Coyote pups in my pasture--questions!

[Calvincrowe]

I was working around my barn this afternoon, preparing to mow the back field (attached to my sacrifice paddocks), so I was talking to horses, opening gates, etc. I looked down the slope to the field and finally noticed the 5 coyote pups lounging in the shade of the big oak!! Like, maybe 25 feet from me! Horses were, of course, totally unfazed by their presence. I froze… and took in their adorableness. (OMG…so squeee-worthy! Half grown bundles of puppy cuteness playing in the grass together). But…

They were not afraid of me. They were cautious but didn’t run away. They ambled down the field to the break in hedgerow between our farm and the next one and hung around there. I mowed, and one watched from the very bottom the entire time. He’s still there… playing in the grass. Nothing abnormal about them other than that. No, I have plans on shooting them. I have kept our dogs away from this part of the property since spotting them.

My questions: Is there a den really close by that I’m just not aware of? Are there adults just off hunting, ready to call these goofs in for dinner? Any other precautions I should take? My horses were totally unconcerned by them, and one is on night turnout, so I’m guessing they’ve all met and mingled. I really wish I’d grabbed some photos…

[Simkie]

Oh how fun!

Your horses are not at risk. I’d make sure you know where your dogs are, and keep any cats up at night for awhile.

Take pictures!!

[Calvincrowe]

Seriously-- the pups are adorableness personified! Fuzzy, all big ears and straggly little tails, rolling around in the sunshine. I’ll try to remember to take my phone out when I do evening check.

I know, I know…they kill cats (that’s why ours are not outdoor cats) and are potential chicken killers (that’s why mine are safely contained in two layers of fencing) and are annoying but we share their world and I’m fine being careful with my dogs.

[Bluey]

@Calvincrowe

I was working around my barn this afternoon, preparing to mow the back field (attached to my sacrifice paddocks), so I was talking to horses, opening gates, etc. I looked down the slope to the field and finally noticed the 5 coyote pups lounging in the shade of the big oak!! Like, maybe 25 feet from me! Horses were, of course, totally unfazed by their presence. I froze… and took in their adorableness. (OMG…so squeee-worthy! Half grown bundles of puppy cuteness playing in the grass together). But…

They were not afraid of me. They were cautious but didn’t run away. They ambled down the field to the break in hedgerow between our farm and the next one and hung around there. I mowed, and one watched from the very bottom the entire time. He’s still there… playing in the grass. Nothing abnormal about them other than that. No, I have plans on shooting them. I have kept our dogs away from this part of the property since spotting them.

My questions: Is there a den really close by that I’m just not aware of? Are there adults just off hunting, ready to call these goofs in for dinner? Any other precautions I should take? My horses were totally unconcerned by them, and one is on night turnout, so I’m guessing they’ve all met and mingled. I really wish I’d grabbed some photos…

I too wish you had taken some pictures, how much fun is that!
Many humans are wired to love little ones, of any kind, coyotes also, we can’t help it.

Decades ago we found a coyote den right by our fence where the neighbor had gassed it and killed the ones that came out.
Guess this one tiny one came out after he left and was wandering around.
We took it home, gave her a bath, she smelled like gasoline, de-bugged her, she was covered in fleas and ticks and raised her with our dogs helping.
Our aussie had never met a youngster she didn’t love, chick or kitten or calf, she cared for them.
Jet the coyote was always very shy and wild, but she got vaccines, deworming and all just as a puppy, our vet was ok with it, but said he was not sure vaccines may work as well in a coyote.
We even took her to dog obedience classes for a bit.
Sadly, a few days before her spay date she disappeared.

It is illegal today to mess with wildlife, better leave them alone, as you are doing.

[TheDBYC]

A lone coyote is unlikely to attack a horse. A pack of them can indeed seriously injure a horse; both by biting or causing it to run in a panic. Coyote have becom a serious problem in our county. The deliberate decimation of species like mountain lions & wolves that prey upon coyote is really catching up to us.

