Thoughts on Coyotes

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It's a divided subject I'll admit. When I'm hunting on a ranch where I know the rancher wants the coyotes gone, I'll shoot'em and enjoy it, because I've been asked to help solve a problem on the ranch. When I'm on public land, I let them be. I prefer to only kill what I want to eat. If they were good eating, that'd be a different story!:)
 
koyote said:
Yeah, no shooting the ones with a K :D

Mike- what you describe is a balanced, natural coyote population, which is great. (BTW, I got a letter today...)

I don't advocate eradictaion, hardly! But the population problem with coyotes, much like some species of birds and rodents, isn't just a hole in the food chain- it's our waste. Coyotes feed- ravenously- on our civilization. A few years ago the estimate by an anthropologist of the coyote population in the city of LA was 50,000!!!
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Makes sense to me. Believe me - If the 'yotes around my property were causing problems, I would reassess my position in a heartbeat. I think that it makes sense to approach this sort of thing on a case-by-case basis.

All the best,

- Mike (BTW letters are good!)
 
We have coyotes that run the woods and creek behind the house. A neighbor has had several rabbits and chickens taken this year. There have also been a few pet disappearances that are suspect.

I personally find them to be one of the most fascinating animals in North America but I will still shoot them on sight. They are too much of a nuisance around here.

Last year there was an obviously rabid raccoon that I put down on a sand bar in the creek. I went up to the garage to get a shovel to bury the poor critter and got interrupted by a phone call. When I returned the raccoon carcass was gone and there were coyote tracks and drag marks in the sand. So in the span of about 20 minutes one of those sly buggers came through and dragged off the raccoon. Hopefully we won't soon have rabid coyotes. :(
 
Planetcat said:
It's a divided subject I'll admit. When I'm hunting on a ranch where I know the rancher wants the coyotes gone, I'll shoot'em and enjoy it, because I've been asked to help solve a problem on the ranch. When I'm on public land, I let them be. I prefer to only kill what I want to eat. If they were good eating, that'd be a different story!:)
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It's funny- Apparently some places you have to get special permits and tags and whatnot to hunt turkeys.....around here, int he vineyards, they are varmints, and you can take them by the plenty.

It's always very situational- and always very much dependent on the changes we make in the environment.
 
We're actually starting to hear about them coming up into NJ. There was an attack on a couple of hikers outside of Atlantic city a couple of years back, if I'm not mistaken. Unlike wolves, they're very resiliant scavenger/hunters and can adapt to their climate very well, they spread out over wide ranges and can breed pretty much anywhere. They can hunt effectively in packs or as individuals, they're the hyenas of North America. Kill them if they are giving you problems, i.e. attacking you or your animals, roaming your property (especially if there are children present), showing signs of disease (foaming out the mouth; bold, unusual behavior; etc.) Don't set out to kill them just for the fun of it though.
 
This has the potential to become a real hot thread...again...

I don't usually kill them just to shoot them. I have to have a damn good reason. Just seeing them near my farm is not a good enough reason for me. However, let me catch the little bugger inside the fences and they get the .30-06 lobotomy.
 
banana-clip said:
Thats probably why you didn't see any deer.

When coyotes are around the deer wont be.
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This is not meant to be a pro or con position, but considering the above, what kind of effect would that have on the deer tick population? There seems to be a direct correlation between deer populations and Lyme disease.

Doc
 
I remember years ago when the state of Idaho poisoned off the coyote in many of its ranch lands...at the ranchers request. Well, the coyote disappeared sure enough, but the rabbit took over. The rabbit literally ate the local farmers out of house and home. The farmers then passed their costs on to the ranchers and the ranchers on to the consumer. Obviously this wasn't the solution and after more taxpayer dollars were spent for new research, they decided it was best to just leave things alone. Nature balanced itself out again and the rancher came to the conclusion that it was just cheaper to write off their conservative losses.

I (we) am a rancher and live on ranch lands where we have literally thousands of coyotes in the area. They live on our property, in the mountains, travel our roads, sing morning and night. In the early days around here, the sheepherders had a real time of it, losing much of their flocks to the coyotes. We have photos of piles of coyotes (up to 8 ft. high) that were killed by bounty hunters in an attempt to help with domestic animal losses. Even that didn't work and the sheepherders eventually moved on or changed the type of ranching they did. Today, the ranchers that we know that run sheep in this area, use either guard donkeys or llamas to keep the coyotes at a distance. The coyotes have learned how to distract guard dogs and get them to chase, however the donkey or llama won't buy it and stay by the sheep. I watched a donkey kill a coyote once and it wasn't a pretty sight! Our cows and horses are safe from coyotes and won't hesitate to stick up for themselves.

I could shoot a coyote almost everyday if I wanted to because I see them most everyday (early and late). However, the coyotes on our land know their limitations (yes, their parents teach them) and they leave our animals alone. Too, these coyote families will not tolerate other coyotes moving into the area. So, in one way, these guys are trained to a point. We leave them alone, they leave us alone and tend to manage their own numbers. If their numbers inflate, either starvation or disease will get them. Amazing how that works. Nope, we don't sit around at the grange halls and talk about coyotes as much as we do the economy. The economy is much more dangerous to our interests. Yours, too, if you consume meat and crops. :)
 
banana-clip said:
Thats probably why you didn't see any deer.

When coyotes are around the deer wont be.
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This is not true. At all. I wish I could provide more than anecdotal evidence very much to the contrary...
 
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dougo83 said:
This is not true. At all. I wish I could provide more than anecdotal evidence very much to the contrary...
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I concur, dougo83, though my evidence is also anecdotal / experiential. I could draw you an overhead map of my usual hiking grounds and point out the various overlapping game trails and critter habitats. The deer generally stick to the thicket and the transition area between the hardwood and softwood forests on the property. The coyotes cross through this area quite regularly too, but they seem to be more interested in the wild rabbits (which are everywhere) than the deer. I'll see if I can find all three kinds of tracks in close proximity next time I'm out snowshoeing.

All the best,

- Mike
 
In the norhteast here, I have read one or two studies that coyotes have filled the notch left by the removal of wolfs. I have also read another that said they had done some DNA testing and at least one tested was 85% wolf apparently from cross breeding.

I set up a game camera on a deer carcass I discovered at work. Now this is in rural CT right on my work property within 10 feet of a walking trail at work. I know that these aren't wolfs but look at them carefully and tell me what they LOOK like to you. Sorry for the quality of the shots.

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Most places I encounter them (wilderness) they are not a serious problem and I enjoy seeing them. However, if a landowner allowed me to hunt on his property and asked me to cull some, I would do so to thank him for access to his land.

DancesWithKnives
 
I see coyotes every time I drive through Griffith Park in LA. They get close enough to the childrens' play ground to make me feel uncomfortable. They are very bold and will even come to the edge of the playground, even if the area is full of parents and children. Had one walk right up to the door of my car as I was getting out. This is usually because some fool has been feeding them. I usually only see one at a time, but I've seen packs of four to six roaming around, and that's when they are dangerous, especially to people walking small dogs. I've never heard of a coyote attacking anyone in Griffith park.

Just another reason to carry a cane when hiking through the park.
 
In northern alberta there have been reports of coyotes and wolves hunting together and cross breeding, and right here in calgary small animal deaths have shot up largely in the past few months due to coyote activity. Most of the people who have run into them lately have also reported the coyotes standing their ground which isnt very common around here. It would seem they are getting braver
 
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