Lost little dog to coyotes

[Dozernut]

To the OP, I am sorry you lost your dog, they become family and it is always hard to lose family. I have lost several cats and a dog that adopted us, to coyotes. He was a large dog that the pack lured out and killed. That was a hard loss but I feel a little better every time I drop one of them. No they will not be wiped out but they are learning that it is dangerous around here.

 

[RobertBrown]

The OP said he moved to the country and mentioned 100 acres. I didn't get the idea he lived in the suburbs. Well, everything is bigger in Texas I guess. :laughing:

Yes, he should return if he asks a question. Probably will.

"COUNTRY" is now a subjective term, relative to your last location. His location is denoted as "Cypress Texas" looks like a bedroom community of Houston....maybe 20 miles from downtown :confused3:. I looked it up .....check it out.
Coyotes are everywhere, don't assume they are only rural dwellers. That's why I recommended he use a shotgun and bait. I suspect these yotes are the type to raid a garbage can.

Cypress Texas
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=cypr...ei=u7mhUrqKFMfIkAeSr4HABQ&sqi=2&ved=0CKsBELYD

From the movie "Collateral" I was impressed with that scene. You would have to watch the movie to understand the impact it had.
Collateral Coyote Scene - YouTube

 

[dave1949]

"COUNTRY" is now a subjective term, relative to your last location. His location is denoted as "Cypress Texas" looks like a bedroom community of Houston....maybe 20 miles from downtown :confused3:. I looked it up .....check it out.
Coyotes are everywhere, don't assume they are only rural dwellers. That's why I recommended he use a shotgun and bait. I suspect these yotes are the type to raid a garbage can.

Cypress Texas
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=cypr...ei=u7mhUrqKFMfIkAeSr4HABQ&sqi=2&ved=0CKsBELYD

From the movie "Collateral" I was impressed with that scene. You would have to watch the movie to understand the impact it had.
Collateral Coyote Scene - YouTube

Thanks, that's a good movie clip. I know coyotes are good urban/suburban dwellers.

 

[charlz]

I had a pack of 7 coyotes chasing after my dog howling (kind of a high yapping) heading directly toward me on Thanksgiving day this year. I just yelled and waved my arms and they abandon the chase. My dog was the initial aggressor when she took after one of the coyotes and the other 6 charged from the woods. I was wishing I had my camera more than my gun. Of course if they would not have dispersed I would have wanted the gun for self defense.

That sounds just like what some previous posters have described, lone coyote draws the dog out and then the pack attacks. Might want to keep your dog, your rifle or both close.

 

[charlz]

I am generally a live and let live guy but some times they go 'against the plan' like pocket gophers or muskrats tearing up ditch banks and berms so bad your irritation water doesn't go down the field anymore... just runs off in the drainage ditches.

Cattle ranchers generally shoot every coyote they see because they will kill calves. Part of my family owns a huge cattle ranch in eastern Montana. They have shot coyotes on sight for decades. For those same decades they have been infested with gophers (ground squirrels). Infested to the point that you could shoot hundreds per day and not make a dent. In recent years the food has attracted a new predator... Grizzly sows with their cubs! It is amazing how much ground a Griz will tear up to get some tasty gophers.... it is like you tilled your garden with a backhoe They hang out on the ranch all summer and then move back into the mountains. Talk about nervous cows and nervous ranchers

 

[charlz]

I also was not aware of how much they work on the deer population. Last year when my son and I were hunting Mule deer in the desert areas we saw a coyote every time we saw deer. Especially if you saw a doe with that years fawn... a coyote would be within 30 yards or so. This is in an area where cattle are grazed so you know the ranchers are shooting the ones they can but the coyotes were still unbelievably thick. I saw more coyotes than deer that hunting trip. I did a bit of research and it turns out Fish and Game actually hires professional hunters in some parts of the state to keep the coyotes down because otherwise there wouldn't be any deer.

 

[txdon]

The coyotes, hawks and owls do keep the gopher, rabbit, and skunk population down. Whenever you start killing off certain wildlife it will affect the other wildlife in the area, sometimes creating other problems. I heard a coyote yapping like crazy as he was digging up a gopher, now my dog is doing it too.

The deer and vehicles are a big problem out here.

 

[Beltman60]

end of last April my wife and I were doing some repairs on our back deck

one of our barn cats catches a full grown rabbit and with it squealing is trying to haul it back in a wooded area about 50 ft from our deck
My wife couldn't stand the squealing so she went inside
about that time 3 coyotes come out of my neighbors woods (about 200 yrds) and start toward our cat with the rabbit
these things went right past me within about 30 ft. from me with me yelling at them and passed me like I wasn't even there

I keep a loaded shotgun inside the door in the mudroom so I grabbed it and shot into the woods right behind where they went in
the cat let go of the rabbit and it comes out right toward the house
seconds later 2 of the yotes come right after it
I shot 1 and the other one went running back toward my neighbors woods

I here the cat hissing and making all sorts of groaning noises in the woods so I hope he stays still and shoot into the woods just over him
the third yote comes out the back of the wooded area and I see him cross in front of my barn heading toward my neighbors woods

Now I don't go shooting animals for the fun of it, but when they have the balls to come up to the house & barns and start to dimminish my herd or pets, thats when I feel they are free game

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I'm too old to keep moving on.

Besides I was here first.......again.
The fox don't bother me nor the weasels, the owls, the hawks, the deer, the turkeys or the pesky coyotes.
Though any of them drive my dogs nuts.

For that matter in all the years I've lived in the sticks I've lost more dogs (one) to porcupine than anything resembling predator.

You should kill porcupines too. Your pine trees will thank you.

 

[ruffdog]

Now I don't go shooting animals for the fun of it, but when they have the balls to come up to the house & barns and start to dimminish my herd or pets, thats when I feel they are free game

That's the way I feel. Around here, the coyotes normally stay far enough away that you would need a rifle with a scope to get one. I keep marking my territory so maybe that's why they don't come around my place much!:thumbsup: