stupid coyote question

[minx]

any of you wildlife biologist/behviour types out there help me out.

 

i have always assumed that coyotes were more scared of me than i am of them since they have always trotted off. the other day i literally ran across a pack of 4 of them. they made absolutely no move toward me but absolutely no move away from me as i got closer.

 

i had an experience a while ago where i was packed by 3 of them while riding my horse. my horse had teeth marks and they killed my dog. at the time, i had never seen coyotes do anything but run from a horse and rider. i've assumed that behavior resulted b/c it was early spring after a hard winter and my dog must've made a tasty looking snack to some underweight coyotes.

 

after encountering those 4 yesterday, it got me to thinking a bit. am i as safe as i think i am near them?

[Dru]

If chased by coyotes, getting them to run off a cliff or trigger their own ACME Corp. rocket to explode with them aboard are time honoured methods of escaping pursuit.

[DirtyHarry]

Peer pressure. When they're in a pack of three or four they know their bros will be talking shit about them if they run away.

[Ducknut]

Weird. Did they seem like they might be young of the year? They usually run more solitary this time of the year. Liekwise, they usually are very shy around people. Did you encounter them in a urban/suburban area. They may be young or they may be just haven't been shot at by too many ranchers, hunters or bubbas.

 

I have never heard of attacking a horse and rider. I imagine that you made a bunch of noise and they still didn't run off? Sounds like you better talk to Greg_W about getting a CCL. Pop a few caps at them. Sorry to hear about your dog, what kind was it? My lab has had a few wounds from coyote battles.

[iain]

I've wondered the same thing when I am sleeping outside in the grasslands at Smith and hear them howling pretty close by. I keep the #11 hex close by

[Alpinfox]

I once saw a single coyote facing off with an adult moose in Alaska. This was in late winter and I imagine the coyote was pretty much starving to try something so stupid. I thought that was just a freak occurance, but hearing your story makes me think that a hungry coyote will try just about anything.

 

Observe the desperation in his eyes:

 

Some other coyote images on the web that may give insight into their aggressive nature:

 

 

 

Link about coyote attacks

[minx]

they did seem young. rural to suburban area. they've probably not been shot at.

 

the situation was extremely unusualand very frightening at the time. We were in the middle of a wheat field so they saw and heard us approaching. They came in from 3 sides. I think my horse got involved b/c my dog was running under him. She was a beagle. Great dog. A tragic loss for me. I was too frightened to get off my horse but they neighbors heard me yelling. The farmer went and shot at least one of them and came saying she was VERY underweight. It had been a long cold and snowy winter. I imagine the unusual behaviour was the result hunger and desperation.

Edited August 10, 2004 by minx

[Dru]

Up in the Peace River country a rancher told me how his dog was lured away from the farm by a coyote bitch in heat. His dog followed the "femme fatale" right into an ambush set up by the rest of her pack and was torn to shreds by them. The coyotes then raided the chicken coop next to the ranchhouse that the dog had been protecting.

 

These are very intelligent creatures and there is a strong correlation between human hunting of them and their population increasing...they thrive on adversity and have larger litters when threatened.

[Greg_W]

Coyotes are classified as a rodent and can be shot in any season with a valid WA State Hunting License. Go for it, minx, they'd make a nice purse.

[DirtyHarry]

Fawk. 'Round here deer are a rodent. Wish we had more coyotes to thin the population a bit.

 

Greg: you are correct, subject to these limitations:

 

COYOTE

 

OPEN SEASON: Statewide, year around except CLOSED from September 15 to November 30 in the Pasayten Wilderness, GMUs 426 and 450, and those portions of GMUs 218, 245, and 448 within the external boundaries of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Okanogan, and Wenatchee National Forests. However, coyote may only be killed and/or pursued with hounds during the following period: Sept. 2, 2003 - Mar. 15, 2004; Sept. 7, 2004 - Mar. 15, 2005; Sept. 6, 2005 - Mar. 15, 2006; except coyote may be hunted year around with hounds in Grant, Adams, Benton, and Franklin counties.

 

[Ducknut]

Greg you mean varmit, rodents are a taxonomic family of mammals , generally with two enlarged incisors for chewing (think beavers, mice, rats).

[Greg_W]

Oops, I stand corrected on both above comments. Sorry if I led anyone astray.

[ken4ord]

I heard the coyotes down in J-Tree, try and lure dogs away from there camp site then will gang up on the dog once they are away from people and kill 'em.

[specialed]

Saw that happen personally. Some hippies were letting their dog run wild while the coyotes were out in the distance howling. Sure enough, dog tears out of camp in the direction of the howling. Doubt that doggie was ever seen again. Stupid hippies.

