Coyotes

[TheBigO]

We just started seeing coyotes here the last few years. They are not very big. Without a doubt these things could kill the biggest of dogs. I have a dobe and he might fare well against only one. But these things hunt in packs. No dog would have a chance against 4 or 5 of them. I shoot every one I can.

steve

 

[ddl]

Out in the country, which aminal is out of it enviroment? Which aminal has more rights to the enviroment? I find it interesting that people who claim the aminals or fish have more rights than humans, think nothing of it to shoot aminals for being aminals in eating aminals that have no purpose other then please their owners. Save the Coyotes!!!

Dan l

 

[cowboydoc]

Von,
Not sure what you mean by a western coyote but if you're talking about the geographic northwest I can assure that coyotes most certainly do hunt in packs there. Occasionally you will see one or two by themselves but by and large they are in packs, especially at night. Just about everytime you'd see a calf, deer, elk, or dog kill there were a number of them that did it. We either witnessed it, heard them, or saw the tracks.

 

[Von]

Richard,
They all will hunt in packs, just that the western coyotes are more solitary than the eastern, which is more of a pack animal. The eastern coyote lives and hunts more like a wolf pack. With thier larger size they can pull down larger game when working together. Attached is a photo of what they can do, and what can happen to them out west! ( no big cats in the east)

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Dan,

Something we can agree on/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. I have lived here for going on 30+ years and have never had a problem with the Coyotes. My neighbors lose ducks and chickens to them all the time but they let them run loose in the field, so who's fault is that. We have lost cats to the Coyotes but the ones that stick close to the house do fine. I'm not sure about "save the Coyotes" but I will leave well enough alone.

Al

 

[ERNIEB]

On the pack/solitary issue. I have seen both ways around here. About sundown they will group up, and for a while will yip, howl, bark, and just raise a ruckus in general. After dark, I often hear a single animal calling out. Sometimes, it will move a ways and call out again. Sometimes another animal will answer, sometimes not.
My guess is that while they are part of a pack, they split up to hunt. If they find something of interest to the whole pack, then they communicate it. I also beleave that they call out to keep track of where other coyotes are, and to let others know where it is at.
Without exception, the coyotes I have seen in daylight were all single animals. Randolph AFB is about 10 miles away, and the larger jets pass over on landing and take off. I seldom see the trainers out here. Anyway, there is a pack in a mesquite and brush pasture near me that will really raise cane when one of these jets passes over low. The noise must hurt their ears. This is the only time you will hear them in daylight hours.
Research done on coyote scat indicates they eat a wide variety of items, including vegatation, fruit, and insects. I think it's safe to say that coyotes will take the easiest meal to obtain. They will not use more energy to catch something, then they will recieve from the prey. If food bocomes scarce, then they are willing to go to greater extremes. But, IMO their energy intake and output is like an equation that must balence, and can never go into the negative.

Ernie

 

[GlueGuy]

Ernie,

Right you are. They are a lot like a black bear in that regard. Always ready to take the "easy meal" instead of expending a lot of energy. True omnivores.

As for the previous discussion of size, I would estimate the coyotes in this area to be roughly 30 or 40 pounds. They aren't large, but they do run in packs, and are more likely to be alone during the daylight.

My sister-in-law fences in her "compound" area (~~ 2 acres), and she used 8' deer fencing. Her main concern was keeping the deer out of her garden, but it also keeps coyotes out.

The GlueGuy

 

[Bird]

I don't get out away from the house a great deal at night, but we can go out on the patio at night and sometimes hear several coyotes that sound as if they're together. All the ones I've seen during daylight hours have been singles except for two instances; one morning early this year a pair were cavorting in the pasture next door. And about 4 years ago, I was cutting hay that was in three 10-15 acre patches separated by old hedge rows or tree lines. I cut the smallest patch first, which was in the middle, went and cut another patch, and as I came back through that small middle field, there were 5 coyotes scattered over about a 5-7 acre area apparently getting the mice and/or rats I had exposed with the hay cutter. That was about 3:30 p.m.

Bird

 

[ERNIEB]

<font color=blue>apparently getting the mice and/or rats I had exposed with the hay cutter</font color=blue>
The fact that they should show up so soon, I have to think that they had learned to associate the sound of the machinery with an easy meal.
My biggest concern about them here is with the baby calves. I haven't lost one to coyotes yet, but I've heard of it happening. I've been told that it's most likely to happen when the cow is in the process of calving. I know they will sure go after the afterbirth. Once after a cow had calved and lost her afterbirth, I got a shovel, and carried it about 100 yards away and buried it. The next day, I found that the coyotes had dug it up.
I worry about the babies for the first couple of days while they are still kind of wobbily. And then these cows have a tendency to hide the calf in brush, and then wander out of sight and even earshot.
My cows have never been worked with dogs, but they positively hate them, and will go after one in a New York minute. I have to think they have been deviled by either coyotes, or stray dogs. Although I've never seen it.

Ernie

 

[ejb]

We have piles of coyotes around us, all the time. We have lost numerous cats so we no longer let them out.

They have never attacked my dog, who is a medium sized mutt, although on more than one occaision they chase each other around the yard in circles, such that I can't really tell who is chasing who...one time I wanted to scare them off because there was about 8 of them chasing my dog around (or vice-versa) so I fired a few rounds over their heads...dumb dog ran off with the coyotes when the gun starting going off (came back an hour or so later)...pretty funny.