Coyote Attack!

[ByronBob]

I'm with Pete,

Get the guns out and quit thinking about other ideas which won't work anyway.

 

[YanmarFever]

As my wife would say SEND THEM A CLOUD OF BULLETS !!
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[sendero]

Here in north TX we have a lot of coyotes. The local fish stocking merchant informed me that lots of the coyotes around here are inbred with dogs.

He claims that these coyote-dogs are a lot more dangerous than coyotes. He says coyotes retreat from people but the coyote-dogs are not afraid of people and will aproach and attack.

I'm gonna shoot me some coyote-dogs if they get near me /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[LMTC]

We too seem to have a large percentage of coy-dogs. Bigger, less fearful of humans, etc. Consider that a pack of feral dogs is generally more destructive, mean, and just plain viscious than most any group of "naturally" wild critters. Now cross them with a critter with an uncanny sense of survival & stalking, a super learning curve, an already developed sense of "pack attack" and you have....well, let's see....you have, ummm.....well, a really efficient predator that will also eat carrion or anything available.

In the very early 90s when I started seeing coyotes fairly routinely while hunting, I would guess most were in the 35# range that I saw. Last few years I hunt less, but those I see are bigger. I've seen a couple of dead ones that were in the 50# plus range, maybe a bit more. Those clearly had a different head shape, and a thicker body, but were definitely not domestic dogs...likely first or second generation crosses.

We had two Lab/Border Collie crosses...SUPER dogs, app. 40# each, hunted in tandem. I've seen them pull a racoon off each other, I've seen one lay up in a low spot while the other worked a field to drive game to her sister (they got a rabbit as I watched), etc. Tough, savvy dogs. They encountered a coyote (maybe more, but I doubt it as they made it home) one day and suffered numerous bites around the head and neck. From that day on, they cowered when they heard one howl.

 

[Freds]

I got this email several years ago:

PA game commission officer confirmed that this was indeed a coyote. It weighed 115 pounds,
was a female and was shot near Friendsville PA."

Sanford S. Smith, Ph.D.
Extension Specialist, Forest Resources & Youth Education
Penn State School of Forest Resources
7 Ferguson Building
University Park, PA 16802-4302
814-863-0401 (phone)
1-800-235-9473 (PA toll-free only)
814-865-6275 (fax)
sss5@psu.edu
http://rnrext.cas.psu.edu/
http://sftrc.cas.psu.edu/

 

[PBinWA]

There's a book that I read that had some discussion about DNA testing being done on the coyote and wolf populations in the US.
Apparently, the coyote and wolf populations are starting to inbreed in some areas due to the lower wolf populations and encroachment of us people. I think this was mostly on the east coast. There was some DNA testing done on some large coyotes some where else that showed some Collie DNA in the coyotes.

I think this is the book:
Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution

It is an interesting read. I really remember the stories about the village dogs in Africa and how in some tribes it is customary to give puppies to new babies as a form of "diaper genie" - but without the diaper. ; )

 

[LMTC]

Dead ones I saw weren't 115#, but had similar appearance...i.e., body lines somewhat like a German Shepherd, but clearly coyote-like facial features. They were big enough to make me believe they could whip my @-- if they got a hold. For years I carried a pistol (usually in a chest holster) and a knife on my hip out of just such concern when I was bow hunting. One encounter with a feral dog pack taught me a serious lesson. My brother used to chide me about this until the day he spent hours in a tree no more than 300 yards from his house after a pack of ferals forced him to climb while checking the water level in the creek (dry spell, stock was thirsty)

 

[EastTexFrank]

Don't mess with coyotes ... shoot them. Obviously the ones who were around your dog weren't all that hungry or he would have been in a world of hurt. One guy around here let his 2 Dobermans out to chase off coyotes and only one came back and he was all torn to pieces. They attacked my S-I-L's dog at the farm and had to be chased off. Dogs tend to view them as another dog to play with, the coyotes view the dog as lunch. Nope, they're a preditor and unfortunately there's only one way to deal with them.

 

[EastTexFrank]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> the coyote and wolf populations are starting to inbreed in some areas </font> )</font>

Strange, I watched a program recently on the Discovery Channel where they said that since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone, the coyote poplation had dramatically decreased. It seems the wolves kill the coyotes to reduce competion. Still, coyotes and dogs do interbreed and coyotes do eat dogs, so maybe wolves and coyotes ...... ?????

 

[RonL]

Phil

There was an update to this story on the news tonight. They now believe that it was a grey fox that attacked the girl and her father.

RonL