Our network

Urban Wildlife

AU researchers help landowners battle wild pigs with management guide

AU researchers help landowners battle wild pigs with management guide

Wild pigs have become a big problem in the Southeast as they destroy billions of dollars in crops annually, compete with other native wildlife species, and wreak havoc on forests, pastures and food plots. An Auburn University professor and his colleagues have created a book to help landowners manage the rapidly increasing population of wild pigs.

The joint publication of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Mississippi State University Extension Service provides practical information to landowners on managing wild pig populations.

A print copy of the book can be ordered for $5 from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, or a free downloadable copy is available. For either format, click here.

Read full article here.

Source: Auburn University Office of Comunications and Marketing

Close encounters with coyotes in Alabama are on the rise

Close encounters with coyotes in Alabama are on the rise

If you see a coyote on or near your property or in a location where you have never seen one before – don’t be surprised! Such a sighting does not require reporting and should not be cause for concern or panic. In fact, coyotes are found all over Alabama – including in urban areas - and frequent neighborhoods more often than you may realize. Just as humans tend to congregate, settle and reproduce in areas where our needs for resources are met, coyotes can become abundant in areas where they find their survival requirements satisfied.

Since the coyote’s insulating coat protects it from the harshest of Alabama winters, food procurement is its primary hardship. Our state’s coyotes usually have little problem gleaning provisions from the healthy populations of its prey items. Its diet is exceptionally varied and includes furred items such as rats, mice and voles in addition to larger mammals such as rabbits and fawns.