Dogs And Coyotes

[Mobasser]

One guy who hunts and kills coyotes near me shows a picture of a coyote with a cat in its mouth. He says they discovered a den with over fifty animal collars in it, as well as bones from pets.               I say nonsense. He's trying to scare people. A very small cat or dog could become a target, and would be an easy target for some coyotes.                                           I think the coyotes around me have plenty of rabbits, squirrels, possums and other critters to eat. I rarely hear about anyone losing a pet. My dogs are good about staying close to home, and they come quickly when I call them. But I still would never let them out after dark. That's when coyotes hunt.

[VolFan]

I have heard that ‘den with dog tags and collars’ story here too - I think that one’s the same as the ‘diver sees catfish the size of Volkswagens’ below every TVA dam!

[gim]

23 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I rarely hear about anyone losing a pet.

 

I generally agree.

 

However, I wouldn't really call stray or feral cats anyone's pet anymore.  And there are A LOT of feral cats out there (that shouldn't be).

 

When I was deer hunting last season one morning I saw a big black cat walking across a recently harvested open bean field.  It did not have a care in the world.  Well here comes a coyote from behind it and the cat didn't even know it was there until the yote basically got on top of it.  The coyote grabbed the back of the cat's neck and it was over quickly.  Then the yote trotted off with its meal.

 

You can probably tell by my responses in this thread that I have a problem with feral/stray cats.  They should not be out roaming the countryside killing birds and game birds.  They are not a native predator, whereas coyotes are.

[TnRiver46]

@gimruis, I wouldn’t necessarily call coyotes native to the eastern US. They hadn’t made it across the Mississippi River until the 70s and early 80s . Their native range is Mexico and the American southwest 

[TOXIC]

I grew up spending every summer on multiple relatives farms in Iowa.  My great aunt and her husband had dairy cows and chickens.  They also had barn cats.  For protection they had what they called an Australian Shepherd but I’m not sure that’s what he was.  He was bigger than any Shepherd I had ever seen, let alone an Aussie.  He lived outside and had a long thick coat.  He was a coyote killer.  It was his job and he took it seriously.  Nicest dog you would ever meet unless you were a yote. I watched him do his job more than once.  He also went with me muskrat hunting when I was a kid and I got confronted by a yote.  Didn’t end well for the yote.  When I lived on my farm in Iowa the neighbors would all get together mid winter on their snow machines and go hunt yotes, wolves and feral dog packs.  All of which threatened livestock. Here in Virginia I had a squirrel problem so I decided to thin the herd a little.  A huuuuge male fox denned on my property, he was the most beautiful specimen I had ever seen.  He got so used to getting free squirrels that he would sit at my lower lever door and look in if I hadn’t dispatched a tree rat lately.  

[senile1]

We moved out of the city onto rural acreage last year.  My wildlife camera picks up coyotes now and then at night but our pets are in the house.  When I was a kid on the farm in the 60s and 70s we had a lot of coyotes.  I would hear the packs quite often, especially at night.  We also had outdoor cats that lived in our shed.  The males were never neutered so they would roam.  Many eventually never came back.  I am pretty sure a few of those became meals for owls and coyotes.  

[Susky River Rat]

I know there is some coyotes in my development people get them on their cameras. Creek farmer fields some marshy area deer. I walk my dog very early in the mornings and believe I saw a yote already.  I’m more worried about two legged predators and peoples loose dogs than I am a yote. Not saying one wouldn’t attack but, the others are a lot more probable. 

[VolFan]

@TOXIC Are you sure it wasn’t an Anatolian Shepherd? Much different dog than an Aussie Shepherd and more what you described.