Coyotes-I TOLD you they were vicious!

[babalubird]

I love wildlife and used to love coyotes, especially their "songs" at night and never thought twice of walking our 16 acre farm alone even on the blackest nights--not so much any more.ot

Read Wikipedia's article on coyotes. The larger-sized northern and woodland coyotes are much bigger because over the millenia, they hybridized with wolves. I eyam old enough to remember when mountain lions were touted to be little threat to people, the old "they're more scared of us than we are of them" argument. Well, that same article points out that the number of encounters AND attacks of coyotes on humans is increasing in California, same as the mountain lion and probably for the same reasons--too much familiarity now.

Same article reports they have killed dogs as big as rotweilers. Here is a really scary post someone put on a dog chat room I'm involved in:

"I’m looking for the link, but one of my horse emails had a story about dogs in camp, and at a particular horse trail camp, several dogs had been killed by coyotes. Not small stupid dogs either. One coyote would come out scan the camp for dogs. When it saw one, it would stare at the dog and then limp or whine, etc, whatever it needed to do to lure the dog to chase it. Then it would run into the brush where the pack would kill it. That week one dog was killed and two had to be put down following the attack due to extensive injuries. This happened during daylight hours and the various owners were unable to call their dogs back once they had launched after the coyote or to save their dogs despite being at the edge of a camp with lots of people and horses. They had pictures of the coyote that did the luring. The person writing the report said no one likes hearing a dog being killed by coyotes."

...Coyotes are smart. Their intelligence makes them more dangerous than their size, and apparently, from the above story, they "hold planning committee meetings" to plot and calculate. :0(

I know I'm changing some of my prior habits at the farm due to the coyotes and since that woman was killed.

Connie

 

[gsim]

Here in ET there was an incident where a guy was attacked by coyotes and was trying to get into his truck. One had hold of his leg. He did get away tho. They are especially thick over towards the Smoky mtns. A man in neighboring county lost 32 chickens in one night to a pack of them. A couple of traps is one good thing, (except for skunk you are bound to get!).

Another is a fence charger. I have one for 5 miles of fence (4KV) so it does really great around a 185 ft perimeter pen. I have 4 courses of hot wire beginning at 8" ht, ending at 42" ht. So far, so good. Pen is open to sky tho at 2000 sq ft, so hawks and owls are a concern. Resident crows do help in that regard tho.

 

[HLAC]

Here's an incomplete listing of various coyote attacks on humans. http://varmintal.com/attac.htm

Hunting and trapping coyotes helps keep the yote population in check and keeps them thinking that humans are predators, not prey.

Very sad that the young woman was attacked and killed. It must be a horrifying way to go.

 

[ducks4you]

Latest newspaper article on coyotes:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/coyotes_roaming_manhattan_yAm8a3Yl2ZdmClz3C28CPN

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

We have a serious problem with coyotes here in the North Carolina mountains. From what I've read, they aren't native and have migrated west as their feeding grounds have increasingly become scarce.

We hear them LOUDLY every night and we see them on our property all the time, initially they were skiddish and would run off every time they see you, but I've definitely noticed a shift this winter. I think because its been such a rough winter season, food is scarce and they've become bolder.

I switched from banging pots loudly to scare them off to a gun as they no longer seem afraid. My large (very large and with a terrifying bark) dog and I were out taking care of the chickens several weeks ago, I saw two eyeing us from right across our driveway (about 30 yards from where we were standing) and I started yelling and waving my arms to scare them off and my dog started barking like crazy and lunging after them, but I had to call her back because they were utterly unfazed and started coming towards us. Needless to say, I couldn't coax the chickens out for two days, they were terrified.

My husband got a gun several days later and I shot one of them and killed it after it chased a turkey down our hill and killed it not 10 feet from our front porch, with my dog out there and me screaming bloody murder from the 2nd floor window. (It happened SO fast, I just happened to be looking out the window) When we examined the dead coyote it was extremely healthy looking, fat and much larger than I expected.

I don't know, no ideas to offer, just scary.

 

[Gonzo]

They are beautiful, But I don't want to see any! You can hear them howling at night here.Lots of them around. It's kinda creepy! Come to think of it... we never see any stray cats or dogs roaming around these parts. I'm sure the Coyotes are why.

 

[ConchRepublic]

Quote:
'yotes are considered a "varmint", no season, shoot whenever you want with permission of land owner. At least here in Fl that is.

 

[gsim]

Reading that shocking post, I am reminded that a man near where I live had to retreat to his truck after encountering a pack of coyotes near or in his barn. I also wondered if that poor girl was in her menstrual cycle when the coyotes struck. Could be they thought she was wounded and decided she was prey? That would always be a concern of mine if hiking with a group of people of mixed sex.

Ordinary wasp spray is a very potent thing and likely could turn even a bear or a wild hog. The effects do not go away nearly as fast as pepper spray, mace, etc. It also sprays a good 20 ft or more.

 

[MagsC]

I have seen them go right down the road here in front of the house and we are in town. There are tons of them in this area.
My son says one of the times he was spooked the most was going to get the mail later(at the family place north of here) in the evening and there was a pack of them, close, just watching him.
When the coyotes are howling in the valley by the family place, its beautiful and at the same time a little scary. It echoes.

 

[MysticScorpio82]

Quote:
Agree. There is more to this story than is being publicized. An unprovoked, fatal attack on a human by a coyote is almost unheard of. And an attack on a human adult IS unheard of before now.

I would have to disagree with you on the bolded point. I agree it is uncommon for a coyote to attack an adult human, but certainly not unheard of. I remember as a child hearing a new report of a woman killed by them, and also (I know I posted this alread on another thread, lol) my neighbor was attacked by a pack of them...on her 4-wheeler. She was 34 years old at the time and they were biting at her feet and legs in attempt to pull her off the 4-wheeler. Then there was my uncle who was injuried by a pack of the buggers...

I also agree with Redhen, I also believe alot of the problem stems from encroachment by us on to their hunting grounds. A hungry animal is a desprate and dangerous one. Also the coyotes breeding with dogs is another issue, they get the dog's lack of human fear.

I am so sorry to the girls family. My heart goes out to them.