Arabhorse2 - Please tell me more about coyotes and their hunting - hours & patterns —new to this particular property and I want to keep my cats safe . I lock them up at night as well as during the day if I am gone for long? Are coyotes nocturnal hunters? My feral cats stay in or very near the barn - my two domestic barn cats roam * hunting for mice, moles birds… they do follow the fence lines. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Zu Zu, coyotes will hunt during the day, but are most active at night.
The ones I’ve seen in the daytime don’t look to be hunting, so much as just scouting the area.
Your cats are fairly safe during the day, as long as they have a place they can get into if coyotes come calling.
If you’re keeping your cats locked up at night and when you’re not home, I’d say they have a better than average chance of surviving coyotes than a barn cat who is allowed to roam 24/7.
I’ve seen coyotes in plenty, and hear them sing at night. There’s a family group of them just behind my neighbor’s property, so they’re close.
We also have black bear, but except for scat and footprints, I haven’t seen any.
I feel sorry for the people who live in suburban or urban areas, because they have very few options concerning their animals being lost to coyote predation, other than keeping their pets inside.
Coyotes in suburban/urban areas don’t have a lot of natural prey to hunt, so of course go after the small dogs and cats. Like I said, they’re opportunists.
Roanoke, VA has a huge population of coyotes, and from what I understand, it’s become quite the problem. The coyotes are becoming bolder about snatching family pets in the daytime, because that’s usually when those animals are allowed outside.
I’ve even seen squashed coyotes on major routes like 501 and 460, so it’s apparent they’re quite abundant.
I live in PA. We foxhunt with what we call a “suburban hunt”. Our horses/hounds are very good at crossing roads, ambulances, and large trucks!. We got a puppy in the fall. With in 1 month, coyotes were calling outside our front door…just out of light range every night. Terrifying. We kept a close eye on our puppy and dogs! They finally moved on but got other dogs along the way. We had prof. hunters try to get them but they were too sneaky.
It was determined through some research, oh, I want to say 10 or more years ago, that in areas where folks shot lots of coyotes, the remaining coyotes had larger litters to compensate. In areas where professional trackers were engaged to eliminate only ‘problem’ coyotes, the litter numbers were smaller and the population more stable, and overall, markedly fewer problems with coyotes.
Arabhorse2 — Thank you! Thank You! Information I really needed - as we back up to the woods -I remain vigilant but worry about my male domesticated cat, Cowboy.“Tex” while raised as a barn cat - thinks he is invincible. We have been here two and 1/2 years and still have all cats - thanks goodness the other four barn cats are less BRAVE and stick around the barn. Thank you again!
Oh for pete’s sake!
What do you expect? They are wild animals and they were here first!
As a coyote owner - yes I own one I found thinking it was a stray pup. The vet I took her to set me straight. I have a permit to keep her - she is spayed. She is 19 years old and the kindest “dog” I have ever owned!
Honestly you were upset because a coyote “looked” you in the eyes 
Seriously Knowing my animal I’ll bet that animal was CURIOUS! They are very curious and playful! Keen minded and fun loving. Even things like reflective sun glasses fascinate them - not into attacking but just “wondering” 
Never in my entire life have I ever seen a coyote - even in a pack attack anything larger than it’s self!
A large coy dog or dog perhaps or wolf but not a coyote. They’d have to be starving to even try. They are not considered a “great predator” - which is a predatory animal that does prey on animals larger than it’s self. EDUCATION = KEY!
Know what the predator is before you assume. Coyotes rarely hunt silently they chirp and yip and sing. They count on persistence and help from their pack mates. After they have a successful hunt they are JUBILANT - you know when they have eaten! Dogs, coy dogs and wolves are silent predators.
Have you tried a “farm dog” I have 3 - including the coyote. They have free run of my property all the time. There are no stray animals or people around as my dogs do their JOB and keep it that way!
The mini farm down the street has llamas - never lost a foal and we are in heavy coyote country in this part of northern Illinois!
My cats that stay in the farm yard and stables are never in any danger my farm dogs protect them. The cats that wander down to the creek or out to the road or down the ravine or into the woods are on their own. Sincerely I have lost more to cars even in my own driveway than to coyotes! I have free range chickens here - she has never touched a one! The Labrador on the other hand has killed my ducks and chicks. The neighbors pit bull and boxer have run my horses. And lets not even mention the darn boarder collies!!!
Coyotes aren’t the bugaboos some folks want to make them out to be, that’s true.
They’re just wild animals, like black bear, white tailed deer, bobcats, etc.
I actually like their singing, although it drives my and the neighbors’ dogs nuts! :lol:
[QUOTE=Woodland;4094331]
Honestly you were upset because a coyote “looked” you in the eyes Seriously Knowing my animal I’ll bet that animal was CURIOUS! They are very curious and playful! Keen minded and fun loving. Even things like reflective sun glasses fascinate them - not into attacking but just “wondering”
Never in my entire life have I ever seen a coyote - even in a pack attack anything larger than it’s self!
