Coyote barking at me?

[awaywego]

I don’t have a lot of coyote experience but know lots of forum members do.

About an hour ago I was riding around one of the pastures and saw a coyote - no concern but I did note that he/she did the longest pee while I rode up closer to get a better look at her(?). She is not big so guessing she is a she - and she squatted like a female dog pees.

Fifteen minutes later had our dogs out and heard barking coming from the woods. I figured it was the coyote -so they came right back in, and I went to the edge of the yard and yelled to try to get the coyote to move along. I think I startled it because it got quiet, but then went right back to the barking. No yips, just barking like a dog. Eventually the coyote came back out into the pasture and just sat there barking non stop. This went on for at least 20 minutes, before she finally gave up and went back into the woods.

My guess is that it is a female with pups and that’s why she was out for the super long pee and was upset about seeing my dogs? But I have never seen a coyote just barking nonstop like this. Is it normal? Or should I be worried that she is sick?

[QuestionMark]

I’m not an expert, but I do have a lot of coyotes around. They are a mostly unbothered healthy group and they seem to have a lot of reasons for barking and vocalizing, sometimes together but sometimes one by itself. Sometime they seem very pissed off about something but again, they do this regularly and appear to be all healthy from what I see.

[FitToBeTied]

We have a lot of coyotes around and I’ve never heard them bark. Foxes will bark.

[trubandloki]

I was kind of wondering the same thing. I see and hear coyotes and I am not sure I have ever heard them bark, at least not like my dog(s) bark.

[awaywego]

@trubandloki

I was kind of wondering the same thing. I see and hear coyotes and I am not sure I have ever heard them bark, at least not like my dog(s) bark.

Same. I have never heard/seen a coyote bark like this. Honestly it sounded so dog-like that before it came out of the woods, I was really second guessing myself that maybe there was a lost dog in the woods. But when it came back out of the woods it was decidedly the same coyote I had seen while riding. It was so strange!

[TheJenners]

Did it sound like this?

https://www.instagram.com/p/COYOU84Ac1L/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[awaywego]

Kinda like that, but more insistent and non-stop.

Here is the pic I took when I was riding - sorry it is blurry due to zooming in while riding my weenie horse, but I think you can see it is a coyote. Until I got close, the coloring was almost like a fox but I ended up about 15 feet away from it and it was definitely a coyote.

And here’s a short clip of the barking. I don’t have a good video of it barking when it came out into the field and continued to bark.

IMG_0822

To be clear, I do not care about coyotes in general but this behavior is new to me so I want to make sure I shouldn’t be worried about it.

[endlessclimb]

Yes they bark. They bark when they perceive a threat. I’ve had it happen shed hunting quite a bit.

It’s a bit late in the year to have young ones in a den, but nothing is impossible.

[Phaedra1]

She was probably trying to lure your dogs into the bush then once they were far enough they would attack them
I have had them come close to the house, then they would start yipping howling or barking to get our dogs to come but we put them in the house soon as we see one
If you are worried, when you see her again you could make a lot of noise like putting pennies in a can, and chase her

[trubandloki]

Most coyotes do not want to be bothered with canine pets unless they are small and easy pray.

They want to kill things that are not going to try to kill them back.

[TheJenners]

@Phaedra1

She was probably trying to lure your dogs into the bush then once they were far enough they would attack them

That’s a myth

OP I think you’re hearing a challenge bark. That was my recording, but I believe I had a male. If yours is a female, then she could have a den nearby.

[QuestionMark]

coyotes

Here’s a couple of “my” coyotes. Different of course because there are two and there are some other sounds too but plenty of barking.

[S1969]

I had this happen to me earlier this season. Followed me while I was walking 3 dogs off leash, and barked at me - just like in the OPs video. This happened several times. My neighbor said the same coyote would also grab and kill her chickens while she was within a hundred feet of it.

I actually contacted a nuisance hunter who had a license to dispatch animals like this - he took a good shot at it and may have grazed it, but it was running away. He then set traps but did not catch it. He thought it was a bold young male, maybe looking for “friends” - possibly having been run out of another pack because he was challenging the established pack.

I started carrying a big stick and a starter’s pistol (used for dog hunting trials) when I walked my dogs - I don’t have a pistol permit but I was also more worried about one of my own dogs accidentally getting in the way.

I didn’t see it again after the hunter took the shot, but I was wary. A couple months later we found a dead coyote on the side of the road near my house and the one in question had been a distinctive color and we think it was the same one. Can’t say I was sorry. It was too bold for comfort and I am normally a live and let live kind of farm owner.

[OnAMission]

I’ve seen coyotes try to bait a dog out, they definitely will do it in my corner of the world but it’s not super common. The dog I remember the most was an old hound dog that was following his owner as the owner baled up a hillside pasture. B/c of the way the pasture rose above the ranch I could watch the whole thing and one coyote would approach the dog and then run up toward the irrigation ditch, inviting the dog along. It did that over and over as they circled around. I could see more coyotes above the brush of the ditch waiting. The dog knew better and just kept following the tractor and the owner was watching the situation. I’ve had them bark at me when I had the dogs out too, had one follow me at a creepy close enough distance when I was walking my dog, barking (not howling) just often enough for me to know it was still there. My dog was a little chi and I was in the middle of nowhere on a country road; I remember thinking if the coyote closed in I would put her in one of the huge mailboxes along the way! All in all though I don’t worry about coyotes, I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve had any trouble with them at all but I guess we’ve also always had a GP of some sort too.

