Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Preliminary trials suggest that the delivery system or unit described may prove to be a highly selective and effective system for delivering drugs or chemicals to coyotes. The goose egg-size unit's selectivity and effectiveness relies heavily on a newly developed synthetic olfactory coyote lure based on trimethylammonium decanoate (TMAD). The coyote is attracted to the unit, which is placed at ground level, by this highly selective scent lure which elicits a biting and chewing behavior. When a coyote bites or chews the exposed part of the unit, it punctures a plastic reservoir packet containing 10 to 15 ml of viscous sucrose liquid, which serves as a taste attractant, a carrier (diluent) of the active ingredient (i.e., toxicant, chemosterilant, etc.), and as a way of diluting the toxicant, since the amount of active ingredient consumed depends upon the amount of liquid consumed. The sucrose is avidly consumed by coyotes, insuring that coyotes will ingest most of the active ingredient.