Coyotes

edited December 2011 in General
Early this morning, my daughter, Bea (shiba) and I went running and a coyote came running up behind us and passed us. If it was not for us or Bea, I am pretty sure one of us would have been coyote chow. But, Bea, started trying to chase after the coyote! She didn't bark, she just wanted to run after it? Why?! That thing could eat you!!!

How often do you see coyotes in your neighborhood? What should you do to "escape" from a coyote? Stand still? Run away?

Comments

  • I see them quite a bit here. Since their predatory instinct is to chase prey, I would standup ground and yell, wave your arms, stomp your feet. Even carrying dog pepper spray and spray the crap out of it will work really well.
  • When we see coyotes, it's either in the little wooded area at the end of my street or at the park when we go early in the morning or late at night (before the sun has risen or after it has set). London - my Mal - is a big dog and he's pretty aggressive with the coyotes. They don't really come near us.

    Barring "get a big, scary dog", I agree with @shishiinu. Acting "aggressively" seems to do the trick. Running away or freezing up might only instigate their prey drive.
  • haha, that is crazy! Was he cute?
  • edited December 2011
    I seen coyotes in my trail one was close, but it ran right off I yelled at it for good measure to be sure it stays afraid.. I'm in country so they're more skittish. I saw on by the wild cat creek and it ran off it was about 20 or 30 feet away maybe more hard to tell I knew it wasn't a deer with way it moved it was more brown then what twister and willow is at wolf park, but last coyote I saw had brown on it..

    Urban area coyotes are more bold due to being near humans more often and getting food from their trash, cat food etc.. I'd carry a big stick, dog spray just in case or something. coyotes will go for dogs on leas too..

    I always make a racket with the ones I seen even when they ran off without me saying anything to keep them extra scared.. I was alone no dogs at the time, but had hard walking stick that could do some damage my recent coyote encounter was Yesterday. I've came upon coyote kills rabbit leftover under snow my guess left for latter I dunno..

    Just be careful even though you shiba was brave Bea is probably no match for a hungry coyote..

    I know Bel gotten attacked by one on her face through the fence.

    Jessika Coyotes I seen are cute especially the wolfpark ones the calender for this year has a picture of the two as little pups so cute!

    Only coyote not cute is one attacking me out of hunger or rabid.. Seeing as my forest has plenty of rabbits and deer etc. They're full..


  • We have the urban coyotes in my neighborhood (surburban like area of NYC) and they brazenly walk down the roads late at night. Last year INU had a howling contest with one at 1 AM. I do not think my neighbors appreciated that.
  • We have a lot. I live in the mountains of New Mexico. We hear them almost every night, and see them several times a month. And they're pretty big around here too. A couple of days ago I saw a small one (like about 40-50 pounds), but I've seen really big GSD sized ones more often.

    As Nicole noted above, my Shiba, Bel, was attacked by them, and pretty badly injured. Since the bites were all on the head and neck, we think she had her head sticking out of the fence.

    They're pretty fearless around here, too. My husband saw a big one strolling out of our neighbor's yard not too long ago, and he stopped the car and honked his horn at it, and it just stopped and stared at him. My vet said that someone not too far from here lost a lab last fall to a coyote attack.....the people came out and saw several coyotes attacking the dog, in the yard, and yelled, and the coyotes did finally go away, but weren't particularly scared of the people. As I said, the dog died. And my vets, who live near us, have seen coyotes in their (fenced) yard, too, so they always go out at night when they take their fox terriers out.

    They'll go after dogs and cats, but don't go after people, though there have been a few odd incidents occasionally.

    They are very beautiful. I always kind of like seeing them, or rather I would if I didn't have to worry about them going after the Shibas!
  • @the_november_rain--Actually the coyote was really cute...he looked like a mix between Kaiju and Kuma....yes, I know shikokus and coyotes...lol. But he actually looked really nice...except for his snout, teeth and ears...they were huge (compared to the body). Anyhow, I am glad "he" wasn't interested in us. I just wish Bea isn't so fearless.
  • @ttddinh - The coyotes around here look just like Inu, super cute. :) Too bad they bite.....
  • There were many coyotes sightings in my neighborhood in the Bronx and in lower Westchester Co. (little girl and small dog attacked) in 2009 & 2010. Not so many sightings this year, though.
  • Saw a HUGE one on Rhode Island College Campus two nights ago. At first I thought it was an off leash dog. About the size of a GSD. I was so pissed that someone would let their dog run around on campus at night. Then I realized as it got under a light that a)that was NOT a GSD b)this critter belonged to no one and c) oh jeez that is one big coyote. At which point we backed away slowly. Even my dogs were quiet and backed away. I knew we had them on the campus. I have been walking my dogs their for a few years now. But I hadn't seen one quite this big.
  • @JessicaRabbit - The coyotes around here seem to be HUGE lately. I had one of my coworkers tell me they saw a wolf in the woods behind my work and I had to really convince them that it was "just" a coyote. I've seen one up at the Cumberland Monastery/Library that was almost as tall as London (I thought it was a GSD at first glance, too) and one crossed the road in front of me by Diamond Hill Park that was similar in size but in really poor coat.

