They will do it just because, when they’re training their pups to hunt or just for practice and entertainment. Here in our rural dogs aren’t at all considered a food source for coyotes but they will still ambush and pester them.
[QUOTE=cowboymom;6003824]
They will do it just because, when they’re training their pups to hunt or just for practice and entertainment. Here in our rural dogs aren’t at all considered a food source for coyotes but they will still ambush and pester them.[/QUOTE]
Huh, in my area they definitely eat dogs and I hadn’t really seen them kill them just because. But, the thing about coyotes is they’re very adaptable and so it never surprises me to hear that they behave differently in other locations. 
They do act differently in different places, even different packs act differently. Here exactly where I am they don’t fuss with dogs much at all but closer to town they do. :yes:
I remember once at a ranch I worked at watching one of the guys baling up a pasture on a slope above the house-the way it sloped you could see the whole pasture from the front of the house. The rancher had told me that while he was baling all day his loyal old hound dog Angus was following the tractor all over the field and following Angus all day was a pack of coyotes! LOL They spent all day trying to tempt him away from the tractor and into the brush of the irrigation ditches but Angus knew he was no match for them so he just stayed right beside the tractor. The rancher had a gun with him and was keeping on eye on his dog just in case but the coyotes never got that close, just messed with poor Angus’s mind all day. When they got hungry they would stop and catch a gopher out of the same field and then go back to tormenting Angus. :lol: I cooked at that ranch and I could see it all from the window for three days.
Coyotes are extremely adaptable. I live in suburban Boston, less than 4 miles out of the city, and one town over from me, a coyote went into a yard and took the little dog right in front of the owner. She had let it out first thing in the morning to go pee; the coyote was right there, took the dog, and was gone. Animal control believed it was a female with a litter, but they weren’t able to track her.
I’ve seen them myself on the golf course where I walk my dogs in the evening.
If you are in Ontario you are probably dealing with Coy-wolf…not straight Coyote. This changes things a bit. They are much bolder. Straight Coyote do not pack up like Wolves. Hybrids do. I contacted the MNR about them (they would sit and watch the farm in daylight…barncats all disappeared…) and their only advice was to shoot them and keep our small animals indoors. In that area a broodmare has been killed and many pets. A whippet was grabbed in daylight on a Flexi and the owner had to fight it off to keep her dog. Someones Great Pyrenee was killed.
I was skeptical that it was the work of Coyote or Coy-wolf but by all accounts it is.
They are a marvel of evolution and adaptability. They have been in North America longer than anything. If you kill them the remaining family will have larger litters next season to compensate. Pretty amazing actually.
So…the only real solution is to keep your dog on a leash unless you can be 100% certain of his recall.
Coyotes sometimes do pack up. Ours routinely hunt in packs and they are almost certainly pure coyote. The structure is a bit different–they tend to den alone, but pack up pretty much every night to hunt and that’s usually when you see them. In fact I spend a ton of time in the hills and I’ve only seen a solo coyote once in my area, though I see them in groups very often. And while normally they’re quite shy, in populated areas they can become acclimated to people and get very aggressive, just like any other wild animal.
Of course it’s 6 of one, half-dozen of the other for the purposes of this thread because you’d deal with aggressive coyotes and coy-hybrids (whether dogs or wolves) about the same. I just wanted to point that out. 
[QUOTE=CosMonster;6005832]
Coyotes sometimes do pack up. Ours routinely hunt in packs and they are almost certainly pure coyote. The structure is a bit different–they tend to den alone, but pack up pretty much every night to hunt and that’s usually when you see them. In fact I spend a ton of time in the hills and I’ve only seen a solo coyote once in my area, though I see them in groups very often. And while normally they’re quite shy, in populated areas they can become acclimated to people and get very aggressive, just like any other wild animal.
Of course it’s 6 of one, half-dozen of the other for the purposes of this thread because you’d deal with aggressive coyotes and coy-hybrids (whether dogs or wolves) about the same. I just wanted to point that out. :)[/QUOTE]
Semantics.
Here is an excerpt from the MNR webpage (http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/FW/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_089105.html):
“Juveniles usually leave their parents’ territory during their first autumn or winter to establish their own territory. What are sometimes referred to as “packs” of coyotes are generally an adult breeding pair and their pups from the most recent litter.”
I have never seen an actual pack locally. Singles and pairs only. At night even two Coyote can make enough noise to confuse most into thinking there are numerous out there lurking in the dark :eek:
We have a pretty dense population and a bit of hysteria going on. Food is pretty plentiful for Coyote so unless you make your pet really easy pickins’ you are quite safe…whether it be a “pack” or a “family”.
I’d be more concerned about the possible reintroduction of big cats. If that is true I am not so impressed. Pure speculation, rumor and further hysteria that the MNR brought in some cats…can’t imagine it could be true. I’ll take canids over felines any day.
