Subsidized Predators

Do Not Feed Animals

Among the seashore's mammals, coyote, red fox, raccoon, skunk, and opossum are examples of subsidized predators that are impacting declining species. For this reason, among many others, feeding wildlife in Cape Cod National Seashore is not allowed.

 

A red fox on a Cape Cod beach.

NPS Photo

Unnatural overabundance does occur on Cape Cod in the case of what are known as "subsidized" predators". These are predators/scavengers with broad diets that take advantage of foods from human sources, such as food wastes, handouts, and road kills. These additional foods allow subsidized predators to reach populations beyond the natural capacity of the landscape, and exert unnaturally high levels of predation pressure on many other species of the park's wildlife. Thus wildlife species such as eastern box turtle, northern diamond-backed terrapin, piping plover, and least tern, already declining in the region due to habitat loss and other direct impacts from humans, may also be subjected to excessive levels of predation, which further threatens their survival. For these reasons, among many others, feeding wildlife in Cape Cod National Seashore is not allowed. Among the seashore's mammals, coyote, red fox, raccoon, skunk, and opossum are examples of subsidized predators that are impacting declining species.

As these processes continue, Cape Cod's mammal community, and the interactions mammals have with each other, other wildlife species, and humans will also continue to change. Because most of the species now returning to Cape Cod after centuries of absence are carnivores, changes in prey density and increased competition between predators will likely ensue, although the outcome of these changes is uncertain. The one thing that is certain however is that as long as the habitats protected within Cape Cod National Seashore remain so, the populations of wild, native mammals it supports will persist. The goal of the National Park Service is for these populations to function as closely as possible to a community of wild animals, responding to natural factors rather than human influences.