Coyote Ran by Me Today

[dave1949]

We have lost several ducks and chickens to coyotes and a few cats too. Recently my wife was on a horseback ride and always takes our two dogs. They came upon 3 young pups on the trail 2 of which managed to avoid them the third wasn't so lucky. The dogs attacked it and broke its back. Not packing so had to put out of misery with a rock. Not good for anyone but can't leave it thee suffering. A little while later a bigger coyote was following them. Probably the mother. A few nights later we lost a duck. Wife convinced was revenge killing but I am not so sure. Someone more educated than me said they will send in a younger one to scope out a hunting area. Older wiser ones will stay back and wait for opportunity. I have only seen a couple in daylight. Capture many on my cameras. Its tough when you lose pets and birds but when you live amongst them you must accept it on some level. The hard part is discovering the pile of feathers 50 yards Down trail from my property..

That seems like giving coyotes way too much human reasoning abilities. Maybe the pups were left on the trail while the mother went to check out your ducks. Your wife/horse/dogs came along and the pups didn't have enough fear response yet to take off. Dog puppies do that. I don't think wild animals are capable of revenge with the exception of something like elephants that aren't really wild, like in zoo or circus.

Canines tend to live in the moment. Like dog training, if you don't correct behavior when it's happening, it's too late. The dog has no idea what you are upset about later on. It does know you are upset though and probably wishes it knew why.

PS We did have a dog that could be calculating to a limited degree.

 

[Raspy]

http://www.nafa.ca/wp-content/uploads/NAFA_2012-06-03-WF-EN.pdf

Not to mislead anyone.

I have sold my share of coyotes at auctions like this one.

Nov. thru Feb I harvest every Coyote, fox or Bobcat I can, I give em a break the rest of the year if I can.

I believe thinning them down a little helps keep the species healthy .

Mange, Parvo , Plague, Rabies, starvation can be pretty cruel, but is natures way of dealing with over population.

Stay safe --J

Interesting time frame for "harvesting". Nov - Feb is the time they're in heat, pairing with mates for life and starting to have pups. This is exactly how killing them increases the population.

Normally, the dominant female in the pack is the only female to have pups. If she is killed it causes the rest of the females in the pack to all have litters. If you do this in the mating season it seems to guarantee this result. So, it seems you are responsible for an increase in the number of coyotes. That might be good for you personally if your goal is to sell pelts. But it seems counter productive to society as a whole and it seems cruel.

You justify this by saying you are "thinning" and claiming you're helping to "keep the species healthy", when in reality just the opposite is happening. You are increasing the population and you are profiting from it.

I suggest profit and target practice are the real goals, and the more coyotes the better for you. If not, how could you know so little about the animals you enjoy killing?

If my dog killed a neighbor's cat, I would be very sorry and I would do whatever it took to never have that happen again. But if someone shot my dog for profit, or sport, it would take that problem to a whole other level. That would be serious.

You seem to be killing dogs for sport and profit.

If "nature's way of dealing with over population" is, as you say, "mange parvo, plague, rabies and starvation", I have to ask, why do you want to inflict those horrors on even more animals?

 

[Raspy]

Ditto. Neat story.

Thanks Dave and Steel.

I'll be posting an update on Sandy real soon. There is some news.

 

[J35]

Interesting time frame for "harvesting". Nov - Feb is the time they're in heat, pairing with mates for life and starting to have pups. This is exactly how killing them increases the population.

Normally, the dominant female in the pack is the only female to have pups. If she is killed it causes the rest of the females in the pack to all have litters. If you do this in the mating season it seems to guarantee this result. So, it seems you are responsible for an increase in the number of coyotes. That might be good for you personally if your goal is to sell pelts. But it seems counter productive to society as a whole and it seems cruel.

You justify this by saying you are "thinning" and claiming you're helping to "keep the species healthy", when in reality just the opposite is happening. You are increasing the population and you are profiting from it.

I suggest profit and target practice are the real goals, and the more coyotes the better for you. If not, how could you know so little about the animals you enjoy killing?

If my dog killed a neighbor's cat, I would be very sorry and I would do whatever it took to never have that happen again. But if someone shot my dog for profit, or sport, it would take that problem to a whole other level. That would be serious.

You seem to be killing dogs for sport and profit.

If "nature's way of dealing with over population" is, as you say, "mange parvo, plague, rabies and starvation", I have to ask, why do you want to inflict those horrors on even more animals?

You seem to know a lot about me from reading a post of mine.

Generally when speaking of coyotes they are referred to as a family group not a pack.

