How would you get rid of coyotes?

[shmccarthy]

my brother sent me this -- [SIZE=12pt]- [COLOR=0000FF]http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/coyotes.html[/COLOR][/SIZE]

it's a WA state bulletin on coyotes -- they have some interesting fence ideas, not all just electrified solutions.  Also they say if the population is just diminished, the remaining population should become more people shy, not so bold. It's definitely not a good sign when they hunt in the daytime, with people in the vicinity. They've become too habituated.

BTW - never trap & release problem animals of any sort.  You may think you are being humane, but none of us 'out in the country' want your ill-behaved wildlife any more than you do! -- not saying anyone on here was suggesting that - it's just a sore point for me- & alot of city folk don't get it!

yep I know dogs eat  -- & slobber, and cost vet bills, but they are also protection for us as well as the resident chickens - we live pretty rural. Our German Shepherd earned his weight in gold for every person he scared off our property.  And every work person who knew that this was not an easy house to break into!  Neighbors without a dog learned the hard way.

Just need to find the right one (s).

I can't agree with you more on catching and releasing. Not only does it just move the problem onto someone else's shoulders but the animal becomes trap wise! I'm currently trying to catch a trap wise raccoon I believe was released nearby and I am having a really difficult time. It also spreads potential disease too. Just not a good idea in any aspect.

 

[cgmccary]

I can't agree with you more on catching and releasing. Not only does it just move the problem onto someone else's shoulders but the animal becomes trap wise! I'm currently trying to catch a trap wise raccoon I believe was released nearby and I am having a really difficult time. It also spreads potential disease too. Just not a good idea in any aspect.

Depends upon where you release. I live in a National Forest and we have plenty of locations where there are not people or not people with chickens/ livestock. In fact, most people have some horses and call it a farm. There is room on the planet for the billions of us and a few animals too. Wild animals must feel under constant siege.

I have lots of coyotes, coons, opossums, bobcat, black bear and in winter, even Golden Eagles. I also free range my geese and chickens and do not have losses. I use dogs and a donkey. The predators are all about but stay off my place. I also leave plenty of prey (the squirrels, deer, turkey) so there is plenty of wild prey to eat for the predators -- I don't take that away as I raise domestic animals for my meat (that is the point) & enough habitat around me.
Two of my five dogs:






And Donkey with cow, bull (proud parents) and their newborn calf (all 3 are protective of calf) -- what's going to mess with this trio?

 

[Nicole01]

Oh gosh, I'd never catch and release ever! The reason for the live trap is giving me a greater chance to catch it. I'd shoot the coyote in the trap and dump it in my backyard for the other coyotes to see. With the trap, if I was successful I could catch more then just one. I'd try to wipe out as many as I can. They are a huge problem here. I need a live trap, so I don't hurt our dogs, cats or any of the stray or neighbors dogs that run in my backyard with a snare or those claw traps.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The only thing you'll accomplish with a live trap is educate the coyotes and then you'll never catch them but it'll never keep them from killing your chickens. In fact you may as well bait a live trap with a tooth pick for all the good it'll do you when dealing with educated coyotes. After they kill and eat your last chicken they will be on the lookout for a tooth pick to clean their teeth.

With coyotes you had best get yourself some steel traps and learn how to use them. When dealing with coyotes nothing else works except 10-20 sight hounds to run the coyote down and tear it to pieces, firearms, or poison. If you keep backyard chickens long enough, sooner or latter it will come down to one or the other or maybe all 4 of these things used together or else you will give up on free range chickens.

http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2009/10/29/canadian-woman-attacked-and-killed-by-two-coyotes/


Oh BTW, there was another unprovoked coyote attack on a human this year in Maine. Bon Appiet Wiley, you old sly dog you.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Nice fire ant hill you got started there Pilgrim. That little fellow better not lay there too long.

 

[gilmeryote]

Catch and release is a bad idea.Down here it's also illegal. You might luck up and catch a young yote in a live trap but a mature one won't go for it. Foot hold traps are the most effective way to deal with them in my opinion. If you're not able to do it you could probably find a trapper in your area that would be glad to help you out. Contact your local game and fish office for a list of nuisance trappers or your state's trappers association.

 

[Teery]

Catch and release is a bad idea.Down here it's also illegal. You might luck up and catch a young yote in a live trap but a mature one won't go for it. Foot hold traps are the most effective way to deal with them in my opinion. If you're not able to do it you could probably find a trapper in your area that would be glad to help you out. Contact your local game and fish office for a list of nuisance trappers or your state's trappers association.

