In my 20 years on the farmette I have seen coyotes maybe 3 times. And once because the neighbor was putting cat food out, not wise. Tonight as I am bringing horses in for the night a coyote was right outside the fence, maybe 100 feet away, howling and moving and howling again. I had the feeling he was looking for someone. Would he be looking for a mate? Of course I don’t know if it was a male, just a guess. My chickens are safely locked up, hopefully barn kitty has hidden away. Just kind of odd, tonight. Anyone know about coyote behavior?
Watch him. If he moves on, seems aware and alert, no problem. Distemper runs in cycles in wild animals. They spiral down really fast and get to where they aren’t aware of their surroundings. They show signs of distress. At that point, you can your state wildlife department. Rabies is another possibility, but those animals have very different signs. Coyotes during the day isn’t too uncommon. Coyotes vocalizing near humans is a bit strange.
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Thanks. Yes it seemed weird. He did seem distressed. Usually I hear groups of them occasionally howling during the night which I kind of like except it gets my dogs going.
Rabies can have any number of odd neuro/behavioral signs, including none (at first, anyway).
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I wouldn’t be too concerned. You could always set up a trail camera if you’re worried.
There have been a few times here where I’ll here one close to the tree line yipping. I usually just put the dog back in the house and continue on. Sometimes others in the pack will answer.
Was it yipping? Or howling?
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Definitely howling. But did not come closer, went along the fence about 40 feet then turned back away from the farmette and went out toward the fields where I usually hear them.
I saw a coyote yesterday too.
We would expect pups to be born in March & April, so we may see the dams moving around a little more right now.
Also, this is about when we start seeing newborn fawns, so that could draw coyotes out during the day.
My neighbor shot a coyote a couple of months ago; it was out with another in the early morning (not sure if they are a mated pair, or two males/two females?) but after the one was killed, the other called for it for an hour. It was definitely calling.
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Not worrisome- coyotes are extremely social, it was searching for friends / family.
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There was at least one rabid coyote in my town last week that attacked a person. It was a pack of four, two were shot, only one tested and results were positive. This is Maryland, so not really local to you, but just a head’s up.
I definitely had the impression he or she was seeking someone or something. Would howl then go a few steps and howl again.
I love hearing my pack sing - you will hear individuals calling from different directions, then they will come together & have a celebratory anthem. <3
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Wildlife, I know of your reputation and have a question. I ha e a small farm, horses, no foals, cats or chickens. I have seen the occasional coyote, but have never been bothered by them. Recently, my wildlife camera caught a photo of a huge coyote. It was a great picture so I posted it on FB. I was amazed at the offers to trap it/kill it. My question is why? I could understand if I had smaller livestock it was after but I don’t. Does he pose another issue? I know they are important to the ecosystem and was shocked at the offered to kill it.
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Our packs sing when the volunteer fire department siren goes off. They must think it is another pack, with a truly weird voice.
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There must be something about those sirens that sets them off. We had a small local zoo that was made up of native wildlife that had been injured and could not safely return to the wild. There were several coyotes and every time the fire engines with sirens on went down the road next to the zoo, they all got to singing. So did the wolves.
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Not Wildlifer here, but there is a strong difference of opinion on coyotes in the northeast US at least. Here in CT, coyotes are not a natural part of the ecosystem, they have gradually moved into the area because they are effective generalist predators that tolerate people.
My biggest issue with coyotes is that they effectively displace the native red and grey foxes. ‘Displace’ actually should be: the coyotes kill and eat. Some studies have shown that this causes a ripple effect. Foxes are much better at catching small rodents, i.e. mice, than coyotes. Fewer foxes equal more mice…which equal more ticks. Or more foxes contributes to less tick diseases. I don’t know about other small animals: skunks, opossums, rabbits, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a large coyote population causes changes in those populations as well.
Now, most people don’t offer to shoot a coyote because of the ecosystem issues in New England. Coyotes will kill small domesticated pets, such as dogs and cats. (Flame suit on here, I hate feral cats because of what they do to the bird/amphibian/reptile populations, so I don’t mind that) But, people get really upset when Fluffy gets eaten and they think Fluffy ought to roam unharmed. Hence ‘shoot the coyote’ which is only doing what it is designed to do. But, people are people…
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“Why” is a valid question that I ask myself daily, even though I know the answer. At the heart of it: people fear what they don’t understand & seek to exert control in an uncontrollable world via sometimes-bizarre and self-defeating methods. But another part of human nature is the capacity to ask questions, explore different perspectives, and be open to new ideas. It’s that second part which gives us the capacity to grow & improve ourselves. But it’s all optional & sadly some do not want to do that.
Ecology background:
We do need coyotes in the eastern half of the country, even though they weren’t historically here. They have undergone a natural range expansion (they walked here on their own four paws) which humans enabled by eradicating the grey wolf. Because what we really need are wolves, they are this system’s apex predator. But humans get even more rabidly tied up in knots about wolves then they do coyotes, so I don’t expect we will ever be able to get them back, which saddens me deeply, as they are beautiful, intelligent, & much-misunderstood animals.
