers of fiberglass. Clear epoxy was added to add strength and to show the natural wood grain. It was finished with three layers of fiber clear epoxy.”

Jerry has restored more than 12 snowmobiles, with this endeavor being the most challenging and time consuming.

“The project turned out to be a lot more work than expected, but my motto is, do it right and even improve upon the original,” explained Jerry.
A snow plane travels low to the ground, like a sports car, skimming across a snow-covered farm field as if over a choppy lake. You almost think it will lift off.

The snow plane has full electronics with generator, starter, high and low beam headlights, tail lights, and a two speed heater motor. It all had to be rewired by Jerry. The snow plane glides easily over the snow. Caution has to be used as it does not have breaks. Luckily, Jerry is a pilot with experience flying airplanes on skis. Propeller driven vehicles utilized a control by which the operator could tilt the machine from side to side, in effect raising one ski and lowering the other to negotiate up to 45-degree side slopes and permit high-speed turns without skidding.
The design was improved on by allowing the skis to carve their edges into the snow as traditional snow planes’s rear skis will skid laterally during a turn. The ski system apparently made no impact on the commercial or amateur snow plane industry as it did not appear to be used in practical application. Perhaps because of the mechanical complexity of the original design, very few snow planes actually exist.

In 1963, Polaris built a snow plane that did not use ski action, this results in the rear skis skidding across the snow surface through turns.

Snow planes are well suited to travel on frozen lakes and snow covered fields or roads but are not suitable for use in mountains or on rough ground.

Tavis Roch of the Augustana Vikings screens the NAIT Ooks goalie, while a teammate fires a shot at the net in semifinal action at the Recreation Centre.

By Murray Green

The Augustana Vikings compete in the 2022-23 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
 
Augustana Vikings lost two straight games against the NAIT Ooks to be eliminated from ACAC playoffs after receiving a bye in the opening round.

Augustana lost 4-2 and 3-1 on March 10 and 11. In the first game, the Vikings built up a 1-0 and 2-0 lead with goals from Gerrik Ripley and Jack Hamly.

However, NAIT came out flying in the third period and scored four straight tallies to win the contest.

Goalie Daniel Moody of the Vikings stopped 25 of 28 shots directed his way. The Vikings counted 32 shots on goal.

In the second game, the teams were even in the first frame, but NAIT scored twice in the middle frame to take command of the contest. The Vikings cut the lead in half when Conrad Phillips scored late in the third period. However, the Ooks scored two minutes later to put the game out of reach. Goalie Moody turned away 26 of 28 shots fired his way. Augustana recorded 21 shots on goal.

Red Deer and NAIT are playing in the league final.
 
The Augustana women’s basketball team captured silver medals in the ACAC playoffs and advanced to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championship.

The Vikings start their championship campaign against the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) champions, Humber Hawks on March 15.

First-year coach Megan Wickstrom and the Vikings won its third-ever ACAC medal and their first berth to CCAA nationals since 2014 and just their second in team history.
 
The Vikings women’s and men’s curling teams both collected silver medals in the ACAC championships. They moved on to the national bonspiel.

CCAA and Curling Canada held the 2023 Curling National Championship from March 15 to 19 in Sudbury, ON. The Vikings women’s curling brought home the gold medal. Details to come in upcoming edition.

The Vikings had three men’s players Corbin Diprose, Marcus Sawiak, and Beau Cornelson earn all-conference rewards, while Josie Zimmerman was named ACAC Female Curler of the Year.