Coyotes released in PA..True or False

[TreeStandBowHunter]

When I was reading one of the other posts, I remembered something that my Brother and Sister-in-law were telling me the other week. They said that they heard (SO THIS COULD BE A RUMOR MILL, I DONT KNOW) that thousands of Coyotes were released along the 220 corridor out in the Bedford county area. I guess it had something to do with State Farm insurance and all the claims with vehichles hitting deer. I hope that this is not true because if I remember correctly, 1 coyote can kill 14 deer in a peroid of time. That could have a devestating effect on the deer herd out there if this is true. Has anybody heard of this?

[OJR]

Wait until they bring in wolves and then protect them!!! It is getting crazy!

[JimT]

I have not heard anything about this. Doubt it is true.

[wtnhunt]

Oh the rumors. It has been said that here several years back that the arsenal had a release of red wolves to get the coyote population under control. The wildlife people deny it and claim there are no red wolves around here, but my wife and I have in fact seen one.

Dont really know that re releasing or re introducing coyotes anywhere would be needed. They are already everywhere.

[AaronS]

I have a hard time swallowing this one. The coyote population ebbs and flows with the rise and fall of prey populations. There is no need to release new animals if there are already some there. Nature will take its course.

I've heard rumors of the DNR in our state releasing everything from coyotes to rattlesnakes to ladybugs to honey bears (whatever the heck that is). Complete B.S. Usually just someone ticked off at the DNR trying to stir the pot and it snowballs from there.

[JimPic]

There was an article in today's paper about this.PGC & the insurance co.'s deny that any 'yotes were released to control the deer herd.It went on to say that since the hunters didn't kill alot of deer this year,they had to blame something on the lack of deer and the coyotes seemed to be the perfect scapegoat.I think it's just a rumor anyway.

[TreeStandBowHunter]

I figured it to be a rumor too but thought maybe you all heard something about this. I wouldn't think that the PGC would be that stupid to do that anyway.

[G-Daddy]

No coyotes, but my son in law's brother in law has a friend that said he saw a truck with a big cage on the back and this guy was looking for a place to dump bigfoot.

[iron buck]

No need to release coyotes here in PA.....................They have always been around! Quite a large population at that.

Just another internet rumor. It has more TEETH (LOL) when the rumor is rgarding wolves!

[TreeStandBowHunter]

[ QUOTE ]
No coyotes, but my son in law's brother in law has a friend that said he saw a truck with a big cage on the back and this guy was looking for a place to dump bigfoot.

[/ QUOTE ]



[ QUOTE ]
No need to release coyotes here in PA.....................They have always been around! Quite a large population at that.

Just another internet rumor. It has more TEETH (LOL) when the rumor is rgarding wolves!

[/ QUOTE ]

I am not sure if this started on the internet, I believe they first heard about it some doctors office out in Bedford County. I hope that you all aren't insinuating that I started this BS. I heard about it and was trying to find out if it was really true or not. I get my deer every year in PA...no complaints here and my Brother and Sister-in-law sure aren't complaining either because they always get their deer as well. Simple question thats all. Either you heard about it or of it..or you didn't. By the way smart..., did they ever drop big foot off?

[iron buck]

Here is an article on the topic. It is a rumor. It is not true.

BTW........No I did not think you were starting it LOL

PA coyote release for deer population control........Fallacy.

[TreeStandBowHunter]

Thanks for the link. I will surely email it to my brother and sister-in-law so they can pass it on the next time they are at the doctors office

Like I said, I didn't think that it was true but I just had to ask because I couldn't believe the PGC doing something like that...thanks again

I am still waiting for G-Daddy to tell me if bigfoot got dropped off

[G-Daddy]

TSB - I wasn't insuating anything. Actually my sil has a bil with a milk route and he says he came across a guy releasing yotes and saying he was paid by an insurance company to release them in Fulton County - if you can believe that. Why sould an insurance company want to do that in one of the most rural counties in the state? If it would be anywhere you would think it would be in the populated areas where there are many more deer accidents than here. Just poking a little fun and it wasn't aimed at anyone.

[buckee]

[ QUOTE ]
Actually my sil has a bil with a milk route and he says he came across a guy releasing yotes and saying he was paid by an insurance company to release them in Fulton County - if you can believe that

[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't that against the law ???
They would need permission from the state DNR inorder to do this and that would mean, that it is indeed a release program, disguised by the fact that it is not the DNR actually doing the releasing.

Someone needs to look into this, I'd say.

[buckee]

Game Commission quashes deer-coyote insurance rumor

DAN NEPHIN
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Did you hear the one about the insurance agent and the coyote?

So have the Pennsylvania Game Commission, wildlife agencies in other states and insurers.

They all dismiss as urban legend claims that insurance companies and wildlife agencies release coyotes in hopes of reducing deer-car collision claims.

<font color="green"> "There's a lot of people that seriously believe that the agency has been doing this,"</font> said Carl Graybill, director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's bureau of information and education. "The whole thing's pretty absurd."

