Dogs And Coyotes

[Mobasser]

I live in a rural area. My property is surrounded by farms. I've lived here for forty years. In that time, Ive never had a dog killed or hurt by coyotes.                                     I've heard them howl in the distance, especially on winter nights. When they make a kill, they start to yelp and howl in a fast, excited way. Ive been told they do this when they take down a small deer or some other critter.                                             My son in law raises hogs on his farm not far from my house. He hates coyotes because they'll sneak in and kill young pigs.                                The coyotes mating season is between January and March. Ive read that they are most aggressive at this time. In the winter months, I never let my dogs out after dark, and Ive never had any trouble with them.                          Have any members had trouble with coyotes trying to kill your pets? 

[Skunkmaster-k]

Cats seem to be a delicacy for them. We’ve had a few dogs laying by the front door all tore up too. 

[Bankbeater]

About 20 years ago we had a string of dog and cat mutilations around my sub division.  A cop friend of mine said they think it was coyotes moving through the area.  They kept it quiet because they didn't want to freak out the city dwellers that were moving into the area.

[A-Jay]

We hear them all year long but rarely see any.  First few snow events we'll often see a few tracks. Folks lose small livestock here all the time, foxes and coyotes are blamed, mink too. Chicken coops get raided regularly. Seeing rabbit remains on the regular. 

For years my dogs were quite a bit bigger than the coyotes,  now they're about the same size.  Still, my dog yard is fenced in 6ft tall, but we still keep an eye out.  Especially in the winter. 

A'Jay

[islandbass]

We have coyotes too and in a residential setting. Small pets are fair game to them so you have to keep an eye out. Still, they are rarely seen because they don’t want to be seen by humans but they’re around. Small dogs and cats are definitely targets. There are plenty of rabbits, squirrels and possums around so they’re probably more interested in them than domestic pets. 

[WRB]

We have several packs of coyotes that visit our perimeter homes next to open areas. Coyotes hunt for all types of same animals and can easily jump 5’ fences with a 20 lb animal.

We have golf courses that coyotes hunt every night for rabbits etc.

Outdoor pets 20 lbs or less don’t last long. Big owls during the night and hawks during the also will carry off small pets.

We have  Bob Cats capable of killing pets larger then them.

Large dogs  can fight off a coyote but not a pack.

The top predator is a mountain lion and we have them in our area but the big cats tend to avoid residential areas. A young mountain lion was collared near our home a year ago. 

Tom

[gim]

I think most urban/suburban dwelling people would be shocked by the number of coyotes not only living but thriving in those areas.  I think most people have no idead how many are around.

 

The notion that they are going to pick off your dog or your kid is nothing but fear mongering.  Unless of course you have a chihuahua or other small breed dog.  Then its possible, but still remote.

 

They seek out and willingly hunt stray/feral cats though.  This doesn't bother me one bit.  The less stray cats out there roaming the countryside, the better.  People need to be more responsible for their pets and not let them run around unattended.

 

In northern MN we have packs of wolves.  They will not tolerate other canines in their territory and will actively hunt and kill coyotes or domestic dogs.

[Mobasser]

16 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I think most urban/suburban dwelling people would be shocked by the number of coyotes not only living but thriving in those areas.  I think most people have no idead how many are around.

 

The notion that they are going to pick off your dog or your kid is nothing but fear mongering.  Unless of course you have a chihuahua or other small breed dog.  Then its possible, but still remote.

 

They seek out and willingly hunt stray/feral cats though.  This doesn't bother me one bit.  The less stray cats out there roaming the countryside, the better.

 

In northern MN we have packs of wolves.  They will not tolerate other canines in their territory and will actively hunt and kill coyotes or domestic dogs.

This is true. When deer and small game are abundant, coyotes will thrive, and hang out in these areas. There are a couple of guys in my area that advertise killing them. Some farmers with livestock hire these guys to rid the farm of coyotes. Still, if they have livestock, it's almost impossible to get rid of them.                                                

 

[Tennessee Boy]

We've got plenty of them.  We hear them at night.  There's plenty of woods and farm land where I live so they don't get around the house that much.  I've always heard people say you should only kill the ones that cause problems.  When you kill one,  another will take it's place.  If you kill one that doesn't bother your chickens,  the next one might.

[Rockhopper]

On my property I have had a few predators over the years, but the yotes are always around.  We had a resident cougar for awhile until we got the f&g to trap it and haul it away.  

 

There are a few times a year the yotes will get a bit more aggressive.  Especially when the rabbit babies start showing up in the spring.  Its a fun time to sit on the back porch with a half rack and my old Henry rifle.

[TnRiver46]

You don’t have to be near a farm to have coyotes, like @gimruis said . I hear them nearly every time I’m at my mom’s house in a subdivision within city limits. Years ago her newsletter said there were 400 dogs in her subdivision (probably closer to 500 by now ) and a coyote has never reportedly killed one (and these are the HOA type of people that talk about every detail of life way too much). So if it occurred, word would spread like coyote seed 

 

It’s not impossible but easily avoidable 

 

 

[GreenPig]

  We've come to an understanding around here. They understand, if I see them, I will feed them copper coated pills at high velocity. There are plenty around and I hear them most nights. I've never had a dog, cat, or cow injured by coyotes. For years we had free range rabbits.

