Should I let my 6 year old play outside? There are Coyotes around

rwc53 said:
Andy, I'm 57, and have been in wild places most of my life (including a 22 year career in Special Operations). I've lived and worked in Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East...and of course here in the good ol' USA! I know what the odds are of these things occuring, but statistics are based on trend analysis, which takes into account everything, everywhere. My point is that you can't dismiss something just because the "odds" are against it. Better safe than sorry is a good motto when it comes to something like this. One doesn't need to be paranoid, but also not to go blissfully around thinking it will never happen here, to me or mine.

Best Regards,
Ron
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All true. As a parallel example, I have some relatives who are so paralyzed by fear that their children could be kidnapped or molested by pedophiles that they won't even take them to the park. This is an example of recognizing a legitimate danger, but reacting to it completely out of proportion to the risk, especially since the chance that someone will come up and kidnap a child who is in a public place being watched by a parent is very very slim.

So, I hear what you are saying, but folks who may be new to the idea of having wildlife in the area or who may be new to living in the country may over react to that fact if they don't have any real knowledge of the actual risks.

For hundreds of years people have killed off predators and other wildlife just on the principle that such animals might somewhere, someday, be a danger to life or livestock.

While coyotes and other animals have in some places become a nuisance, and in very very rare circumstances a danger, the fact is that millions of these animals live amongst millions of humans, passing each other by mostly unseen, without any negative interaction whatsoever.

So, while there is a vanishingly small chance that a child could be harmed by a wild animal, far more emphasis should be placed on keeping them safe from much more common dangers, and IMO, no one should take the step of killing off animals which may be sighted in the area just on the off chance that something may occur, without observing real danger signals like an animal being too bold and approaching an inhabited dwelling in the daytime, or acting as if it is sick. Then some culling may be in order. Otherwise, enjoy the wildlife sightings and encourage your children to do the same.

:)

Andy
 
Munky88 said:
Its unlikey that they would attack your 6 year old. They're very timid and a 6 year old is probibly past the stage of easy prey. But they have on ocassion attacked grown people, and a 6 year old dosn't have much of a chance to fight back.

Fence it, or give him a whistle and stay nearby.

In a semi urban setting most coyotes should be rather well fed off scavanging and not willing to risk it. but it is always a possibility.
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JParanee said:
I d worry more about 2 legged predators
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keep a firearm nearby...
 
I live in a rural area, hear coyotes all the time...have seen packs. Gone years without losing any cats and then years when they disappear frequently. There are so many cases of documented attacks...I would take no chances. They are predators. When my son was getting old enough to want to play outside by himself, I got 2 Mastiffs as pups and raised them as part of "my pack". That seems to have taken care of the coyotes coming around to get the cats and I think 400+ pounds of serious dog would prove useful against the 2 legged predators as well. My vote is get a couple of big smart dogs that love will your children as their own...and watch them all anyway.
 
Andy,

I am definitely teaching my grandson to love and respect the wildlife around here...and to enjoy the great outdoors! I will not wantonly kill anything anymore...but if something does appear to be a viable threat, then, yes, I will remove it. One thing I will add, neither coyotes or mountain lions are scarce in these parts...the number of sightings of big cats around here has more than quadrupled in just the last year alone.

Ron
 
As I grow older I tend to think most kids should be invited outside to play with whatever wildlife they may encounter. My mother used to tell us to go play in the street. One learns...
 
ONE main word.... Respect.

Respect the wildlife....

But also make sure it respects you... if they come into your space and don't respect you then deal with it. Other than that use it as a opportunity to educate your kids on how to let nature work with you.

We had or have a rabbit problem.... the amount of rabbits gets crazy large... coyotes come through.... no rabbit problem.

Coyotes will take the easiest meal possible.... and they watch and learn. They would much rather avoid us but if their normal food source dries up and they are hungry they will try for other sources or move on. The person posting about neighbors who had small dogs and the coyotes were waiting is a good example. Watch your kid be around and they will see "oh when the little one is out so is the big one... bigger risk.... move on".

I also don't believe in the wholesale killing of animals we think are dangerous. We as humans have created the problem in the first place by screwing up the balance. We have pushed the animals out of an area or killed the predators that kill the animals that are now overabundant. Feral Hog in Texas may or may not be result of that. Could be a reason you folks down in Texas are seeing more Mountain lion (ummm Pork Roast). I know in some North East states deer are becoming more of a problem. I see more deer dead on the side of the road in PA than I would like to see when I travel through that state.
 
We've got a fair amount of coyotes in northern central MD, but they tend to keep out of sight for the most part. You can sometimes hear them howling, which upsets the dogs in the neighborhood something terrible. It is a rural area, and lots of the fields are filled with coyote holes.

They are fine with adults, but one was circling my baby sister and little brother about ten years ago or so. By the time my father got his shotgun, and the kids inside, it had run off.

