Coyotes

BrianC · Aug 14, 2001

Bird.

Sorry to hear that. Were they (the dogs) roaming in a pack and out for the kill?

I remember a few years ago a stray dog came into our yard and attacked our young goat. It is just shear luck that my wife went outside early in the morning and caught the attack in progress.

The dog was dragging the goat, wife screaming, and me running out (very slightly dressed) to beat the dog off. It took some very powerful blows with a metal rod to get the dog to let go.

Felt stupid standing there in briefs but I guess the goat didnt care.

Again sorry for the loss.

brian

cowboydoc · Aug 14, 2001

Brian,
A rabid animal will attack anything! If a coyote got rabies they definitely would probably attack your horse. I doubt that one coyote would stand a snowball's chance in hell of seriously hurting your horse but they could get a bite or two in and infect them. Keep up on your rabies vaccine and sleep soundly at night. I have never heard of a single coyote taking out a horse so don't worry about it.

PS- Any horse questions you have feel free to ask. I love talking about horses.

Bird · Aug 15, 2001

Brian, it's been over 45 years ago when that happened, in the Healdton, OK, area. There was one red dog, appeared to be a collie mix, and a black & tan hound that roamed together. No one seemed to know where they came from. They attacked our milk cow once right at the barn. Dad was running out there, yelling at Mother to bring his rifle. He scared them off before she could get the gun and the cow had one shredded ear as the only damage. I didn't actually see them kill my horse, but found her dead at the back end of the pasture and from the tracks, torn up ground from the fight, and physical damage, know that's what got her. The other horse was across the road and down the hill. We heard the horse and dogs one Sunday morning and by the time we got there, the horse was down, one ear torn out of its head, and the dogs took off into the woods when they saw us coming. I shot the red dog a few days later at long range with a .22, followed a blood trail until I lost it in the woods, and never saw that one again. They had also killed a hog about a mile north of our place.

The thing that bothered me the most was the fact that the horse across the road was down and obviously dying, but the owner didn't live there. We called the sheriff and a deputy came out, but said he couldn't put the poor thing out of its misery without the owner's consent, and we couldn't find the owner, so Dad wouldn't let me do it either. That poor horse laid there for 3 days before it died.

Bird

cowboydoc · Aug 15, 2001

Bird,
That's terrible on that horse. I think I would have snuck over there in the night and put it down. Hate to see animals suffer, bet it tore you up seeing that.

Bird · Aug 15, 2001

Yeah, Richard, it just made me sick. I couldn't believe that deputy didn't do what needed to be done. But even then he was afraid of the liability even though he had plenty of witnesses to the fact that the horse had no chance at all of recovery. Naturally, the owner showed up 3 or 4 days after the horse died to check on his horses and cattle in that pasture, and he, too, thought a little common sense should have prevailed. Unfortunately, he didn't come out to check on his livestock nearly as often as he should have, but he did give us his address and phone number and permission to promptly put down any animal that in our opinion would not recover.

Bird

ERNIEB · Aug 15, 2001

<font color=blue>Assumed that they were very timid of man </font color=blue>
This is something I find interresting about coyotes. I once spent a summer on the Chapparel Wildlife Management Area, down in South Texas. It's about 17,000 acres in size, use to be part of the Light Ranch, surrounded by other large ranches. I liked to go sit at a stock tank in the evenings. Since, it that country water is scarce, you see alot of critters coming to get a drink. One evening, I walked around the tank before finding a good hiding place. About 2 hours later, 3 coyotes came wandering down the bank. One had his nose to the ground, and as soon as he got to the place where I had walked he took off like a shot. The other two right behind him.
Yet here I've had them come right up to the house to steal a chicken or guinea.
IMO, the coyote is a very adapatable animal. It will either avoid man, or live off him. HIs needs dictate his behavior. In that sense, in an age of endangered species, the coyote is one animal that has thumbed his nose at man.

Ernie

JohnS · Aug 15, 2001

I believe many of the locals (farmers and others) do their best at keeping the coyote population low. Haven't witnessed it, but grapevine indicates it does happen. The coyote's low profile in our area, could certainly be a response to this, and/or food is plentiful and they don't need to pursue high-risk oportunities.

PS: Only have 8 years in current location. Even though I have country blood, probably won't be considered a local, until a couple of generations are established. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

JohnS

utahmule · Aug 15, 2001

Around here there's a $25 dollar bounty on them.

Not that I'll ever get it since the only way I'll ever do damage to one with my rifle is to swing it by the barrel and crack one on the head. We've had them come right up to the house, trying to draw off one of our dogs.

Eric

JohnS · Aug 15, 2001

Eric,

You are a better man than I. If the coyotes near us, started to get that bold and were threatening our pets, I would not hesitate to use a gun. Even though we are the ones technicly invading their environment and they are only doing what is natural for them, pets are loved ones. And in my mind, part of the family and have a higher priority. The odds would still be in the coyotes favor, though. If the coyote was still around after I got it out, loaded it, and actually shot it, either very stupid one or a real serious problem. Haven't hunted in over 20 years, or even pointed a gun at any animals in that time. Its just where I draw the line, right or wrong.

JohnS