COYOTES

[oosik]

Whether I like them or not. Today the federal government will be overflying my property and surrounding areas - shooting them. My neighbor - a large rancher - came over to tell me this yesterday. He will be paying $1500/hour for this service. This winter he has already lost to young cattle to the coyotes. He also came over to ask if I would allow them to be shot on my property. I have no range animals but I do have mixed feelings. I told him it was OK. Cattle are his livelihood and I can completely understand his position.

I go to GREAT pains to ensure my little Cocker Spaniel ( Brownie ) and the coyotes never "mix it up". My neighbor does not have that option.

This will NOT be one of my better days.

 

[sea2summit]

Sucks, is what it is. There’s no local hunters who he’d let keep them in check? Killing all of them can create a void of territory that brings in a lot of young yotes and you can end up with a bigger problem with a population surge until they starve out or determine dominance.

 

[MossRoad]

Whether I like them or not. Today the federal government will overflying my property and surrounding areas - shooting them. My neighbor - a large rancher - came over to tell me this yesterday. He will be paying $1500/hour for this service. This winter he has already lost to young cattle to the coyotes. He also came over to ask if I would allow them to be shot on my property. I have no range animals but I do have mixed feelings. I told him it was OK. Cattle are his livelihood and I can completely understand his position.

I go to GREAT pains to ensure my little Cocker Spaniel ( Brownie ) and the coyotes never "mix it up". My neighbor does not have that option.

This will NOT be one of my better days.

Yeah, it's sometimes hard to watch. However, if they are overrun in population, sometimes it needs to be done. Similar happened with deer in Indiana state parks. They overpopulated and ate everything that grew. That effected everything else. So they had to have controlled hunts. Still do to this day, just not as many as the first few years.

If there were no cattle, it would be different, as the prey-predator ratio would naturally seek a balance of highs and lows annually based on populations, weather, food and water sources, etc.

 

[Eagle1]

While I understand the reasons, I found that having coyotes that know the rules are lot less trouble than the ones just taking over a territory. I do have a pack of LGD that are pretty good at teaching rules and all my cattle have horns. Not as easy to snack on a calf when mom has weapons built in.

 

[oosik]

A few years back "rancher" had a local hunter. But there is just too much territory to cover. I guess - a small airplane and a passenger with a shotgun will do better. We shall see.

Coyotes will do the same as the mice, chipmunks and pocket gophers. For every one put down - there are always two more - waiting in the wings - to come on down.

Somebody must think there is an over population. That's why this is allowed.

 

[TheMan419]

I am not a fan of coyotes, but live and let live for the most part. We had one that was too bold. He would be in the horse paddock in the morning when we went to turn the horses out. He would run off. Then he stopped doing that. So he became a potential danger to the horses. One morning I went out with my rifle. Took a shot near him. He got the message and has not been back.

If they were literally eating my profits that shot would have gone differently.

 

[thclimer]

Coyotes are incredible resourceful, they live in some of the biggest cites in America, New York City as well as Chicago.

On the east coast, they are actually a hybrid of the western coyote and I believe the Eastern/Gray Wolf. They clearly don’t look like a western coyote (long legged and skinny), they look more like a smaller wolf (stocky with a bulky head). The ones on our property look pretty big, easily 40-50 pounds, not too many lose dogs or cats survive around here for very long.

It’s unfortunate that your neighbor has to try and control their population but I guess that a consequence of allowing his cattle to “free range”. I hear that coyotes will actually modulate their litter size based upon food availability.

You can exterminate the wolf, like we almost did, but not a coyote, they are just to adaptable.

 

[Jstpssng]

Coyotes, as well as predators in general are and always have been controversial. I used to belong to the kill them all crowd, but have started to realize that

Killing all of them can create a void of territory

The wolves in this end of the nation were wiped out 100 years ago and for a while we were the only predator. Nature abhors a void however, and about 80 years ago coyotes started moving in. They are bigger than what you have though. As they moved in they apparently mated with wolves which made them bigger.

I was just reading about that before seeing this post; hunters here hate them because of the perceived effect on the deer population. Meanwhile some want to save them, and one person who is a founding member of the “Maine Wolf Coalition” claims that coyotes are protected under the endangered species as, because they are up to 20% wolf.

 

[Torvy]

Thinning the pack is a very temporary solution. I see many farmers around here have donkeys to guard the livestock. For us, it will be large dogs. Once the property is fenced I will get another GSD. My wife wants another Doberman.

Coyotes take easy pickings. They learn quickly to avoid critters that fight back.

 

[Straightgrain3016]

Oddity out west; local group(s) is/are offering $15K for info leading to the prosecution of the person who killed a wolf in south central ore-gone; in other news, crime stoppers is offering $0 to find a man who killed a person in portland