In the area that I live in, you can't shoot predators. Most, in this area have 1 acre properties so your neighbors are all around. The best you can do is trap and call animal control. What they do with the animals is up to them..

 

[cgmccary]

Oh gosh, I'd never catch and release ever! The reason for the live trap is giving me a greater chance to catch it. I'd shoot the coyote in the trap and dump it in my backyard for the other coyotes to see. With the trap, if I was successful I could catch more then just one. I'd try to wipe out as many as I can. They are a huge problem here. I need a live trap, so I don't hurt our dogs, cats or any of the stray or neighbors dogs that run in my backyard with a snare or those claw traps.

Well, I wasn't talking about a coyote, which I would not catch to start with. IF a coyote came on my property, I'd shoot, not catch (however, they are around but stay away; coyotes are a big problem here too just not at my place) -- deterrence works better than eradication. Dogs & donkey work best and one does not have to worry about shooting, trapping or catching,


Quote: They are dead -- of course, before calf was born, I used permethrin spray on all the fire ant hills in my pasture & all that is there is the dirt hill -- no ants! The calf was/is safe.

 

[Nicole01]

Well, I wasn't talking about a coyote, which I would not catch to start with. IF a coyote came on my property, I'd shoot, not catch (however, they are around but stay away; coyotes are a big problem here too just not at my place) -- deterrence works better than eradication. Dogs & donkey work best and one does not have to worry about shooting, trapping

We can't seem to get close enough to these darn things to shoot it. We already have 2 dogs, which is the limit in our area. I can't leave them out without me with them. These dogs protect and I don't want a lawsuit or lose my dogs. Our dogs are pretty young, so they'll be around for a while. We do take them to find the coyotes and all they do is sniff their trail and roll in the coyotes poop.:/

When one of them passes, we will buy a guardian dog. If I find a trap at a decent price, I'll put one back there with bait and whatever I need to catch a coyote with. I may or may not catch one, but I'd try anyway. I've only seen the coyote a couple times in the open, that's when I leave my flock locked up and the coyotes run up to the run which is along side our house. They usually stay in the woods though. 3 acres of my property is all heavily wooded.

Ever since the attack, my flock has been really quiet locked up which is unusual. One of my hens was actually bitten to the bone on both sides and the coyote skinned her. She survived and has 100% healed(2 weeks with major antibiotics and washing the wound daily), which is a miracle! I lost 3 others, so there's more then one in my backyard.

 

[chickiemomy]

for clarification, the catch & release that annoys me - is when city folk think it's cute to feed raccoons, or the invasive gray squirrel (non-native) -- then OMG the animal becomes a pest because it is habituated to people- comes in the house - terrorizes their pets & teaches their young to do the same.

I've heard many otherwise well-intentioned people say - well just trap it & take it out 'to the country' -- well those are the animals I don't want either. (kind of goes hand in hand with people who dump cats 'out in the woods' so it can fend for itself. My first pet cat was such a dumped kitten that never would have made it except that we took it in after hearing it crying at our back door - no neighbors for miles.

Understood that the wildlife folks releasing bear & etc deep into the major wild national parks is another story. Altho they will also say it is not often successful because habituated bears, for example, will seek out the humans they now associate with food. Common saying here - 'a fed bear is a dead bear' We religiously take in/lock up all food & garbage each evening. Bear have amazing noses - love sunflower seeds.

People just don't understand. And then they freak out when they leave pet food out - but see a bear, or coyote in their neighborhood. I believe in live & let live - but some practices create an imbalance - as deer hunting is sometimes necessary to reduce deer populations prior to a harsh winter that may leave too many hungry -(because we've decimated their other predators, I might add) sometimes a coyote hunt is necessary to decrease their population when their natural occurring food has decreased & they've become dangerously habituated to us & ours. We'll never eliminate the coyote population - would not intend to as coyotes are a good at taking care of xs bunnies & rodents.

Coyotes hunting in the daylight taking livestock 5 feet from a house, with people out & making noise - is a dangerous coyote that needs to be taken down.

barb, self-appointed chair, Chicken Liberation Front,
an organization dedicated to the rights of chickens to eat bugs without an undue fear of being eaten themselves

ETA - & hopefully soon to be owner of a couple of big guardian dogs, & maybe a donkey or 2 - getting the yard secured prior to next spring when I hope to add a nice big flock of Buckeyes!! glad I'm learning the weak places in the yard with my hatchery chicks, altho I still hate losing any of them! unhappy!