Coyote and air rifle question

[seagullplayer]

I use to carry a 22 pistol around the barn with 22 bird shot loaded in it, it came in very handy for many problems. Rats, snakes, coons and dogs included. I won’t use the bird shot in my rifle, as it will eat up the rifling. The shot does not travel as far either, you don’t have to worry so much with a stray.

 

[skeeter]

call the county trapper and he will take care of it

 

[Buster]

Our fish and game trappers tried all summer and only trapped a skunk and two porcupines. Maybe your government trappers are better.

 

[yotetrapper]

LOL about the govt trappers. I know a gov't trapper who is hands down one of the best trappers i've ever met. Any time he makes a post, you learn something valuable from it. But the other people in his dept are morons. LOL. It depends a whole lot, on how good your gov't trapper is. But if you call the DNR, most will be able to give you a name of a trapper who is a private trapper in your area. Most pivate trappers will trap for free if coyote season is open the the pelts are good (about nov.-jan) in most areas.

Or you could learn how to trap yourself. Go to trapperman.com for more trapping information then you'd ever be able to digest, LOL. Coyote trapping requires a degree of skill, but anyone can trap a coon, skunk or possum. (for those three predators, buy a cage trap for about $30, and bait it with a can of tuna fish if cats arent a problem, or jelly or marshmellows if cats are). Then just dispatch the animal in the cage.

gila, I'd like to respectfully disagree on your theory that coyotes kill with the intention of later eating it. We did a damage control job on coyotes last winter. A sheep farmer called us with a problem of sheep killings. We eventually took eight coyotes out of that field. Here's what was going on. First night, there were 2 sheep killed. The choice parts of each were aten. The following night, while those two dead sheep still lay in the field, they came back and killed another one. Why kill another when the first two were still there? Because, although coyotes WILL eat old nasty meat when nothing else is available, they much prefer fresh meat. I have no doubt the coyotes would of killed every sheep in that flock of a hundred or so, before they would of ever touched the ones already dead. Then, once they were out of fresh meat, thy would of moved on to the other. But that first night, did they kill 2 sheep instead of one so they could come back and eat the other? No, because they didnt. They killed a third. And later, a 4th and 5th before we finally managed to remove all the killer sheep.

Its also pretty much universally believed in the trapping field, that some coyotes are lvestock killers, while others are not, or at least, have not yet become so. I think every coyote has the potential to be a killer, but perhaps opportunity has not yet presented itself. One thing I do know, is this... If a family group of coyotes are killing, say, two adult coyotes and 4 young of the year, and you remove the 4 young and the male but the adult female remains (adult females are most often the most difficult killers to trap) and she goes on to mate again, it is almost guaranteed that her new litter of pups will be killers also, because that is what she teaches them to do.

I truly believe that while coyotes do often eat what they kill, they also kill for sport. I dont think coyotes are capable of thinking and reasoning as far into the future as would be necessary for your theory. I do believe coyotes have some degree of reasoning (and my trapping colleagues always give me heck for believing so) but I dont think that in the heat of the moment of the kill, they're thinking "hey, we can eat this beggar for lunch next thursday." They kill because they enjoy it.

This is all just my opinion, with a few facts sprinkled in.

Angela

 

[Chatychick]

Also they kill many as a teaching practice for the young to teach them how to get the job done. That is why they over kill sometimes, and so many so the young can get the hang of it so when they leave the pack they wont starve to death, I on the other hand dont let the coyote live as they can repopulate in 6 wks and the pups will be learning by 6 yo 7 mths and by then the female will have another litter that will be right behind the others. Dont think we will ever run out of them...

 

[Buster]

Quote:
My wife's grandpa will dump dead cows in remote areas of our river bottoms for coyote bait and coyotes never eat them. They'll kill a calf, but never eat a dumped carcass.

 

[gila_dog]

Re coyotes. I think we are all right, up to a point. Why do coyotes make new kills when last night's kills are still laying there? Why won't they eat dead cows? Not being a scientist, I don't know for sure. But if I were a thief, and could break into a supermarket every night, I would probably go for tastiest freshest stuff, not the old stuff I had stolen and hauled out the previous night. Of course, if for some reason I couldn't raid the supermarket, I would still have the stale goodies so I wouldn't go hungry. Also, as a professional thief, and trying to raise my kids up to be successful thieves, I would do some jobs just for practice.

Jareds44m, I don't know why the coyotes aren't eating your cow carcasses. They sure do eat them here. Also elk and deer carcasses and gut piles that hunters leave. Nothing laying around out in the woods or desert goes to waste. Maybe there's just so much other good stuff for them to eat around your place.

Another explanation for why some coyotes might be livestock killers, and others aren't is that sheep, chickens, cats, small dogs, etc, are a lot easier to catch than deer and rabbits. Maybe some coyotes start killing domestic animals when they get too old, or injured, to hunt wild game. There are all kinds of explanations. But the only solution, as far as I can see, is to build as impregnable a fortress as possible for your critters, and then be prepared to shoot or trap any predators that won't stay away. If it's neighborhood dogs you have to be careful not to make enemies of your neighbors. I prefer to bust them with a marble from my slingshot. So far that's worked for me. I think a paintball gun would also be pretty good. For coyotes, skunks, and racoons it's the .22 rifle. If it were a bear or mountain lion I would grab the 12 ga.