[TheJenners]

@Calvincrowe you know from my social media posts that I am not a fan. The one or two who were visiting me were digging ankle-breakers trying to get mice, digging under my fence into my paddocks and digging BIG holes there. That alone made me not a fan.

[clanter]

just be aware a coyote can carry rabies…

In the “furious” form, wild animals may appear to be agitated, bite or snap at imaginary and real objects and drool excessively. In the “dumb” form, wild animals may appear tame and seem to have no fear of humans.

Understanding rabies

[trubandloki]

@clanter

just be aware a coyote can carry rabies…

Um… so can lots of things. The OP is not talking about playing with them or anything.

[clanter]

@trubandloki

Um… so can lots of things. The OP is not talking about playing with them or anything.

but they could become infected then pass rabies on just as other wildlife can and does… at least around here. But we are in the city where coyotes have been known to stalk and attack joggers… however mostly they just eat cats and small dogs

[trubandloki]

@clanter

@trubandloki

Um… so can lots of things. The OP is not talking about playing with them or anything.

but they could become infected then pass rabies on just as other wildlife can and does… at least around here. But we are in the city where coyotes have been known to stalk and attack joggers… however mostly they just eat cats and small dogs

Are you implying that we (general) should just kill any piece of wildlife we see that might possibly be a rabies carrier?
That is how your posts read.

[beowulf]

OP, I am jealous! The only thing I think is cuter than coyote pups is fox kits… Like someone else said, as long as your dogs are kept close and the kitties/chickens are secure somewhere, all should be well.

The den is likely nearby. Got any rock piles or stump/log piles in the area? They don’t tend to wander too far, the dens are usually in quiet/shady areas close to a water source - oh, if you have a keen nose, you can typically smell them - think acrid smell close to cat urine (both fox and coyote dens seem to smell this way). The parents (usually, but not always a single mom) typically hunt dawn/dusk, but it is not at all abnormal for you to see coyotes out and about during they day. They are extremely adaptable and will change their hunting hours to whatever and whenever their food source is most “active” - be it a dumpster, or rabbits. I am most likely to see coyote puppies in the late afternoon where I live; they like to go through the corn field and “hunt” for mice/rodents. They are so stinking cute, leggy with big ears and so lanky looking!

One year, I even had a very rambunctious pair of puppies who would (gasp) regularly come to our property and play with my german shepherd… They dispersed once fall rolled around. It’s been fifteen years since I saw them and six years since my dog passed – and I still think of both very fondly when I ride past that spot.

A pack of coyotes is not going to attack a horse. If you are dealing with a population of canines attacking a horse it is very likely dog or wolf mixes. Coyotes are small. They are 25-30lb average, have a diet that mostly subsists of small rodents, fruit, and roadkill. Pack wise, the individuals are typically close relatives – a non-related breeding pair, their offspring from last season, and a brother or sister or two who may have dispersed from their parents with one of the breeding pair individuals (called “cohorts”) the season before.

Coyotes are a good thing around a barn typically – they are very efficient ratters!

Urban coyotes can be a bit different and do buck the trend when it comes to “normal coyote behavior” – even then, they are very unlikely to attack large livestock and if they do, it is because the livestock is incapacitated in some way or already dead.

[GoodTimes]

Just enjoy them! We keep trail cameras up in the bush at the pond behind our house so that we have an idea what the wildlife is up too. There must be a den somewhere, we get lots of pictures every year of the pups playing at all hours. We hear lots of yipping as well. Knock on wood they haven’t bothered my chickens, but they’re usually confined to their run.

There’s a pair (could be the same ones) who do a nightly loop on the trail that I walk my dog on at 5am. We’ve never seen them, but in the winter I could see their tracks whenever it snowed. The odd morning we would come across a rabbit kill. One amazing thing about them is that they are capable of walking and trotting perfectly in each others foot steps. I could follow the tracks for a mile thinking it was just one coyote, and then all of sudden there were two sets of tracks, then two would become one, and so on.

In the winter we also remind everyone to make sure they don’t leave any bait with hooks out on the ice after fishing. The coyotes usually head out at dusk to check if anyone left any minnows.