<font color="green"> While the agency doesn't track such claims,</font> Graybill said wildlife conversation officers are occasionally questioned in the field about it.

<font color="blue">It's illegal for anyone to release animals into the wild without a permit and the agency hasn't issued any permits to insurance companies,</font> Graybill said Monday. Variations substitute other predators for coyotes.

Like other rumors, this one seems to begin with someone who knows someone who knows someone who killed a coyote that has a tattoo, ear tag or collar from an insurance company, Graybill said.

Graybill said the commission has asked that such coyotes be brought in.

<font color="green">"No one ever comes forward with any proof that it occurred,"</font> Graybill said "People can be very gullible, too."

Over the last several weeks, Erie Insurance Group has had calls about the issue.

<font color="green">"It's just a fallacy. It's just not true. That's just not a way that we would manage our risks," said spokesman Mark Dombrowski.</font> Instead, Erie Insurance advises policyholders how to avoid deer by being alert in deer areas and using high beams when possible.

The rumor has been around for at least a half-dozen years and is in other states. The rumor came up at a conservation education summit recently in West Virginia, Graybill said.

"Many times, I've been pointedly asked that question by a number of individuals," said Ray Knotts, district wildlife biologist for West Virginia's Division of Natural Resource's Wildlife Resources section.

"We have never released coyotes and have no intentions of doing so," said Knotts, adding it's illegal to release coyotes into the wild in that state. "It's preposterous to the point of being funny, almost."

To be sure, deer-car collisions are costly for insurers.

About 150 people are killed in deer collisions annually and collisions cause more than $1.1 billion in vehicle damage, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Last year, Erie Insurance paid out nearly $60 million for 29,000 claims filed by customers - about $2,040 per claim. Erie Insurance insures 2.4 million vehicles and deer claims account for nearly 40 percent of its comprehensive losses.

A companion rumor is that insurance companies somehow try to influence deer management practices to reduce the number deer, but Graybill and Knotts deny that, too.

<font color="red">Knotts said he thinks that unsuccessful hunters are simply looking for an excuse as to why they haven't bagged a deer.</font>

"The coyote right now is just a good scapegoat," Knotts said.

ON THE NET

Pennsylvania Game Commission: http://www.pgc.state.pa.us

Erie Insurance Group: http://www.erie-insurance.com
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Latest rumor a combination of two old tall tales

By Bob Frye
TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, December 26, 2004

Some myths just refuse to go away. Others get more outrageous with every telling.
For years, there have been those who believe that auto insurance companies -- desperate to pay out less in claims for deer-vehicle collisions -- influence the Game Commission's deer management strategies. Others are convinced the Game Commission has stocked coyotes across the state in an attempt to lower deer numbers.

The Game Commission, insurance lobbyists and others have long rejected those claims as ridiculous.

<font color="green"> Now, though, someone had put the two rumors together and created one super-myth. There's been talk that auto insurance companies have bypassed the commission and begun stocking coyotes, cougars and other predators into Pennsylvania's wilds on their own.</font>


"I've heard that it was four or five different insurance companies doing the stocking, from All-State to Erie to State Farm," said Jerry Feaser, press secretary for the Game Commission.

"I've heard that it was coyotes. I've heard that it was a truckload of mountain lions. I've heard that someone actually saw one of these animals with an ear tag with the insurance company's name on it. I've heard that it was a lip tattoo."

None of the stories hold up under scrutiny, Feaser said.

For starters, it's illegal for insurance companies or anyone else to release animals into the wild without the commission's permission.

Just to be able to possess wildlife species like, say, coyotes or mountain lions, a person would need to get a permit from the Game Commission. They would also have to have legal documentation showing that they purchased the animal from a legal source and a certificate from a veterinarian documenting that the animal is healthy and free of disease.

"You can't just import wildlife and release it," said Tom Grohall, an employee in the commission's law enforcement bureau in Harrisburg. "It would definitely be illegal."

It's silly, too, to think that an insurance company would stock predators in violation of the law and then mark the animals with ear tags or tattoos identifying where they came from, Feaser said.

Commission officials tried ignoring this latest rumor when it first came up, but decided to discuss it now because it's gotten more attention than it deserves. Grohall said he first heard of it Thursday morning, when someone claimed the insurance companies had stocked tigers.

"When people are actually talking about dropping their insurance companies because they are supposedly a part of this plot, it's getting out of hand," Feaser said.


Bob Frye can be reached at bfrye@tribweb.com or (724) 838-5148




[ QUOTE ]
Actually my sil has a bil with a milk route and he says he came across a guy releasing yotes and saying he was paid by an insurance company to release them in Fulton County - if you can believe that

[/ QUOTE ]
It does make you wonder when you hear guys say they know someone, who knows someone. Maybe there is something going on, that just hasn't been brought to light yet, because people would rather talk than act.
If the insurance companies were doing this on the sly, do you think they would admit to it...LMBO