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They have tried with guns, with the mastiff dog imported from Anatolia, poisons, traps: nothing.. to defeat the number one enemy of the american farmers remains only one possibility and it comes from the italian Maremma! Its name is Maremmano sheepdog, 100% pride of the italians, of a race of brave dogs who stand up to the wolves, overwhelm them and devour the. In regards to the choice of the dog is responsible the authoritative italian colleague and friend Ray Coppingher of the Hampshire University of Massachusetts after having stayed for months in the centre of Italy. I am honored to have hosted him right here in Todi where we where we endeavoured in going into more profoundly the phylogenetic and behavioral aspects. Before visiting Italy Raymond thought of using dogs from Anatolia, the Portuguese and even the Yugoslav sheepdogs, but was very disappointed to find that these animals were not used to confront and fight against natural and wild element, the wolf.
In Italy the wolves still exist, thanks to the policy of populating the financial balance of the WWF. Coppingher has personally studied in Italy,a group of Pastori Maremmani at work, and was left without words of their abilities, especially when he saw the Appenine wolves retreating from the Maremmano Abbruzzesi sheepdogs. Hence the decision to import similars to the United States, to promote the intensive rearing of this shepherd dog breed, using their ability against the coyotes.
In the merciless war that was fought in North America in the middle of the last century, the coyote, or "prairie wolf" small and agile, opposing to men its natural weapons: intelligence, strength and the exceptional abiliyt of adaption. The coyote is a treachorous and mischievous rascal, his out of tune howling, heartbreaking and whiny differentiates from miles from the slow howl of the wolf, continuous and harmonious. Its almost always busy trying to fool other animals or even oiyself. It repeatedly falls in its own trap and then breaks free and gets out of it unharmed every time. Judging by the results, you can certainly not say that it was defeated, although they kill over a hundred thousand a year in the US. The coyote has supplanted the wolf in almost all the territory of the United States. The distribution area of the coyote , rather than shrink as has happened to most of the animal species, has spread.
Why this fierce struggle against the coyote?It is accused of attackingand destroying domestic livestock causing considerable damage to farmers.. But is the accusation founded?Are the coyotes really damaging the human economy?. Zoologists doubt it. Careful studies on their diet has led to find that these wild canids eat small animals mainly , especially rodents, carrion, insects and wastes of all kinds. Taking into account on the one hand the benefits that the coyote brings to the local economy, by killing rats, or eating carrion and refuse, and on the other handthe damage it causes capturing certain pets and flocks of sheep if they do not have Maremmano sheepdog to guard them, the majority leans on the side of the benefits provided, and one should consider this animal helpful and not harmful.
All the more so when the coyote attacks wild herbivores ( such as deer or elk) it acts as a very effective regulator action of the populations in excess.
In regions where the predators, especially wolves, are gone, there is in facta very serious ecological crisis: deprived of their natural enemies, herbivores have increased to such an extent, enough to destroy all the food resources available in the environment. Therefore they end up starving to death. The predators on the other hand, and it can be seen where the coyotes have have the replaced the missing wolves, exert a natural selection on populations of herbivores, attacking the weakest or ill, which results in a strengthening of those species. The Canadian authorities became aware and , concerned about the massacres of coyotes have limited hunting to a few times a year.
Eating whatever is available is undoubtedly one of the secrets of success of the prairie wolf. But it is not the only one. The coyote has demonstrated its ability to adapt to all environments and all climates.It is perfectly at home in both the burning deserts of the Southwest of the United States as it is on the icy mountainsof Alaska, it lives very well in the mountains but it is just as well in densely urbanised areas. In short, it has become accustomed to the proximity of men.
The number of researchers' studies grow. The ethologist Pamela Mc Maham, University of California, who has long observed the coyote of the Big Band National Park in Texas, believes that this canid has changed its habits ever since the ambushes from men have intensified. Once, even the coyote used to hunt in group, like the wolf. Now it limits this only in the places he feels safe. In other places it prefers to hunt singly or in pairs. It has become less social.
The society undoubtedly offers benefits to its members, but it also presents some disadvantages: a group of animals is identified by hunters more easily than a single animal. And also the bond of solidarity and mutual assistance which binds the members of the pack can be fatal when they rush to the rescue of a wounded comrade, exposing itself dangerously.It is most likely that the disappearance of the wolf has been accelerated by the high sociality of the species.
Abnormal reproductive behaviour: when males fight for females during mating times, it is not sure that the winner will always be the one to possess the female. Many a time it is the female that,silent witness of the duel, chooses the loser, as if to compensate to him the "debacle"suffered.
The intelligence of Coyotes there is evidence, especially the countless animals in captivity. Tagged experimentally under difficult conditions, the coyote always manages to muddle through, finding the right solution to get rid. And it is also significant to this about the behavior of individuals, in nature, in the face of traps: the animal repeatedly manages to seize the bait with cunning without getting caught. If the bait is poisoned, as often happens, the coyotes, almost led to a sixth sense, usually are avoided. And here we also demonstrates his incredible stamina, because many individuals who manage to evade do to survive even if the traps they have injured or severely mutilated.
Returning to the problem that haunts the breeders of America, it is very likely that many of the crimes attributed to the Coyotes are attributable rather to «» coydogs. So they are called hybrids born from the cross between two species, coyote and stray dogs. Terribly prolific, coydogs, unlike coyotes, especially attack domestic animals, such as oxen and sheep. Farmers, given the physical resemblance between the two, does not set them apart and make every herb a beam, but also for the latter is by nature, from Italy that is the solution, again according to the dictates of "mother nature": Il Pastore Maremmano Abruzzese.
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