[Calvincrowe]

I am not the least bit afraid of the coyotes in our neighborhood (think suburban/rural interface with smaller 1-2 acre places mixed with large 50-100 acre parcels) with various livestock populating them. We have black bear, cougar, bobcat, foxes, weasels and a plethora of birds of prey (I love the owls who chat back and forth nightly) around us. Never an issue, except with the red tail family who enjoys dining on my laying hens if they get out on the grass around their very large, netted pen.

We heard the adults come ‘home’ last night around 9:30 and greet the pups-- a whole new language of yips and howls than we’ve heard before. I’m betting the den is on the hill leading down to our creek in the blackberries and such. There is a pack who used to den at the farm up the road in a large culvert pipe under the galloping track! That was fun when you’d head to the back acreage to trail ride and have pups pop up to watch you go by. The horses were not bothered much by it, and my gosh-- they are so stinking cute!

[Calvincrowe]

I really needed to mow that field, so I set out this morning to finish it off. I got a two passes in when the adult coyote popped out of the hedgerow and gave me the stink eye. I stopped mowing. Clearly, the den is close by!

[TheJenners]

@beowulf

A pack of coyotes is not going to attack a horse.

Not true, I had a horse attacked by a pack, witnessed by a vet boarding at the same barn. This was in KY. It was not uncommon for them to do this with cows, by trying to run them into fence and then take them down.

[Simkie]

@TheJenners

Not true, I had a horse attacked by a pack, witnessed by a vet boarding at the same barn. This was in KY. It was not uncommon for them to do this with cows, by trying to run them into fence and then take them down.

Sounds like coydog behavior, not coyote behavior. Coydogs (or just dogs running loose) are definitely a problem for livestock.

[skydy]

Do be careful if you have dogs. My brother’s dog was killed by a coyote in broad daylight.

[Calvincrowe]

Yup, we are very careful with our dogs- two are quite small, one is small and very bold, so no one goes out unsupervised. I think the parent coyotes have moved the pack on as we’ve not seen or heard them for two nights/days. I have no worries about my horses and coyotes-- we’ve lived side by side with them for 18 years here and there is plenty of coyote sized prey available. They’ve never bothered the cow/calf operation next door, either. (Nor have the cougars or black bears in the neighborhood for that matter).

[TheDBYC]

Coydog, Coywolf, or Coyote? The 5 Things You Need to Know About Eastern Canids

Coydog is something of a misnomer. They’re eastern Coyote – larger than their western cousins & infinitely adaptable. For example: they will live in groups, they will live in pairs. They’re sort of fascinating, unless yoi happen to raise stock that is susceptible to them.
They’re a huge problem in this county, unfortunately.

Now, there is scientific debate regarding what are colloquially known in this area as coywolves & if they’re in fact a thing separate & apart from the eastern coyote. Some biologists maintain they’re simply eastern Coyote of exceptionally large bloodlines. Others claim they are a separate entity with a higher % of wolf in their DNA. Whatever they are, anecdotally, virtually everyone I knew who raised cattle, sheep, or goats when we lived near Winchester could describe at least one incident where their livestock was attacked by an animal that appeared to be an extremely large (100+ lbs) Coyote. My electrician, who lived in Hampshire County, WV, wouldn’t even camp out in his own backyard with his young children because of these animals.

I am not a member of the Eastern 'yote fanclub. Would love to see wolves & cougars make a comeback in Virginia.

[B_and_B]

Yup! The Eastern Coyote (whatever it exactly is) seems to be definitely different from the Western Coyote. The eastern can be German Shepherd sized, often with coat colorings that are not quite ‘coyote’ and very adaptable to the situation it finds itself living in.
I wouldn’t and don’t worry about a full grown, healthy horse with them. But an older, feeble pony alone? That might be an issue. They have been documented (i.e. video tape) harassing/injuring (to the point of euthanasia) mini donkeys and horses, goats, and of course chickens, dogs, cats, etc. here.
My issue with them is that they outcompete the foxes, which they have displaced. And the foxes are Far, Far Better at rodent control. The Grey Fox is native to New England, no coyote in any form is.