!!![/QUOTE]
THANK you! I live in rural Arizona and I love the coyotes! They help keep the darned rabbit population down as well as the field mice. I see alot of them but since I have my property fenced off they have never come on my property. But they do come around my trainer’s barn and her labs chase them off. They are not the monsters that some people make them out to be at ALL! As stated before they are opportunists and will go after easy prey. Live with it!
The Sahuaro cactus is endangered! Do you know why??? Years back the ranchers killed most of the coyotes (there was a bounty on them) the decimation of the coyotes caused the increase of mice, who ATE the Sahuaro cactus seeds! A break in the food chain had second and third order effects!
I am not an animal radical, but those who chose to encroach on the wildlife must learn to deal with their “new neighbors”… Heck, here they are trying to encourage the expansion of the JAGUAR population! Now that makes me a bit nervous…
Get a large dog. Large, large dog. That will help, and keep the cats tucked in at night. And advocate for the safety of the new mountain lions and wolf populations as they increase in number…:winkgrin:
Woodland,
While I actually do appreciate that you have one as a pet, I have no time or tolerance for coyotes in the suburban, even rural setting. I even understand Arizona DQ’s comment as there is enough game for her to see the balance needed in her immediate eco system, but the “Live with it!” comment is something I do everyday. I lost a wonderful beagle/JR mix to the opportunists. The farm is 55 acres and the “wilderness” behind is 461 acres. There are no rules for “you stay over there and domestic animals stay over here.” Gwen was killed in broad daylight and they’ve come back stalking the other 2 terriers on multiple occasions.
The terriers think that they can take the coyotes. Watching one coyote lure a VERY stupid JR out into the horse pasture so the other 3 could flank him and cut off his return path to home was VERY unnerving. There was no time to do anything except jump the fence ranting and raving and gather said Jack by the scruff as the coyotes assessed if they could take the human.
We have 7 dogs on the property, none of which can or should take on the coyotes. The greyhound had the wounds and the vet bill to prove she isn’t up to it. So, we are vigilant and we kill then at every opportunity. I’m living with it!
I love wildlife
but the only predators that the coyote’s around here have are cars, so they are big, strong and healthy. The rabbit population is scarce to say the least, and they have to eat something. Since I don’t believe we have wolves and as I said, strays are dealt with harshly (we live in cattle country) something is killing them, the odd calf or goat and the cats. There are too many, and in the surrounding counties the foxhunters routinely run coyote. I’ve been starting to see fewer foxes as well, don’t know if a coyote could catch one or not, but they certainly eat some of the same food. The whitetail deer around here have no natural predators, I suppose a coyote could kill a sick, old or very young one, other than that, the only thing that kills them is Bubba and I-75, I have no problem thinning them out either. I realize we’ve messed up the ecosystem, but I don’t want to have to worry that if I let my Corgi out at night, he’s going to end up some coyote’s happy meal.
I have a friend that found an orphan wolf cub outside her fiance’s ranch one spring and brought it back to Ohio. Great watch dog, super gentle, but with those eyes and teeth, you never forgot what he was and how quick you’d be on the bottom of the food chain. He probably weighed at least a 150lbs, and his back was level with my hip. In the summer he looked like hell, but in the winter, you never saw anything more beautiful, he’d sleep in the snow like it was nothing. I’m not sure I’d ever keep a wild animal, I’m about getting them well or grown and letting them go back to nature as quickly as possible, if possible.
[QUOTE=Woodland;4094331]
What do you expect? They are wild animals and they were here first!
Honestly you were upset because a coyote “looked” you in the eyes Seriously ![/QUOTE]
Woodland, when I read your comments, I thought I might need to give more background info for you to understand where I’m coming from:
Did I mention I can be on Michigan Ave. in Chicago in 30 min.? I don’t live on the outlying edge of sprawl, but rather in the thick of it. The coyotes are definitely moving into the urban areas here – last year one ran inside a Subway restaurant located in the loop (the heart of skyscraper-ville Chicago).
And, I took a little offense (I admit) to the tone of your second quote. Seriously. I wasn’t upset. If you look back, I was unnerved. Unnerved because the coyote was big and 2 blocks from my child’s preschool, and 1/2 mile from my backyard where my 8 mos. old baby girl plays. Unnerved because rather than a wild animal’s typical cautious attitude around humans - he was downright bold and unafraid. It was unnerving. My dislike to him was instantaneous – and so strong that I could’ve pulled the trigger myself. Which, honestly, was surprising to me. Though I’m sure there is a little primitive, mamma bear protecting her family and “the dingo ate my baby” thing going on.
We had a pair living here 3 years ago. We saw them often on the long lane into the farm. After they cleaned the rabbits out they moved on.
My 10 cats survived the coyotes’ stay. I give credit to my chow/wheaten cross bitch who lives outside 24/7. She is a fearless watchdog, and big enough to convince the coyotes to stick with the rabbits.
I saw the dog (?-larger of the pair) when trail riding early one morning. It stared at me and just sauntered away into the meadow. I decided it needed to be a little more intimidated than that, so I called up the farm pack and the chase was on! That humbled the coyote a little, but they still didn’t leave until the rabbits were gone.
Get a big dog-every farm needs a big woofy dog.
