Coyotes in my yard!

[OveroHunter]

OMG there were 5 coyotes in my yard this very sunny morning around 8 am :eek: We just moved to this house a month and a half ago and this is the first time we’ve seen them, but you always hear them at night no matter where you live in my rural county.

DH had just let the dogs out for the morning and was watching some brownish blur running across the “back yard.” He got up to look and instead of it being the GSD puppy and our terrier, it was our IDIOTIC teeny tiny terrier chasing a coyote about the size of our Aussie. And speaking of the Aussie, she was in hot pursuit to help out the pint sized moron.

There were about 4 other coyotes a little farther back, but coming closer to the chase. We called our 5 dogs back inside, though it took the terror (oops, I meant terrier) and our big Catahoula a little bit of time to decide to leave their back yard unprotected and in the paws of the coyotes.

I am really concerned. What do I do? I know I am beyond lucky that the terror somehow struck fear into the heart of the much larger coyote… I’m assuming it was a younger one to actually run from our dog.

[TBROCKS]

We have them on our property all the time. We have a little dog, and he doesn’t go out unattended. They for sure will snag a little dog if it’s available to them. Our chickens get limited free range time and always are locked up at night. Watch your kitties, too.
That being said I absolutely love hearing them howl at night. The howling is how pack members locate each other after being out hunting, and also to alert neighboring packs where they are in the location, to set boundaries.
I’ve read that a pack of 2 or 3 can sound more like a dozen.

[FatCatFarm]

They are terrible in GA and I now keep a pack of 3 LGDs to keep the coyotes off the property. Hard to do if your property is not perimeter fenced. Hunting them seems to do no good. I used to think hearing them was neat until they decimated my barn cat population, now, I don’t. They are killing machines. I know they’re just doing as nature intended and this is how we are accommodating to living in their midst. The dogs are very effective but come with some aggravation as they love to displace/renovate my landscaping.

[oliverreed]

Don’t let dogs out unattended. Don’t let cats out any more, period. I dodged a bullet - used to let my cats out at my then new house until I saw coyote tracks coming right up to my back porch the first winter. Kitties never went outside again.

[kasjordan]

Hate to tell you, the coyote was not terrorized, it was leading your pup back to the pack that you saw closing in. She was bringing lunch. Glad your dogs made it back safely!

[OveroHunter]

[QUOTE=kasjordan;7916986]
Hate to tell you, the coyote was not terrorized, it was leading your pup back to the pack that you saw closing in. She was bringing lunch. Glad your dogs made it back safely![/QUOTE]

That sent chills down my spine, but explains what I thought was pretty weird behavior.

[AKB]

We have coyotes in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. I find them quite unnerving. One of them ran up to our fence, even though my 80lb retriever and I were on the other side. When I started screaming and running at it with a water bucket, it backed off.

[Canaqua]

We have quite a number of very large, Eastern Coyotes, in our yard, every day…some of them live in the conservation land on the edges of our property. They crap on our driveway and lawn EVERY NIGHT, they are marking territory. I sometimes see them, running across the drive when I drive up after dark or hunting rabbits in the yard at dawn. Catch them on my trail cam every night. I only rarely see them in broad daylight. They’ve had crazy coyote parties in the back yard, it sounds like a bunch of aliens yipping out there!

I really don’t worry about them, they are interesting to watch and they keep the bunny population under control and eat up some of the apple drops that would otherwise rot.

We have a 70lb dog and a 45lb dog and they just don’t go out without a human attendant, but, then, they never have, even at our old house without all the wildlife. They are both herders and they’d really rather be with the people or in the house, they cannot STAND being out alone.

We have bob cats living on the edge of the yard too, the adults are pretty big, so I wouldn’t let a dog out alone because of them either. And, there is a black bear in the neighborhood who I’ve seen passing through occasionally, he/she broke into a chicken coop down the street and killed the chickens.

I keep a couple of pocket sized air horns by the door. None of the critters have ever acted the least bit aggressive, or even interested enough, but I figure an ear splitting noise will scare them if we ever do have an uncomfortable encounter.

Don’t leave trash or pet food outside and ignore them.

[Lynnwood]

[QUOTE=kasjordan;7916986]
Hate to tell you, the coyote was not terrorized, it was leading your pup back to the pack that you saw closing in. She was bringing lunch. Glad your dogs made it back safely![/QUOTE]

Kas is right it wasn’t running from your little dog it was bringing the menu to the rest of the family.

They are smart and I would be darn shore especially since the terrier is prone to bolt off after them that you are in full attendance when letting them out from now on.

They are smart and can be quite brazen if given reason too.

[UlysMom]

[QUOTE=kasjordan;7916986]
Hate to tell you, the coyote was not terrorized, it was leading your pup back to the pack that you saw closing in. She was bringing lunch. Glad your dogs made it back safely![/QUOTE]

This is so true and is often misunderstood by those who haven’t grown up with coyotes in their hood. Dogs large or small are not safe in these situations, though I have worried less about my hunting or guardian breeds. Everyone has given you good advice. Just be vigilant when your pups are out and keep a look out for them.