I’ve had this problem with coyotes as well, both in Phoenix and SoCal. I have even been on a trail ride with my little paint gelding and they literally walk RIGHT by us. It is frightening when they aren’t scared at all!
Semi-urban VA and we have Coyotes here also. Even if it’s a ‘family pack’ that doesn’t make it less scary. A semi-pro hunter I talked to one time about ‘removing’ some of the Coyotes told me that he was stalking one once. He was on his belly in the grass, took a shot at the coyote and missed and stood up to find 2 more about 50 feet behind him, watching him carefully. Presumably they were a lot closer to him before he fired the shot. They took my neighbors Boston terrier and one of his cats a month ago. I think they got one of the feral cats in the underbrush between our property Saturday night – there was something screaming and crying in there but we couldn’t find it. My personal cat (who comes in nightly) was attacked but managed to survive because she squeezed between the bars of the gate on the hay shed and they couldn’t follow, but we had to reassemble her back end. Now I have to keep my GSD in because the neighbor is on a tear and he’s one of those ‘I"ll wait em out with a gun and a bottle of Jack’ type people. I’m afraid he might shoot the Shepard by accident. Having said that, our Coyotes are very, very smart. They came one night to check out the chickens. Hubby fired 2 warning rounds off the back deck and they haven’t come back since – they moved next door where it was presumably quieter and easier to get to the pets. And yes, they are starting to cross with local dogs. The hardware store has a Polaroid of one (shot dead) behind the register that was so monstrously large I thought it was a young Irish Wolfhound. When the bomb goes off, cockroaches and coyotes will be the survivors, I have no doubt.
And this is why i’m so glad i live where i do. Coyotes a problem? shoot 'em. Problem solved. This is why we don’t have many coyote issues, people shoot them…they know people are dangerous so they are less likely to approach.
Doesn’t mean they WON’T, just that they are less likely. The worst problems we have with coyotes would be in spring when calving begins. Then it’s not uncommon for coyotes, singly or in groups, to eat afterbirth or eat a calf as it’s being born. They often eat part of mama too so she has to be shot as well.
And yes, coyotes will kill just because, or for training, etc. So will wolves and mountain lions. Spree killing is a documented fact.
You’ve gotten some good suggestions. I like the wasp spray myself, you can get some good range with that and it’s easy to aim.
As a side note: saturday a local rancher found a steer killed by wolves. It’s our first wolf kill in this area (we are about 200 miles north of Yellowstone). Sure won’t be the last.
Please refrain from wildlife hyperbole or “I heard this story one time…” It does no good and just furthers the spread of misinformation.
Coyotes do what they need to do to survive and luckily (unluckily?) they are good at it; they do not make evaluations of what their prey is as long as it is meaty. Like all wildlife, they should be respected but not treated with irrational fear-mongering or reactionary slaughter.
Domestic animals should always be supervised and under your control, especially small, prey-sized pets. If you need FACTUAL information about co-existing with local wildlife, please contact your state’s wildlife resource agency and speak with a qualified biologist who can give you meaningful information on wildlife behaviour.
[QUOTE=wildlifer;6072280]
Please refrain from wildlife hyperbole or “I heard this story one time…” It does no good and just furthers the spread of misinformation.
Coyotes do what they need to do to survive and luckily (unluckily?) they are good at it; they do not make evaluations of what their prey is as long as it is meaty. Like all wildlife, they should be respected but not treated with irrational fear-mongering or reactionary slaughter.
Domestic animals should always be supervised and under your control, especially small, prey-sized pets. If you need FACTUAL information about co-existing with local wildlife, please contact your state’s wildlife resource agency and speak with a qualified biologist who can give you meaningful information on wildlife behaviour.[/QUOTE]
Curious, are you applying this to livestock as well?
I have lived in coyote country for most of my life and have yet to see a pack of coyotes. Mostly I’ve seen singles or pairs and rarely a family group of mom, dad and half grown pups. I do know that a single or pair of coyotes “singing” can sound like a group of two dozen though. Also, while coyotes may look big, in general they weigh around 35-45#. So they generally don’t want to tangle with a larger dog.