[mommy_peanut]

@Phaedra1

She was probably trying to lure your dogs into the bush then once they were far enough they would attack them

Please stop spreading misinformation.

[Aces_N_Eights]

I’ve moved around a lot living on remote ranches and I’ll say coyote behavior changes with their environment.

One place they were hunted quite a bit and the land was so open, if they even heard a pickup or a person within earshot they’d take off running in a zig zag motion to avoid getting shot. You’d rarely see a coyote without binoculars.

Other places where they haven’t been hunted they seem to get quite bold or curious because they have rarely been exposed to humans, horses or dogs. I’ve had them follow me and my dogs at close distances riding in the mountains re-riding looking for lost cattle.

I’ve had a young coyote jump my old good dog and try to fight her as we were gathering cattle along a river. My dog whooped him and pinned him a few times, when I found a good spot to drop my cows, I downed my dog and chased the coyote off with my horse far enough off he gave it up.

Many years ago I ended up with coy-dog pup from a male coming down off the mountain and breeding an in heat female. One of the coolest dogs I ever owned. Close to that same area they claimed a coyote would bait domestic dogs out to have the rest gang up and whoop or kill them.

So to say a coyote will or will not behave a certain way is a bit of a stretch for me based on my experiences.

[awaywego]

Thanks everyone. Good to know that this is normal behavior that I just haven’t seen before If the coyote behavior was really unusual, I would be much more concerned about potential health risks. My only real concern with respect to my dogs is basically the same as when they see deer out in the field, and I pray this is not the time they decide to jump the fence and keep running after the deer

I saw my new friend again this evening - opposite side of the property - my mare noticed it before I did. This time he saw us and kept on running to the tree line. This is more of my typical experience with the coyotes I see. The only other one who let us get close was very sick and weak with mange a few years ago I left out ivermectin laced eggs and cat food but it never came back

[S1969]

@awaywego

My only real concern with respect to my dogs is basically the same as when they see deer out in the field, and I pray this is not the time they decide to jump the fence and keep running after the deer

That was my concern as well - I was not really excited about the prospect of a dog/coyote fight. I have 3 and figured eventually they would scare it off and/or kill it but geez, not without injury I’m sure. One of mine is elderly though, and I worried that he’d somehow be the one that got the worst of it.

If you have a gun, I’d take a shot in its direction to keep it from thinking your farm is a safe place to hang out. You don’t have to kill it, but it may be good to keep it from staying.

[beowulf]

@Phaedra1

She was probably trying to lure your dogs into the bush then once they were far enough they would attack them
I have had them come close to the house, then they would start yipping howling or barking to get our dogs to come but we put them in the house soon as we see one
If you are worried, when you see her again you could make a lot of noise like putting pennies in a can, and chase her

This is a common misconception, in part because of oversensationalized media reports of “coyote attacks”, and in part because of FB backyard fear mongering. Luring or baiting is not a recorded coyote behavior. What is a recorded coyote behavior is a coyote will be chased by a dog and will retreat and demonstrate several defensive behaviors including turning on the dog and killing it when it feels it has no other choice. Coyotes are risk adverse opportunistic predators and will typically flee unless they have no other recourse.

That video could be a coyote alerting others to you. The peeing for a long time is sometimes something I see when they are in heat, but it is a bit late for that. If there is any admixture of dog, you can chuck any established norm[s] of coyote behavior out the window. Coyotes usually only go into season in the late winter/early spring, but dogs go into heat several times and year and I am not sure there is much understanding of how coydog’s heat cycles work. The image looks pretty coyote standard to me.

@Aces_N_Eights that behavior is called ‘escorting’ - they follow you at a safe distance to ensure you have left their territory. It is more common in spring when there are puppies around.

I haven’t seen any this summer but we’ve coexisted with coyotes for years now. They are one of my favorite wild-life to see around the farm, they can be so charismatic and funny. I have lots of interactions with them on the trail and never felt concerned or at risk - including with my GSD following. One year, we even had a flirty female who came and played with the GSD out in the corn field. She looked out for him for weeks after, though I didn’t always bring the GSD to the field after that. I was thankful for vaccinations then! She must have found a bachelor because a few months later I saw her teaching her puppies how to sort through freshly mowed corn for snacks.

They have never once bothered the horses, and one even lived in our pasture for a while. The only time they have been a risk is to our chickens. I’m fairly certain the reason our feral cat population suddenly collapsed was because of coyotes. If you have cats outside and see coyotes, it’s advisable to make them indoor cats if you like having them around. If you have dogs, the best thing you can do is ensure your dog actually has recall and is properly vaccinated. If it is small, it’s best not to bring it outside unleashed.

[Simkie]

Like beowulf, we coexist with coyotes here.

This is the time of year I start really seeing very bold youngsters as they start poking around and checking things out. They’re not at all afraid, which is a problem for them. They need to be afraid of people, for their own safety.

I haze when they’re too close, and too fearless, pushing them away, until they leave. It’s not enough for them to trot off a short distance & continue to watch me. I haze by yelling, moving toward them, clapping, tossing rocks in their general direction. It usually only takes a couple times before they get the idea.

To be clear, I don’t mind them on the property. But when they don’t move off when I’m 15 feet away, they need to learn that being that close isn’t safe for them.

We live entirely too close around here to take a shot at anything without intending to hit it.