    When I went out to California, though, my friend pointed out a coyote and I would not have guessed that it was a coyote. It was so much smaller and WAY more adorable than the coyotes I'm used to seeing. I wonder if it's a regional thing (what is IN our WATER?) or if something else is going on.
  • @Crispy I am seeing many more wild turkeys this year. So my guess is that since that food source appears to be in abundance they are easily growing. They also seem to gather where there is little or no hunting.
    Basically I think they are pretty clever and well fed, so they are getting to grow pretty big.
    As long as they continue to choose to not interact with me, I am pretty alright with them.
  • I have had a few experiences with coyotes here in Texas where I live and also in New Mexico and the one thing I can safely say is that there is not a lot predictable about these animals. As a gross generalization I would say that during the day - usually (operative word being "usually") - a lone coyote is not much of a threat to anything other than small animal life. Coyotes are crepuscular - so at night (and especially at dawn and dusk) and/or when they are in packs be ever so careful - they are all threats! I never let my dogs out at night off the leash or without me. The dogs are 48-50 lbs. and stocky but no match for a pack of coyotes. Also beware in mating season (usually February and March) as all bets are off then. Dog food left outside for long periods, some forms of food waste not enclosed in garbage cans, piles of brush which become homes to rodents, dogs (especially smaller ones) and cats allowed to roam in the open for long periods alone and, even bird feeders, are all attractions. The best policy is to treat all coyotes with extreme caution - and if confronted don't run (unless you can run at 30mph or over) - stay facing the animal and back away slowly - make noise, throw a rock at them and if you have a flashlight with you shine it at them. If you are with a pet - and if possible - pick up the pet (or child for that matter) - this greatly reduces the chance of an attack. (I know two arms are not enough to do all this at one time.)

    We were charged by a coyote (with his pack standing behind) in New Mexico and that was an ugly affair. He didn't get to the dogs but got awfully close. Here in Texas I allow my guys a full off the leash run in a dry lake bed (thanks to the drought) and at 11:00am one day they cornered a small female (40-50lbs) and they just had a standoff with my two dogs barking at the coyote and she barking back. With the arrival of me running up, throwing rocks and making a lot of noise she was off to the races. It would not have been the same outcome at night or, if she had been with a pack. The drought here in Texas is driving the coyotes farther afield for food and they are becoming bolder and bolder - similar to urban coyotes. For those who live in areas where coyotes are normal visitors it really is a good policy to haze them when safely possible. Yell, make noise, honk horns (in certain areas I carry a small air horn), throw rocks at them, spray water at them from a hose - or anything safely you can do to annoy them and make them less comfortable around people. In an obtuse way you are re-teaching them to avoid people. Also, when in an area known to have coyotes, if possible try to avoid walking the dogs at dusk and dawn - statistically these are the two prime attack times.

    Lastly don't forget that they can, and often do, carry rabies, so that is just another less than welcome problem that an attack can bring.
  • edited December 2011
    I thought it was a regional thing at first, and I'd read that the coyotes of the great plains and the northern parts of the US were bigger, and I'd seen smaller ones in CA and here in the southwest, so I believed that. However, I've come to think it's not necessarily regional. I'm tending to agree with Jessica here that it could be about food sources? Because I still see some of what I think as the regular sized southwestern coyotes (like 40 pounds or so) but I've seen A LOT of big ones in the past five years or so. One day I thought I saw a wolf, too, though I knew the red wolves don't range this far north, because the coyote I saw was SO big (and honestly its head was alittle different shaped) but I suspect it was just another big coyote.