A family group has a territory, you can have a family group every square mile, or you can have 20 square miles to the family group' it all depends on food supply.

There is such a thing as fall dispersal , this means the breeding age leave the family group, they try to find a mate and a territory of their own. This takes place every year and has since coyotes first came on the scene, other wise you would have no coyotes because inbreeding would have long since did a way with the DNA that makes the coyote we have today.

When I choose to harvest coyotes I know how many family groups I have in my chosen area by doing preseason scouting.

I take some from each family group plus a few of those transient coyotes from the fall dispersal .

FYI the farther north you are the coyote breed's earlier in the year the farther south you go the later in the year they breed .

Nov. - Feb. is when the fur is prime.

If I kill one or a hundred in a season it makes no difference on the species as a whole.

I have harvested pretty much the same numbers from the same area's for years at a time.
If I were inflicting all these horrors as you would believe how could I do this.

I think emotion's tend to over ride common since and reality.

The way you carry on you would think you were the only one foolish enough to raise a coyote pup and get attached to it, believe me that row has been well hoed.

Stay safe -- J

 

[Raspy]

J35,

Thanks for the additional information.

I'll be the first to admit I have an interest in them in general, and in one in particular. My interest is more in understanding them and trying to see beyond the common idea that they should all be shot on sight. Or that their only value is the price of their pelt. You haven't said that, but it seems a common point of view. They are very interesting animals and very close to domestic dogs, which I also would not enjoy killing.

I know they can be a nuisance, and dangerous. If they were threatening my animals, me, or my family, I'd take action without hesitation. But I have no desire to kill them for sport or profit. It might be different if it reduced their numbers, but apparently it doesn't. In fact it is more likely to raise their numbers and lead to even more problems.

You obviously know a lot more about them than me and have decided that "harvesting" them is a good idea. I'm eager to learn more about the common sense and reality, as you call it, behind this. Please tell us some more.

 

[horse7]

Generally we leave the coyotes alone if they leave us alone.

A few years ago though on the farm we were staying, they started to pack up (I would not say "family up"...) and follow the person on the manure spreader in the back 50 acres or so. Not looking for voles, but slowly getting closer to the tractor and looking the driver in the eye. Driver started carrying a shotgun.... later had some hunters thin them out, the hunters had a great time since after the first one or two easy ones it becomes more of a challenge.

The coyotes are still all over the place howling at night, but we rarely see them. I figure that the pack problem was a population spike like the foxes get, then they crash from disease or starvation. Just this time they did not crash fast enough and needed some help.

 

[bullbreaker]

We don't get to many law enforcement vehicles running down roads with their sirens on in this area, but on occasion when we do. I have found them to be good for locatting general area where yotes are. The packs will start hollering when they here a siren. Always at nite only. Sometimes it amazes me how close to our property they actually are.

Boone

 

[Raspy]

They get really close to us too. We'll hear them on one side of the place and then later on the other side as they make their rounds and pass through. I go out with a light and sit quietly waiting for them to get really close at night. Then turn it on and they go silent. I have never actually seen them even though they are right there.

My coyote friend, Sandy, got tangled up with the the wild ones recently and there was a lot of alarming noises outside. Next day she came to the front porch with a bad limp, some puncture wounds and two teeth missing!

I'm surprised they didn't kill her. She may have been the aggressor since they were in her territory. I don't know.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

Coyotes are thick in our area. Thay don't bother us and we don't bother them.
One thing that we really like is NO SKUNKS!
In 22 years of living here we have seen one skunk all tore to pieces in the front field.
We are beekeepers and skunks can be a pain. The coyotes take care of that for us.
Many people that come to visit ask, "Do you shoot 'em?"
NEWP!
If we had a reason to, maybe we would.
We kind of enjoy having them around.

 

[OcalaPat]

We don't get to many law enforcement vehicles running down roads with their sirens on in this area, but on occasion when we do. I have found them to be good for locatting general area where yotes are. The packs will start hollering when they here a siren. Always at nite only. Sometimes it amazes me how close to our property they actually are. Boone

We have quite a few of them in my part of Florida (north of Ocala). They don't seem to bother anyting, I've seen them at all times of day, but more likely to hear them way out in one of the pastures. My neighbor has lost a calf or 2 over the past few years. Lots of people in the area have stories of how they lost their OS (outside) cat or dog. I have one small dog (Yorkie) and one large dog (Catahoula) I'm sure Hank (the Catahoula) can take care of himself but I don't let either out to run late at night. Got to learn to live with them cause it's impossible to eliminate them.