Growin' them thar coyotes big around here this year

[HLAC]

A 104 lb coyote was shot in Missouri last year. They say it was a pure coyote.

 

[nickandryan]

I don't know where in Ohio you live, but north of Akron, we have a pack that crosses the back of our property following the deer. The male weighs in at about 80 lbs (and is very dark- like the black phase that Woodmort mentioned) he is huge, the females in his pack seem to be about 40-50lbs and are much lighter. They could weigh less, depending on how thick their coats are, but the male is bigger than my wolf/husky mix, and she goes 65 lbs. I talked to a CVNF ranger last summer and was told that our coyotes have cross bred with dogs, which is why they are so large. So far I have seen some tracks around my coop, but I think they are fox- very small. Keeping my fingers crossed that the coyotes will stay on the other sice of the ridge and not bother the chickens. As far as I know, none of my neighbors have lost chickens to coyotes, so I hope you can keep them out of your coop if they are trying to find a way in. Laura

 

[Ivywoods]

I don't know about coyotes crossing with dogs, but I do know we get some big darn coyotes around here.... way bigger than the ones in the western part of the state that still look rather mangey.

 

[Uzuri]

Yikes! Whole load of Hulk coyotes out there (minus the green color).

Well we spotted out mystery beasts, and it turns our that they're something worse than coyotes -- feral dogs (yes feral, not recent strays, or some idiot letting their pets run). Not a problem I would have necessarily expected where we are since we really aren't that far out, but I guess times are tough for everybody. The tracks tending toward the wild type still have me a little stumped; part of me wonders if the dogs we saw were not, after all, the track maker. Even if they weren't, they're still a problem; a bigger problem, actually.

I'm going to be getting a fence charger and putting up at least one strand of electric fence around the coop. Then, if I can swing it, the next step is a handgun for my own protection. I'd rather run into a coyote with a glandular problem over a feral dog pack any day

 

[Show Me Chick]

The guy that shot that coyote had the conservation look at it since he thought it might be a wolf. The conservation agents weren't sure so they did dna testing on it. Which proved it was pure coyote. There is a big one hanging around my mother's house I've been trying to shoot. It looks to be about 80 lbs!!!

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Nope, does not bode well at all....

 

[archerobx]

Around Pittsburgh mine average 40lbs. Biggest was 54lbs and it was big male it was huge.
Coydogs are a problem

 

[Caincando1]

Quote:
Are you saying the hind paw is stepping in the same spot as the fore paw? I run coyote dogs that track coyotes and I've never seen a coyote track were the paws stepped in the same place. That doesn't sound right to me. You should clearly see the fore and hind pay tracks in line but not on top of each other.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
You got that right. The way I understand it, coyotes have a natural avoidance instinct for humans, one that wild animals generally share. Feral dogs, on the other hand, are not as afraid of you as they should be. They dont trust you, of course, but will come closer and linger longer. The avoidance element is modified to a sort of tolerance, you might say. This makes them doubly troubling, as feral dogs are likely to be bolder and not as afraid to get close.

You also mentioned packs. As far as I know, coyotes are usually solo and more reclusive creatures- it is unusal to see them in multiples. Feral dogs, by comparison, have eons of co-habitation with other dogs bred in. Many will be of working breed stock, for example, or from former human environments. They are with other dogs because they are accustomed to it, in other words.

The way I see it, this all makes them adaptable and just as likely to live within human environs. But where the coyote will live nearby, so will the feral dogs - in packs. I would imagine that they will also tend to drive out coyote's, where the two must compete. This leaves you with feral dogs that are the lords of their domain and in gangs. Yikes!!

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
Are you saying the hind paw is stepping in the same spot as the fore paw? I run coyote dogs that track coyotes and I've never seen a coyote track were the paws stepped in the same place. That doesn't sound right to me. You should clearly see the fore and hind pay tracks in line but not on top of each other.

this sounds like they are running fairly fast when the DNR reintroduced the red wolf to NC they got them from Texas just saying....


that and there iss a Mexican gray wolf over AZ way