My dogs and coyotes don’t seem to anxious to tangle when the encounter each other out in the field. My dogs will bark and posture but generally don’t leave the yard or come closer to me when coyotes are about. There have been a couple of exceptions. This past weekend I was feeding the horses and Spud, a catahoula and Sadie, a large mix breed were with me. A coyote ran across the corner of the field and the dogs took after it. Sadie only has 3 legs so she decided discretion was the better part of valor and came back to the truck. Spud kept after the coyote who put on the after burners and was getting the heck outta Dodge. About that time coyote#2 showed up, probably the mate of coyote#1. Coyote 2 sees Spud after coyote 1 and then sees Sadie. Coyote 2 gets a WTF look on its face since its now cut off from its mate and is caught between 2 big dogs. So it takes off back the way it came. Spud comes back satified he has defended his farm.:lol:
Coyotes are very curious. I think a lot of what people have interpreted as stalking behavior is actually curiosity. I have stopped a lot of coyotes by whistling at them like you would whistle for a dog. They will stop, look and occasionally take a step or two toward your. This past fall, I surprised a coyote snacking on persimmons when I went to turn off the pump. I don’t know which of us was more startled. He ran off about 20 feet and stopped an looked a me. I apologized for interruptin his meal, turned off the pump and left.
[QUOTE=sisu27;6006146]
Semantics.
Here is an excerpt from the MNR webpage (http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/FW/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_089105.html):
“Juveniles usually leave their parents’ territory during their first autumn or winter to establish their own territory. What are sometimes referred to as “packs” of coyotes are generally an adult breeding pair and their pups from the most recent litter.”
I have never seen an actual pack locally. Singles and pairs only. At night even two Coyote can make enough noise to confuse most into thinking there are numerous out there lurking in the dark :eek:
We have a pretty dense population and a bit of hysteria going on. Food is pretty plentiful for Coyote so unless you make your pet really easy pickins’ you are quite safe…whether it be a “pack” or a “family”.
I’d be more concerned about the possible reintroduction of big cats. If that is true I am not so impressed. Pure speculation, rumor and further hysteria that the MNR brought in some cats…can’t imagine it could be true. I’ll take canids over felines any day.[/QUOTE]
Definitely semantics. In my area I frequently see groups of 5-6 coyotes hunting at night, and have seen as many as 9 running together once. Related or not, I’ll call it a pack.
Agree on the big cats though. I’m lucky enough to live in both cougar and coyote country. Normally I’m low enough that there isn’t too much of a threat from cats, but this year it’s been so dry that I’ve frequently seen their tracks when I’m out riding. Makes me a bit nervous. Coyotes don’t worry me at all, except that I keep my cats indoors and don’t let my dogs wander unsupervised. Even then I’m more worried about stupid drivers than coyotes.
I still like having the cougars around though, even if I do have to worry about getting eaten by one. :sigh::lol: I’ve been lucky enough to see a few over the years and it’s pretty cool seeing a predator that big in the wild.
I used to walk my two chows on lead through a suburb of Memphis around midnight every night. There was a group of about five coyotes who’d trail along behind us, every night, making funny little fussy noises like a car with a dead battery.
This went on for months. I’m sure the eight of us made an odd-looking little parade.:lol:
This was years ago, before one heard all these coyote horror stories, so it just never occurred to me the coyotes would harm us. They certainly never gave me any reason to suppose they would.
If I stopped and looked at them, they’d hold their ground, hopping up and down stiff-legged on their front feet and making bitchy little coughing sounds:) -certainly nothing that looked remotely like a threat or an attack. Just looked like they wanted to express their opinions about my bringing these weird-looking hairy orange dogs near their homes.
So anyway, I wouldn’t worry if I were you. My experience with coyotes left me kind of fond of the little critters.
On a recent trail ride, I met a park ranger who was setting traps for coyotes that had attacked a lab recently. The owners had let the dog loose to play fetch in a lake and 3 coyotes came out of the forest and attacked it on the banks of the lake. The owners shooed the coyotes off.
The ranger suspected that with the drought, the lake/hunting ground was more aggressively being protected by the pack or there was a litter of pups in a den nearby, or both. It happened in the middle of the day, not at dusk or dawn. The trapped coyotes would be released elsewhere, not destroyed like I would have thought.
I think all predators can have a certain amount of charm. They are, after all, more intelligent than prey animals. However, they get a whole lot less cute and “fun” when they start eating your pets. The vet had a lot of trouble finding enough meat to put my cat back together. I had lost a white kitty 2 years before that and never thought of coyotes, but now I’m convinced that’s what happened to him because he liked to hunt way back in the property near the woods. We keep our chickens (kids pets) in a Priefert dog run under the philosophy that if it can keep a German Shepard in, it can keep coyotes out. They do try periodically though. Oh, and that dog run is located next to the barn and dogs are also kept in it, so it’s not like it’s remote and tempting. There are a ton of rabbits, rats, mice, groundhogs, skunks, possums, baby raccoons and fawns here, plus fruits, grain and a variety of other omnivore food sources in the summer, so there really is no excuse for coyotes preying on the domestic animals other than sheer opportunity and perhaps sport. The foxes know better and therefore I give them a pass. Fortunately I am an equal-opportunity person – if I get the opportunity to shoot a coyote, I will do so.