When I lived with my folks still, we lived in a rural area that backed to open wilderness space. Coyotes, bobcats and deer were often in our yard. Cats were inside, except when a door was left open and one slipped out. I remember waking up early one morning to find my dad chasing a coyote with a shovel. The coyote had my cat Yoda in his mouth. My dad was in his tighty whitey underwear only. We got my cat back. I think because the coyote was so frightened by the sight, he spit my cat out in reflex.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

Coyotes will eat everything that they can catch. Poodles are a treat for them. Cats, birds, small dogs, anything that a coyote can catch and kill, they will, and eat it too. As Californians in suburbia found out years ago. They wiped out most of the ground nesting birds in Fayette County GA more than 30 yrs ago. Surprising that you didn’t have them in Madison before now. They are not indigenous to the Southeastern states, but were brought here. As they are in central park in NYC and in parks in Chicago. Guard your cats and dogs and small animals like chickens.

And make sure all your animals, including barn cats and horses, have a yearly rabies shot. Goats, sheep, cows, etc. One rabid coyote can cause a death of a domestic animal.

[LexInVA]

We now have Coyotes living in the suburban parks here. They are breeding out in the communities that are 15-30 miles from DC.

[Horsegal984]

We have them in/around Charlotte NC too. There’s a pack that lives in the woods surrounding my clinic. Came outside one night to find one of the techs whistling and calling. “There’s dogs over there howling but they won’t come to me.” Uh, yeah… Those aren’t dogs hun.

[OveroHunter]

[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;7918387]
Coyotes will eat everything that they can catch. Poodles are a treat for them. Cats, birds, small dogs, anything that a coyote can catch and kill, they will, and eat it too. As Californians in suburbia found out years ago. They wiped out most of the ground nesting birds in Fayette County GA more than 30 yrs ago. Surprising that you didn’t have them in Madison before now. They are not indigenous to the Southeastern states, but were brought here. As they are in central park in NYC and in parks in Chicago. Guard your cats and dogs and small animals like chickens.

And make sure all your animals, including barn cats and horses, have a yearly rabies shot. Goats, sheep, cows, etc. One rabid coyote can cause a death of a domestic animal.[/QUOTE]

We haven’t brought our horses home, but will be bringing them soon. Do you think I should be worried about them? We have stalls, but were planning on keeping them out at night during nice weather. They are used to both stall life and pasture life back at the ranch. They’ve always been 24/7 outdoors in the spring/summer/fall unless bad weather and in at night during the cold winter months.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

Your horses should be fine unless they are old and sick and downers, or very young foals. Coyotes don’t go for even white tail deer in the south except if there are fawns in spring. Just make sure everyone has a rabies shot each year.

The first time I ever saw coyotes IRL was in Wyoming where they were walking through a herd of cattle and checking out the calves. The cows were watching them closely.

But those coyotes used to not run in packs. Now they do. You’ll see footprints in pastures. They even howl in the woods behind subdivisions in the South! Small dogs, all cats, and chickens are what they are after.

[Epona142]

I watched a video made up of game camera photos of a whitetail buck fending off coyotes. It took quite a long time, but they killed him. It was fascinating and brutal and really reminds you that nature is far more cruel than we like to pretend.

I do think they were northern coyotes though, which are larger. We have quite a lot in my area, but the LGDs encourage them to keep their distance and we don’t personally have issues with them.

[cowboymom]

Coyotes are different around the country, I’ve found out.

kasjordan is correct and your dogs are very lucky.

I’d build a dog tight back yard fence with electric on the OUTSIDE so you can put them out and not be so concerned.

I don’t worry about coyotes with horses or cows here, at all. We would lose sheep, lambs, chickens and some dogs to a coyote but not a horse or cow/calf. Wolves are the concern there. My Great Pyrenees keeps everything at a distance here.

You have an advantage that you saw them; you know you’re going to have to out-intimidate them and for the love of pete, keep those dogs very securely contained… the coyotes really really want them to chase them out!

[Casey09]

I don’t worry about my horses at all. I might worry if I had a new foal, and I’d worry about a horse that couldn’t get up (though obviously there would be a lot of concerns with that).
I have big dogs, but I would worry even about them if they were to get out in the field behind our subdivision, which is full of coyotes.
For an honest to goodness confession: I’ve lived where I do now for years, but at one time you just didn’t see coyotes. It was a lot less built up in the surrounding areas, so while I could hear them I’d never seen one. A woman had come to my door looking for a lost Australian Cattle Dog, and I told her I’d keep an eye out. I was driving later that night when I saw a dog-like shape trot across the road. I really thought it was that ACD at first, and was shuffling around for her phone number and rolling my window down calling him. I flashed my bright lights and was like, “Wait a minute - that is no ACD.”

[DoubleClick]

Your story sent a chill down my spine. Please do be very careful with all of your dogs, even the larger ones. I would take them all out on leash so there’s no chance for them to give chase. Coyotes are very bold and will try to lure even larger dogs away so the pack can attack. I had one stand its ground as I approached with my parents’ leashed 95lb GSD. I was trying to put a scare into it because it had been eyeing our small terriers (who were behind a 6ft fence) for a number of days in a row.

My parents’ neighbors had their large German shorthaired pointer lured away by a lone coyote - he was then jumped. Somehow, by the grace of God, he got away. And this was a large, male dog. I love all animals, but when you have dogs and other small animals, coyotes are a real threat. Hope the ones by your house move on!

[threedogpack]

some amazing footage of coyotes vs a fawn and the does in that herd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DTgQ8ITtEE