[gim]

I’ve never specifically hunted yotes but I’ve considered it for years. It would be very easy for me to obtain permission and ideal time to hunt them is the middle of winter here in Jan/Feb when I have nothing else going on.

 

I have some relatives in North Dakota who hunt them. They all tell me it’s a real challenge given how cunning and smart they are.

[RobA]

We lost 2 sheep to coyotes.  In both cases it happened at night when our horses were in a distant pasture.  And in both cases the coyotes ripped up the hind end of the sheep without killing them and then took off.  We had to put them down.  We've since gotten a mini donkey to deter the coyotes.

[GaryH]

Quiz - Who knows what this is ?

 

 

 

 

[A-Jay]

41 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

  We've come to an understanding around here. They understand, if I see them, I will feed them copper coated pills at high velocity. There are plenty around and I hear them most nights. I've never had a dog, cat, or cow injured by coyotes. For years we had free range rabbits.

Those pills seem to make them very sleepy.

🤓

A-Jay

[DogBone_384]

I live in a city and have coyotes through my property almost every night.  I've lost 3 cats over the last 20 years.  I bring them in at dusk but I was away for the last one and my wife left them out later than usual. I had video of Princess going right down my driveway after two of them, thinking they were dogs.  It didn't work out well for her.

 

Coyotes are legal to hunt in MA, but not on/near my property.  The houses are too close together.

50 minutes ago, GaryH said:

Quiz - Who knows what this is ?

 

Definitely NOT my friend's husky....

[Tackleholic]

Coyotes pass through my back acreage every night;  so does an occasional bear, bobcat, and cougar.  My Border Collie sleeps on my back patio most nights, and has her own doggy door into the house.  She chases off and warns all critters to stay away.  Whenever she comes running inside and stands by the door growling, I know she has decided something out there should not be confronted.  Very smart dog.

On the humorous side, last spring she discovered a concealed fawn and the doe chased her inside the house;  before that she had never known a deer that wouldn't run from her. 

Edited November 28, 2024 by Tackleholic

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, GaryH said:

Quiz - Who knows what this is ?

 

 

 

 

Coywolf?

 

 

I forgot my wife had a cat killed by coyotes way back in the day. Cats are definitely much more in their wheelhouse, but domestic dogs will also kill cats 

[GaryH]

14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Coywolf?

 

 

I forgot my wife had a cat killed by coyotes way back in the day. Cats are definitely much more in their wheelhouse, but domestic dogs will also kill cats 

Close coydog.  Shepherd/ coyote hybrid 

[VolFan]

We have plenty of coyotes in Charlotte, and I am in the city near South Park Mall if you need a reference point. People freak out when the coyotes are seen in the neighborhood but they’re always around. On the greenway about a mile or so from my house we saw what was easily the biggest coyote I have ever seen. He/she was healthy and significantly bigger than my lab. We have plenty of people in the neighborhood with free range chickens- owls and hawks get those regularly. Don’t know that I’ve heard of a coyote getting them. 

[clayton86]

Coyotes are the primary thing I hunt nowadays. I live out in the sticks they are all over every night I only get to hunt Friday and Saturday nights.

 

I work in the city though and there’s dead coyote all over 390/490/590 highways in Rochester. They don’t last on side the road very long though deer will sit dead on the shoulder longer than coyotes do. A black one was on the side of 390S last winter I passed it in work truck at 0730 it was gone when I went back by a hour later. If I wasn’t in my work truck an armored ford transit hauling cash I would have grabbed it myself.  I see far more road killed coyotes in the city limits than I do out in the country where I live and hunt them. 
 

I don’t think they harm pets nearly as much as people think they do. I’ve gotten several properties to hunt by them reaching out to me on Facebook or friends to kill them on their property to protect their pets. Fox are off limits but coyotes they want eradicated. 
 

 

[gim]

1 hour ago, clayton86 said:

Fox are off limits but coyotes they want eradicated. 

 

Since canines are territorial, coyotes will push fox out, or kill them given a chance.  Same relationship that wolves have with yotes.

 

The relatives of mine that hunt coyotes in North Dakota used to shoot about half and half yotes or red fox.  Over the years, that number has been heavily skewed towards coyotes.  Now they rarely even see a red fox.

[WRB]

Years ago I had a small dog that would run after coyotes and get bitten before rescuing him. Several trips to the vet to his his scalp sewed back on a treat wounds.

Dogs don’t know their own size until it’s too late.

Coyotes usually avoid human contact but not always. Our neighbor was walking her dog on a leash when a coyote attacked the dog. Wild animals are unpredicable.

Another friend had her King Charles dog picked up be a big owl and carried off while they tried to stop the owl.

Coyotes conditioned to humans don’t fear us, in the wild they are very wary animals and know what a rifle is.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

 

 

we got plenty of coyotes and foxes, the foxes will live underneath the stairs going into your front door. Red ones and grey ones. I’ve caught several of them on accident