An off-Island animal control officer came to the Vineyard Saturday to talk about coyotes after the predators have been seen several times on the Vineyard this winter.
The first coyote may have arrived on the Vineyard, probably from the Elizabeth Islands. Naturalists have been saying it for years - the coyote is due to arrive someday.
Gus Ben David, the director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, said he had a conversation with a Lake Tashmoo resident who saw one. “She gave me a wonderfully accurate description. We’ve been awaiting but not necessarily anticipating their arrival,” Mr. Ben David said.
Coyotes bring visions of the desert Southwest to mind, specifically of “Wile E. Coyote” chasing the “Road-runner” over rough terrain scattered with cactus. However, the reality of the situation is far different. Coyotes have, in fairly recent times, expanded their range. They are now distributed throughout New York and New England and are spreading southward. In the southern states they are expanding eastward. They are firmly established and regularly seen all over Cape Cod.
A coyote, whose carcass was found on the North Shore last weekend, may have swum to the Island from the Elizabeth Islands.
That’s what Augustus Ben David, director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, is speculating.
The 40-pound, fully mature female adult coyote was discovered Sunday high up on the wrack line at Great Rock Bight in Chilmark by Tim Duys of Vineyard Haven. He delivered the carcass Tuesday to Felix Neck for examination.
Mr. Ben David said this is the first time any coyote has been spotted on the Island, either dead or alive.
Footage of a live Eastern coyote was recorded on a trail camera in Oak Bluffs, close to Goodale’s pit, Island wildlife biologist Gus Ben David confirmed. It marks the third sighting in the last eight months.
A disemboweled deer fawn carcass was found late last week near the Edgartown Water Company station at Wintucket, further confirming the presence of a coyote on Martha’s Vineyard.
The Vineyard has had its second confirmed sighting of a live Eastern coyote — the first sighting in at least three years — Island wildlife biologist Gus Ben David 2nd said Wednesday.