An apex predator is critical for trickle-down management (while it doesn’t work in economics, it absolutely does in ecology) & this has been demonstrated in real time with the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone, along with other independent studies. While wolves (and coyotes) are portrayed as eating primarily large game, their diet is actually much more diverse & largely comprised of smaller animals like rodents & what are called “mesopredators” – things like opossums, raccoons, skunks. So when wolves were exterminated, we saw “mesopredator release” – these mid-food-chain animals had population explosions because there was nothing to keep their numbers in check besides food availability. And because humans are, in general, wasteful slobs, they have a world full of overflowing garbage and cat food to munch on.
Both rodents and species like deer also lost a big source of predation pressure and their populations took off as well, which then increased grazing pressure on plant communities and allowed diseases to spread more easily as densities increased and sick individuals survived longer. There are a myriad of other effects, but for the sake of space, these are some of the main important roles predators play.
Coyotes stepped in to that wide open niche as another intelligent, social animal which is also more adaptable to the degraded, disconnected habitats & disruptions caused by humans. They have helped fill some of those roles that are sorely needed – controlling those mesopredators (I know how much horse people love possums in their hay…), which includes feral cats (you don’t have to hate me, I love cats, I have a cat, he lives inside, cats really do cause an overwhelming wildlife holocaust), taking sick/injured/weak deer, keeping rodents from taking us over, and on and on. Because they are more generalized & opportunistic feeders, not a true apex predator, they are not as effective at population control as wolves were, but they are successfully surviving us (so far), which is a huge huge accomplishment that gives me hope for them.
As for foxes, I love foxes too (I admittedly love most everything. Except fire ants & ticks, I’d be fine if those went extinct). I would have to do a lit review for details, but my professional guess is that if fox populations are declining (I’d have to talk to our mammologist to see if they really are), the primary drivers are habitat loss and being hit by cars. Foxes & coyotes do not occupy identical niches, especially grey foxes, who are partly arboreal (climb & sometimes den in trees). Last I asked, the jury was still out on whether the red fox was a continental native here, but I’d have to research that more. But I would still class both as mesopredators.
I completely understand the concerns of, say, a sheep rancher about predators. When your sheep put food on your table (or ARE the food on your table), it’s legitimate to want to protect the poor, stupid things (hey, I also love sheep, I had 4-H lambs as a kind, but they are not the brightest crayons in the box). I come from ag on both side of my family, many friends & colleagues raise livestock, I get it. But there are a LOT of tools to do that which don’t involve species genocide (which most of the time really REALLY doesn’t work & we have the data to prove it). Compensation schemes, where you are paid a fair market value if you document livestock loss to natural predators, have worked very well in many areas. I won’t go into the many details of other options, but working in partnership with biologists & keeping open communication leads to success – we really do want the same things: a diverse world that is pleasant & healthy to live in where we all have enough to eat & resources we need to survive (you know, modest goals, LOL).
I feel like this is probably already way way way too long, but I’ll try a TL;DR – people are afraid of everything, including change (I hate change, I get that too). But we NEED coyotes, they play a vital role, & it is very very very easy to co-exist with them with just a little communication & open-mindedness. And I have to say it: coyotes don’t eat your children & don’t generally pose a threat to humans. Yes, there are rare incidences of negative interactions. But far & away the most dangerous animals that are statistically most likely to harm you (we just did an article about this in our agency publication) are cows, horses, and dogs (& bees/wasps but only if you are severely allergic). But again, humans not known for being rational.
I’m happy to answer any questions or if I don’t know the answer, talk to the specialists I work with – none of us got into wildlife biology for the money (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH, choke, we have to laugh because otherwise it’s too depressing) & by & large, we really do want to help other people learn to coexist & share the wonderful world out there.
Also, I consider myself a realist: I tell people straight up – look, I don’t expect everyone to love wildlife & I can’t demand that of you. You don’t have to, you don’t even have to like them. But here’s the truth, not my opinion, the flat honest truth: humans can’t survive without functioning ecosystems. We CAN’T. Our water supplies, food supplies, the crops we grow, the resources our societies depend on, require the existence of what are now called “ecosystem services.” We’re still learning how to properly value those (because we all know that humans really only care about money), but those values are in the TRILLIONS of dollars easily & they are services that we can’t replace with human-made things. So even the most selfish human does have a vested interest & these issues are very much relevant to every day life.
Here endeth the lesson. For now… 
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Wildlifer, thanks for the detailed information! 
So much is changing and being learned, so fast, it is hard to keep up if one can’t always access the most recent information in studies easily. There is another predator to add in, the bobcat. We’ve had a resurgence in bobcats here, which is awesome, but I wonder how they play into the fox and coyote balance. There is a theory out there in CT at the moment that the increased bear and bobcat population is behind the decrease in the white tail deer population. Or maybe it is something else! I hope they (CT DEEP) run their fawn study again. They radio collared 40 fawns last year and got some interesting results, which coyotes didn’t factor into at all, much to people’s surprise.
Coyotes also help over browsing of woodlands by keeping deer moving and limiting deer populations.
We have coyotes at the barn - haven’t seen any this year but last year saw a huge one and thought it might be a coy-dog. It didn’t seem phased by humans or horses and came quite close to the ring. Question: am I self trail riding solo on my horse if I come across a coyote?
Your horse would kill a coyote in a matter of seconds if threatened. My horses don’t even flick an ear when they hear them. I’m sure they see them ever night.
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