I have to agree about being unnerved by the coyote’s braveness.
We are in a rural area not far from Northern Virginia on a very large farm. I have gone walking before with the yellow lab and had a coyote sit in the trail not far in front of me and just watch us. It was not scared at all and just sauntered away as we got closer.
This characteristic definitely separates it from other wildlife, in my book. I will not hesitate to shoot one, as they have come within 200 feet of our house before.
As for cats, we try to make sure that ours is inside by dark every night. I have no doubt that a coyote would make a quick meal of him.
What do you expect? They are wild animals and they were here first
Amen. This thread just showcases the ignorant way in which most humans view any animal that isn’t their own cute and fuzzy pet. If we like the taste of it, we confine it, torture it and eat it. If it lives where we want to live, we clear it out. If it eats what we like to eat, we demolish it. If it bothers us in any way at all, we want to immediately kill as many of that species as we can. I really is a sad world we live in.
And there is something weird about the fact that humans have this strange aversion to any close relative of the very pets and domestic animals we keep. Anyone else notice this?
Coyote survival. . .
A few years back there was a coyote in Central Park, yep think NYC Manhatten. The authorities trapped it to relocate, but it died from the tranquilizer. Maybe she was shopping at Bloomongdales. . .
[QUOTE=carol_okc;4092826]
Sadly, with the number of ‘city’ people populating suburban and even recently-rural areas, there is a ready supply of prey simply because so many of the newcomers don’t have the understanding or vision to avoid contributing to the problem. And opportunists that they are, coyotes thrive on that lack of knowledge. I’m dealing with that now, here in Oklahoma, where the resident coyote population was driven into the center of this section, which is a small wetlands preserve, thanks to the huge increase in residential development on the perimeter. The coyotes regularly get pets from those developed areas, have decimated the local rabbit population, have done a number on the nesting geese and wild turkey, and are brazen enough to hunt in broad daylight.
The local authorities aren’t interested in control measures (but may once the well-heeled ex-city-dwellers complain loud enough). So far, there have been a few complaints over the ‘noise’ when dogs who know the score are doing their job driving the coyotes out of pastures, etc. Great, eh? There is a no-shooting ordinance here, so what legal options do you have? I was told to just put in a 6’ noclimb or stockade perimeter fence… yeah, right. Over a mile of fencing, on ground that washes/erodes badly and will pile up against that fence over time, through a flood plain, etc - what part of ‘you don’t do that to this kind of terrain’ don’t they get?[/QUOTE]
The exact same thing happened here! We always had coyotes, but before the houses came we rarely saw them. You might hear their chilling cries on a rare occasion but you just didn’t see them. Then my uncle sold off my great grandmother’s dairy farm, and several neighboring farmers followed his lead, much to my dismay. Now where there were hundreds of acres of farmland, woodland, and just plain old undisturbed wilderness and wetlands, there are now houses and a few warehouses. Many of these “suburbanite” people are total idiots when it comes to wildlife and it drives me crazy. The coyotes were here first, and their habitat has been taken away by the housing developement, yet these people feel inconvienced by the coyotes!? What nerve! Did you know that cats are a HUGE problem to our native songbirds? We feed out cats and then they go out and hunt the endangered songbirds for fun! Seriously. I think our barn cats cause more damage than the coyotes, honestly. I have never had a coyote touch any of my family’s horses or livestock! Yes they will take down a cat or a small dog, but you as the owner of the animal have a responsibility to see that it doesn’t get in a situation where it is in danger from the native wildlife! Urgh. And they have gotten bolder simply because they have less area to hunt, and therefore less food sources. We have the same problem with deer. They had hundreds of acres to roam in the past, no population explosion mother nature kept them in check with droughts and floods and such. But their habitat is being destroyed by humans and they have a smaller and smaller area to roam, so naturally we humans think there is a problem and they all must be shot to control the population and keep them out of our flower beds. :rolleyes: Before moving to a rural area I think people need to consider that there may be wildlife that they will have to coexist with.
I think there is a lot to admire about a creature so clever and adaptable. Humans have made an all out assault on coyotes, and they not only survive, but expand their range.
I saw a great bumper sticker - “Suburban Mom and Proud - increasing the coyte population cat by cat…”
Another
“Suport the Raptors - put out a songbird feeder”
I have never had a coyote touch any of my family’s horses or livestock! Yes they will take down a cat or a small dog, but you as the owner of the animal have a responsibility to see that it doesn’t get in a situation where it is in danger from the native wildlife!
No kidding. We’ve had them and foxes that come in very close, into our yard all the time. We have three barn cats here, all of them are in their early to late teens. Never had a problem…and if we did, well, thats life. I hate to sound callous, but what are you going to do (and outside of being very inhumane, it is illogical to think you are going to wipe out all of th coyotes in your area)? Don’t have barn cats then. Are you going to try and prevent cars from driving by your place so that your cats do not get accidently run over?
We have small dogs, and we love them dearly and because we feel this way, we don’t let them run around outside in and amoungst the horses and whatever else is out there that may kill them. They stay in a fenced yard by the house when they go outside. Pretty simple.