To add to that, I would always suggest supervised time outside just based on age.
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
I've lived in rural areas for half my life (I'm 49). A six year old child should be supervised no matter where one lives. But there are many childhood dangers which pose a much greater risk to they well-being of a child than coyotes. A coyote will not approach an inhabited dwelling where there is activity, certainly not in the country, during daylight hours, unless it is ill. They might watch from a safe distance, but they won't approach. The danger is vanishly small. Far more risk of being run over, poisoned, or injured in a fall or other accident.

Andy
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I agree - I live in the country, hear coyotes at night, see moose tracks in my yard, and there are reports of a cougar in the area. I take the danger of wildlife seriously but it's the much more mundane risks that pose a greater threat. We want to worry about animal attacks while we don't give a second thought to strapping our children into a vehicle that rockets down the road at 80mph. Human assessment of risk is a funny thing - we make the little risks big in our minds, and the big risks little.
 
Hey man, I'm in Smyrna too. There are so many small dogs and cats around here that I doubt a coyote would ever mess with a human, even a child. I would worry more about your pets if you have any. I live over near Smyrna Market Village and we have heard of a lot of cats disappearing over the years. Could be a crazy neighbor, but I have seen and heard coyotes around.
 
Like some said, a large dog would definitely help. Our German Shepherd would protect our kids to the death. OTOH, if the coyote happens to be rabid, it is nothing to mess with (that obviously applies to other animals too). Fence the yard if you can. Even with these precautions, nothing replaces being vigilant. How's that for a wishy washy answer? :)

- Mark
 
Stumbled on this and thought I'd share.

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If it were me, I would be right there with my little ones. They are known to be pack hunters & most reported attacks have been classified predatorial. Most times that I've seen them throughout suburban Chicagoland they have seemed a bit skittish of humans. But... & a big one at that, if an animal is hungry, threatened, etc... there is no predicting the behavior (although the same & worse can be said of human beings).

Here's some additional info, even though to me the year ranges & # of reports is far from solidifying proof of consistency in any human-coyote attacks being at an elevated status:
pg's 7 & 8 http://urbancoyoteresearch.com/WhiteandGehrt_CoyoteAttacks.pdf
excerpt: Attacks generally fell into 5 categories: Defensive (the coyote felt threatened and was defending itself, pups, or a den); Rabid (the coyote was captured, tested, and diagnosed with rabies); Pet-related (the coyote attacked a person that was walking a pet, trying to save a pet from a coyote attack, or was just near a domestic pet at the time of attack); Investigative (the coyote bit a sleeping or resting person, testing it as a possible prey source); or Predatory (the coyote directly and aggressively pursued and bit the victim). Predatory attacks resulted in the most serious injuries. We classified 37% of attacks as Predatory, 22% as Investigative, 7% as Rabid, 6% as Pet-related, and 4% as Defensive (the other 24% could not be classified due to a lack of details).

Also,
Halfway down the page: Attacks on Humans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote

And, some other stories from over a number of years: http://www.varmintal.com/attac.htm
 
Munky88 said:
do they not break and run as soon as you make eye contact with them?
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I have stood on the entrance to a field and stared eye to eye for several lingering seconds, maybe a slow five count, at one out here, that I bumped into off and on. I suppose yodel dog size is a regional adaptation to climate, but a full grown adult out here can be sizable. I have my head up when Coyotes are about but feel very little threat from them because as you say, they are basicly timid. But they are a wild dog and I will not dismiss them entirely as a non entity when around them. My real concern is the one that isn't timid like my friend out in the field there. Those ones make me wonder if they are manged or rabied up. That is when I'm thankful to have a shovel or knife on me. My bad breath and feet are a natural repellent, but that only goes so far. :D
 
There's a pack that lives in the woods behind our home that makes a hell of a racket at night. My daughter is still young enough (4 1/2) that she does not ever go outside unaccompanied, but I still make sure to talk to her about coyotes.

Two summers ago, we came home in the early afternoon and found one standing in the backyard. It did not take off when it saw me, and when I advanced towards it yelling, it just calmly back off a few yards. I went in for a gun and it was gone when I came back out, but that level of boldness kind of freaked me out.
 
If you're going to let your extremely young child play outside unsupervised by yourself or another trusted adult, then your child has larger problems in life to contend with than coyote's being in the area.

As for coyote's in general, I've lived in the country all of my life until recently and I have never heard of a report of a person or even a domesticated animal being harmed by them in my previous area (near Pennslyvania). We had more domesticated animals killed by a random black bear wandering down from the mountains in search of a home and food than coyotes. Also the only reason the bear killed any of them, is because some foolish people didn't feel the need to supervise their dogs and the dogs chased the bear and received a mauling because of it.

Really though if you take the proper safety steps and respect predatory animals then you shouldn't have any problems.
 
Munky88 said:
do they not break and run as soon as you make eye contact with them?
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No way. When I lived in Southern California and rode my mountain bike in the hills, I'd have coyotes sit right by the dirt road I was on and just watch me as I rode within 20 feet of them. Rather unnerving.

Now, on my XR, things were a lot more fun. Pop up over a hill and see a coyote jump up, and it's on! They couldn't outrun me, but they can sure turn quick. Good times.
 
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