There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.
~ Aldo Leopold
Hiking along trails into the Nova Scotia wilderness has become a popular pastime in recent years. For many, it offers an opportunity to see wild things in their natural surroundings.
Last year, when a young female hiker was killed by a coyote in Cape Breton, many Nova Scotians called for a bounty on coyotes. The call was reiterated last week, when a young woman was again attacked by a coyote near Lunenburg.
The Department of Natural Resources in the province does not believe that bounties on coyotes work. One was unsuccessfully employed here in the 1980s.
As a precaution while hiking in the wilderness, the Department of Natural Resources recommends:
- making noise
- not walking alone
- carrying a hiking stick
Following their recommendations seems more reasonable than putting forth the idea of getting rid of all coyotes in the province for the sake of a couple of bad ones.
- A couple of homemade hiking sticks
Last fall, many family members laughed at me when I created a couple of hiking sticks for use along the Salt Marsh Trail where I’d seen a coyote last year. They doubted if a stick would be useful in an attack and probably thought such sticks were best carried by the likes of wizards such as Gandalf and other old men.
On my first walk along the trail with my stick, another hiker asked me in passing if that was my coyote stick. Maybe my idea wasn’t so far fetched after all.
Though I used the stick several times, it was a nuisance to remember to bring it along. I eventually began leaving it at home, especially on days when I was hoping to take photographs. You need to find a place to rest your stick if you hold your camera with two hands as I frequently do.
However, in light of this more recent attack, I’m wondering once again if carrying a big stick would be a good idea.
Recently, while reading ‘The Places in Between’ about Rory Stewart’s journey on foot across Afghanistan, I was surprised to come across the idea of walking sticks being used to fend off wildlife…
I had carried the ideal walking stick through Pakistan. It was five feet long and made of polished bamboo with an iron top and bottom; I had walked with it for nine months but had not brought it into Afghanistan. It was called a dang, and Jats, a farming caste from the Punjab, used to carry them, partly for self-protection, until the middle of the twentieth century. Many people in both the Pakistani and Indian Punjab still had their grandfathers’ sticks in their houses… One man told me that his great-grandfather had killed the last lion in the Punjab with his dang; striking the ground on every fourth step gave a rhythm to my movement…
As I walked out an old man with a bushy white beard looked at the stick.
“You’re carrying it for the wolves, I presume,” he said.
“And the humans.”
~ Rory Stewart, The Places in Between
Perhaps we westerners could stand to learn a thing or two from folks in the East about the advantages of walking with a big stick.
FAQs about Eastern Coyotes in Nova Scotia
Coyote Problems in Nova Scotia
I like the coyote drawing very much, although I think it rather flatters the critter . . . maybe the ones around here are just naturally leaner and, um, grouchier looking.
I’ve always assumed that hiking with a pair of dogs would discourage most wildlife from stalking me, but I could be wrong. A stout stick is a useful thing. And singing. My singing could send even hungry bears fleeing in the opposite direction.
Thanks Gerry. The one time I did get a good close look at a coyote (while I was driving) it seemed like quite an attractive creature.
Your singing seems to be a lot like mine 😉
What a lovely post – I had no idea, though, that coyotes were so dangerous? I didn’t know they actually attack people?
And I really like the idea of making and carrying a hiking stick – we could use that here too!
Reggie, it’s apparently the coyotes that have lost their fear of humans that are the greatest threat. I first wrote about them last fall at:
https://flandrumhill.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/coyote-problems-in-nova-scotia/
Amy, we hear the coyotes often at night but have never run into them in the woods. However, last week, I did see one walking on the ridge behind our house in broad daylight. I would have trouble carrying a stick due to the camera-challenge. Although the IDEA of carrying the stick sounds good.
Kathy, I think that knowing how to use the stick in defense would be even more effective than just carrying one. However, I’d try yelling at bothersome wildlife before I’d consider hitting it. Perhaps in most cases, that would be enough to send it going in the opposite direction.
I agree completely, Amy….why is it as humans we automatically think of killing all of something off if a few of them are bad? Especially when there are other ways of dealing with it…like walking sticks! We have somewhat the same problem here with the wolf population and it’s a very divisive topic – I tend to just keep my mouth shut as I like the thought of wolves in the balance of our nature.
My dad makes beautimous walking sticks – which I have a number of but always forget to take with me. I’m kind of like Gerry and think that walking with four dogs tends to scare wildlife away. Don’t ever see much more than flushed up partridge and little critters!
Cindy, that’s so neat that your dad makes walking sticks. I first used walking sticks when I was a child visiting my grandparents in Germany. My grandfather had several for my sister and I to choose to take along on our walks in the countryside. They are much more popular among hikers in Europe than in North America.
One stick and one dog? Because I really like to walk quietly in the woods, letting my dog set her own pace and path. Another caution for others who walk alone: walk, don’t run. Even jogging makes you look like prey.
Pamela, walking, not running is excellent advice. Thanks for adding that.
Hmmm…so you like to flirt with danger 😐
Not funny. Better have a companion – stick or no stick.
Btw, talking of grandfathers killing wild animals, I am told my great grandpa had killed a crocodile.
There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.
I believe no one can live without the wild, but only some realize it.
…to learn a thing or two from folks in the East
Planning to visit? 🙂
Swaps, walking with a companion is always a good idea but I do frequently venture out on my own in the woods. It’s just something I’ve always felt comfortable doing – as long as there aren’t any bears known to live in the area.
Wow! Killing a crocodile would be no small feat. There must be quite a story about your great grandfather doing that.
I am not planning on any trips to India at this time 😉 But you never know what the future will hold.
Yes there are some legends about my great grandpa… like how he would drive away bandits with a machete when their caravan came under attack on pilgrimages! He was a giant and had 3 wives!! Unfortunately, I never met him 😦
And the sketch of a coyote is cute…lovingly made 🙂
I have an alternative for you, it’s called a Monopod Shooting Stick which can be used for steadying a camera, a walking stick and for fending off un-naturally approaching wildlife.
http://www.themagicinpixels.com/index.php/2009112480/Equipment-Reviews/BOGgear-Monopod-Shooting-Stick-Review.html
BTW, wild canines are usually very wary of humans but coyotes have learned over the last 20 years that living near people is safer and easier to find food (which does include pets and garbage). I can imagine on an island with finite space brings people and wildlife into each others space more frequently than on the mainland.
Scott, I will check out the monopod shooting stick. Thanks for the link.
Cape Breton is connected to mainland Nova Scotia by the man-made Canso causeway, but I believe that’s only used by cars. Nova Scotia is connected to the rest of Canada at the border with New Brunswick.
We have neither dangerous animals or nature, but plenty of walking sticks…at first I couldn´t figure out why anyone would question you having a walking stick, but your answer to Cindy Lou explained it. It is just not common in America…wich is telling me that you are so much more brave than us. I suppose one learns how to live under the conditions that are.
Perhaps your grandfather also had some small decorations on his stick? A logo from a place he had been visiting,- like it was done with suitcases.
giid, yes my grandfather did have a series of small metal decorations attached to his walking sticks 🙂
[…] Coyotes and Hiking Sticks […]
Wow, I never would have guessed coyotes to attack humans. Pets and livestock, certainly, but I’ve never heard of anyone hurt, much less killed, by a coyote. Considering their abundance, this must still be an unusual occurrence, but a walking stick sounds like a good idea. Maybe you could put a tether on it to make it easier to use your camera? Let the stick dangle from your arm so it’s still “with” you but allows you to snap away? Anyway, wonderful posts, as usual. 🙂