Got Coyotes?

We have 'em here in Atlanta. On the news last night they showed film of coyotes prowling around the Lenox MARTA station. Incredible! http://www.11alive.com/life/life_article.aspx?storyid=78002

Got .22-250?

I guess everyone has coyotes now. But they may not know it.

They moved into western NY about 5 years ago.

They must be tough competition for the foxes, but apparently there are still some of those around.

They are tough on foxes, and dogs, and cats especially.

Around here, farm cats are better known as "coyote bait".

.22/250 works, as does .223, 7mm,

Bill

No coyote yet but Lordy we have a LOT of fox running around in Arlington, VA!
Grey fox are also rough on the cat population.

"Otherwise known as prairie dogs, coyotes are only found in North America"

That is right from that website. Prairie dogs, I think these people are a little confused on what prairie dogs are. Every once in a while, we'll see them out back behind my parents house. Never had a chance to shoot one. Back in highschool, my buddies used to chase them through the fields in their pickups and shoot them with their AR-15's.

I take the family dog for a run occasionally. He likes to run in the woods. I've been concerned about coyotes, but I've been told, don't worry because he's a big dog. Well this Golden Receiver is big but if there were two or more coyotes and they were hungry enough, I don't know what would happen.

I wonder how many coyotes hunt together. I've only seen one or two at a time.

..I finally found a way to get rid of the coyote; I painted a black tunnel entrance on big flat rock..

beep.

my cat is constantly on the lookout and never goes out at night..
canids that come near the house in the day light hours get shot at, but I haven't yet had the nerve/heart/stomach to actually nail one...yet...

Sometimes when I sit out in the predawn dark or after the sun sets in the woods hunting you can hear a pack start their yipping and howling especially the young in the dens. It is easy to tell when they are on the move and on the trail of a prey, they are not exactly quiet.

Aaron1100us said:

"Otherwise known as prairie dogs, coyotes are only found in North America"

That is right from that website. Prairie dogs, I think these people are a little confused on what prairie dogs are. Every once in a while, we'll see them out back behind my parents house. Never had a chance to shoot one. Back in highschool, my buddies used to chase them through the fields in their pickups and shoot them with their AR-15's.

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:huh2: Someone is confused about what a prairie dog is so here is a link. Prairie dogs are coyote fodder.

http://www.desertusa.com/dec96/du_pdogs.html

Thurmond

they make those high pitched excited yipping party sounds when they have just caught something and are tearing it apart..

Coyotes are not TYPICALLY pack hunters.

However, a female and her young ones will hunt together until they are proficient and she kicks them out on their own.

There have been reports of them banding together to take larger prey, but usually those reports are during very hard winters or times when their common prey, small animals and birds, are in short supply.

Bill

I live on a one hundred acre place, surrounded by high end housing. Part of the acreage is in the city, the majority in the county.

Last summer, two adult coyotes, accompanied by four or five "pups" brought down, and tore apart, a deer, not 100 yards from my house.

The adult male became so bold as to enter our garages looking for food (cats and dogs here).

I roughly located their den from the yipping of the pups, and found they used a long field coming, and going, in the early morning, and evening.

A couple of days hunting from the high side of an overlooking hill brought me luck. A .222 Rem. Magnum put both the adults in coyote heaven. Haven't seen, or heard the pups since.

Still have my dogs too.

hrmmm, looks like this thread may be headed into flame-war territory between the "love all the animals" people and "kill the varmits" people.

Unfortunately, that is the only way to deal with them when they become that brazen.

I'm surprised that the male hung around with the pups big enough to help hunt, but people have reported it.

I to live in a somewhat similar situation, my cats have survived by staying close in and having an entry that a coyote can't get in, but we've had so much recent construction that I think the coyotes have all been shunted out or killed. 7 years ago when we moved here it wasn't uncommon to see them a couple days a week, especially in winter, now I haven't seen one in 2 years, though we did have a deer cross the backyard last winter.

They typically will leave 50-60 pound dogs alone, but take cats and smaller dogs without a second thought.

I always wanted to see one tangle with my pit bull, I just can't think a coyote would have much chance, having seen my pit, just playing, take down an American Bulldog twice her size, various dobermans, German Shephards, and Rottweilers. She has never hurt one, but loves to play rough, and there is no doubt that she is in charge! It's always interesting when other large dog owners, especially those who have though Dobies or Rotts or German Shephards are tough, let their dogs loose to play.

Within seconds, she generally has them on their backs and is tossing them around. We are very careful to stay close, and she never has bitten ANY dog or person, but she is VERY physical. She'll grab them with her mouth, but has never broken the skin of anything.

Once in a while, the other dog will panic and start a real fight, she will protect herself, and then back off and look at them like, "What did I do, I was just playing?"

She'll go into play mode, kneeling down, then running around them.

I recognize that pits were bred to fight, but she is the most interesting pit I have ever met, she just wants to play HARD. I do avoid other dogs if they are females, though, and just let her play with males.

Bill

bwaites said:

Coyotes are not TYPICALLY pack hunters.

However, a female and her young ones will hunt together until they are proficient and she kicks them out on their own.

There have been reports of them banding together to take larger prey, but usually those reports are during very hard winters or times when their common prey, small animals and birds, are in short supply.

Bill

Click to expand...

As a cattle raiser for many years I have personally witnessed them hunting as a pack on numerous ocasions but as you stated it is more typical on larger prey. My area has a population of about 50 per square mile at last count from helicopter. If they catch a calf unattended by it's mother then it is veal time for coyotes.

Thurmond

There's a lone one around here. I saw it in our back yard playing and chasing another dog back and forth. they were having fun playing with each other. I saw it chasing a rabbit about a 1/2mile away too at night. I live in the city BTW. I used to hear him howling everytime a siren went off. I like him but haven't seen him for a while. I'm gettign worried!

Hey eluminator,

Yup, coyotes are in New Jersey. Depending on the environment and prey/fodder conditions, coyotes may hunt solo, as a mated pair, as a family unit (teaching the young 'uns), or as a pack. A typical adult Golden might have a chance against a solo coyote, but against multiples the odds for the GR go way-way down.

The coyote 'playing' with the outside dog? Maybe. Also know of a reputable dog person (don't remember who right now) who was out for a stroll/hike with their adult GR. The dog was ranging out ahead, sniffing and having a good time as the lady strolled behind. Then she saw a single coyote appear on the hillside and try to initiate play with her GR. The GR, typically, wanted to play with this other 'dog', so started to follow the 'yote up the hillside. Then the lady saw the rest of the pack waiting in ambush in a slight gulley/depression on the hillside, unseen by the dog and just barely seen by the lady. Yeah, the coyotes wanted to play alright. They wanted to play DINNER-TIME! The lady barely managed to recall her GR in time.

Be safe, and remember that wild animals are wild animals. Don't play with the coyote.

The "playing" thing happens quite a bit with local farmers dogs and young coyotes who have been well fed, it changes real fast when the coyotes get hungy!

I know farmers who have found dens where the mother coyote has not returned, whether shot or run over, and couldn't bring themselves to cave the den in and bury the pups, the standard farmer/rancher response.

They take the pups home and try to raise them as dogs. 99 times out of 100, they prove they are wild animals, not dogs. Every once in a while, though, one has a different temperament, (maybe a relative to my pit bull?) and acts just like a well trained dog. They jump in and out of the truck, treat everyone like they are members of family, etc.

I never have believed in wild animals as pets, but it happens enough to make people want to try it.

Bad decision from my point of view.

Bill