California seal pups were turning up headless. Experts confirmed the culprit

phys.org

8 points·PaulHoule··7 comments

"In a wildlife camera set up last year near the seal rookery at MacKerricher State Park, ecologist Frankie Gerraty captured a coyote decapitating its prey, confirming many researchers' hypotheses about the maimed seal carcasses."

"Coyotes are making a comeback in the Bay Area and Northern California after decades of decimation by farmers and ranchers, who poisoned and hunted the feral canines."

I do have a problem with this choice of word. Coyotes are not feral nor descended from any domesticated species. They're native (even stated as such in the article earlier).

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feral

And if you'll pull back to sixth grade English you'll remember that connotations are just as valid as denotations. The phrasing is almost certainly pushing certain connotation and recognizing that is just as important as pulling up a dictionary.

But they are journalists and they have editors so they should know better.

> Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait

I think this probably qualifies, a better title would be something like “Experts confirmed the culprit: coastal coyotes”

I am loathe to rewrite headlines if they fit in the 80 character limit as dang frequently restores the original. If it is the original headline at you can’t blame me for writing it.

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