    (There are rumors, though, that someone who had some exotic animals--wolf hybrids? Actual wolves? released some in this area and they've bred with coyotes to make a wolf/coyote hybrid, but I suspect that is just a rumor to "explain" the size of the big coyotes). They really are beautiful, and it's always kind of exciting to see them--but I prefer it to be from a distance and not around the dogs!

    I was posting at the same time as Bluemouse, but wanted to add that yes, these NM coyotes seem to be pretty bold!
  • There was a coyote in the fields right outside my building at work. The weeds were growing really tall and the city wasn't managing that piece of land they have there. My brother in law noticed the coyote when he was cleaning his car. There are tons of rabbits and squirrels that run that field, so I'm not surprised a coyote showed up there.

    Down in Huntington Beach my friend was stalked by a coyote a few times while walking his corgi. :T He had to chase it off. The third time though the coyote wouldn't back down. Luckily nothing happened though.
  • We live adjacent to a wildlife area in Northern CA. We have coyotes wander through our neighborhood rather frequently due to the wild turkey, deer, etc. populations. My neighbors have seen coyotes take down small deer. One day I let Sukoshi out into the dog run. Went inside to check on something, then came back out. She was sitting at the end of the dog run, intently looking thru the wire fencing. So I went check on what she was looking at. A big, cheeky coyote was coming up the hill to investigate her. I clapped my hands and yelled at it to "go away" -- which it did. We also had a coyote roam our local park area. Fortunately, the dog park area portion is fenced with secure chain link fencing. We had to remind folks w/ small dogs to carry their dogs to the dog park as a precaution. The coyote was there for about two weeks.
  • I haven't seen any coyotes in Oregon, but in AZ (I'm there for the holidays) I hear them quite often since we are on the fringes of the Phoenix area. Conker hasn't heard them yet, but if I saw one while he was with me I'd act all tough and whatnot to keep it away. I'm sure he'd try to get it and I'd rather not have Conker get ripped up or taken by a coyote. Conker's got no sense of self preservation, when it comes to animals, so I've got to step in and do that for him.
  • edited December 2011
    @shibamistress -- at least on the East Coast, from the research of this man, they are wolf hybrids. You can download a paper on his genetic research. http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/index.html

    Genetic Characterization of Eastern “Coyotes” in Eastern
    Massachusetts
    Jonathan G. Way1, Linda Rutledge2, Tyler Wheeldon2,
    and Bradley N. White2
    Abstract - This study examined the genetic nature and relatedness of Canis latrans
    (Coyotes) in eastern Massachusetts (i.e., eastern Coyotes). We characterized 67 animals
    at the mitochondrial DNA control region, and 55 of those at 8 microsatellite loci.
    Structure analysis and factorial correspondence analysis of the microsatellite genotypes
    indicated that the eastern Coyotes in Massachusetts clustered with other northeastern
    Canis populations and away from western Coyotes, C. lycaon (Eastern Wolves), and
    C. lupus (Gray Wolves). They contained mitochondrial haplotypes from both western
    Coyotes and Eastern Wolves, consistent with their hybrid origin from these two species.
    There was no evidence of either C. lupus familiaris (Domestic Dog) or Gray Wolf
    mitochondrial DNA in the animals. These results indicate that the eastern Coyote should
    more appropriately be termed “Coywolf” to refl ect their hybrid (C. latrans x lycaon)
    origin. Genetic data were also used to assess parental and kinship relationships, and confi
    rmed that family units typically contain an unrelated breeding pair and their offspring.
    Lastly, a synthesis of knowledge of the eastern Coyote as well as implications for Wolf
    recovery in the northeast US is provided.
  • Cool! I had heard that there were real coyote/wolf hybrids on the east coast, I just was dubious about them in NM, since my sources were less than reliable (someone knew someone who read something). But interesting to see the actual documentation for the east coast! Thanks!
  • A wolf hybrid was found roaming in Brooklyn yesterday. Not sure why anyone would want to keep one of these in NYC. When I lived in N. CA. folks kept them, but I can't see that working out in NYC!
    http://www.ny1.com/content/153022/east-new-york-s-wolf-dog-may-have-been-a-pet
  • I chase them off. The Coyotes I've been in contact with are bold and inquisitive but don't like it when a human (such as myself) gets any closer then 3 feet. When I start to invade their "bubble"...they run! This is strictly my "domestic" Coyote neighbors.

    I haven't had any problems while walking/hiking in Nature Reserves. Sometimes I hear them but I never actually see any "wild" Coyotes.
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