[drater]

Saw that happen personally. Some hippies were letting their dog run wild while the coyotes were out in the distance howling. Sure enough, dog tears out of camp in the direction of the howling. Doubt that doggie was ever seen again. Stupid hippies.

 

Seen it multiple times in J-Tree, they can be seen stalking the campgrounds sizing up potential meals during the day even.

 

I seem to remember the particular event you describe, hippy girl running around screaming for someone to help her dog

 

"It's being killed by a pack of wolves, somebody help it"

 

Think it was winter 95 or 96. Sound about right?

 

BB

[ken4ord]

Saw that happen personally. Some hippies were letting their dog run wild while the coyotes were out in the distance howling. Sure enough, dog tears out of camp in the direction of the howling. Doubt that doggie was ever seen again. Stupid hippies.

 

Seen it multiple times in J-Tree, they can be seen stalking the campgrounds sizing up potential meals during the day even.

 

I seem to remember the particular event you describe, hippy girl running around screaming for someone to help her dog

 

"It's being killed by a pack of wolves, somebody help it"

 

Think it was winter 95 or 96. Sound about right?

 

BB

 

Yeah I was out there around that time, though I didn't witness any that crazyness, heard plenty of stories though.

[EWolfe]

Never trust a fox telling you about a coyote.

 

[Alpinfox]

 

or a wolf telling you about a fox?

 

[Bronco]

minx, that's pretty rare, you should contact the Dept of Wildlife (425) 775-1311 and report both incidents.

 

 

On a related note, SUV saves man's life:

 

Deer attacks man in Madison Valley

 

By NICK GEVOCK, Chronicle Staff Writer

 

The hunt is on for a feisty mule deer buck that charged and pummeled an elderly man near Cameron on Monday morning before it was distracted by the sight of its own reflection.

 

A Madison Valley game warden is looking for the four-point buck, which attacked Gene Novikoff at his home south of Cameron.

 

Novikoff had several previous run-ins with the buck this summer, he said Tuesday in a telephone interview, but this time the deer snuck up on him in the driveway.

 

"I tried to get inside the house, but he charged me before I could," he said. "I wrestled with him, which was a mistake -- I'm 80 years old, he's only about 2 or 3."

 

The buck knocked Novikoff over and pummeled him with its front hooves for more than five minutes. Novikoff suffered a broken rib, bruises and scratches on his torso, hands and head.

 

Novikoff feared the deer was going to kill him. He called for help, but his wife was inside the house and didn't hear him.

 

Eventually the deer noticed its own reflection in Novikoff's shiny SUV parked nearby and was intrigued.

 

That gave Novikoff enough time to open the garage door and get inside, he said.

 

"Thank God I had the car cleaned a couple of weeks ago," Novikoff said. "If he hadn't gotten interested in looking at himself, I don't think I would have made it."

 

At that point, Novikoff shot the deer six times with a .22-caliber rifle and it ran off.

 

He said the deer was still hanging around the car and that's why he had to shoot at it.

 

Novikoff's wife took him to the emergency room at the Madison Valley Hospital, where he was treated for lacerations and bruises.

 

Even before the attack, officials had decided the deer needed to be dealt with, said Marc Glines, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden.

 

The buck had grown so brazen it repeatedly chased anglers on the Madison River and once entered a man's garage.

 

It was likely raised as a pet by someone because the buck shows no fear of humans, Glines said.

 

Once a deer has become so habituated that it will aggressively go after people, it has to be killed, he said.

 

"FWP was worried that a fisherman would trip while getting away, or it would run into a child and someone would get hurt or killed," he said.

 

Novikoff's neighbor has twice doused the deer with pepper spray. But even that painful experience failed to spook the deer away for good.

 

Glines has since loaned a hunting rifle to Novikoff to use if the deer shows up again.

 

Meanwhile, Glines is also looking for the deer, which has proved elusive.

 

"That creature, as nutty as it is, it can sense when he's around," Novikoff said.

[specialed]

The fuckin deer out in the Methow have it so easy, with the lack of natural predators and big fields of Alfalfa, they're way aggressive. I have to throw rocks at the doe in my yard to get them to leave and stop eating my Woods Rose bushes and shit. They also aren't scared of dogs anymore, it takes two or three dogs to chase away one doe. It'll be pay back time once bow season open though

[Greg_W]

stop eating my Woods Rose bushes and shit.

 

Piss around the bushes; the scent will keep them away. It works.

[minx]

The fuckin deer out in the Methow have it so easy, with the lack of natural predators and big fields of Alfalfa, they're way aggressive. I have to throw rocks at the doe in my yard to get them to leave and stop eating my Woods Rose bushes and shit. They also aren't scared of dogs anymore, it takes two or three dogs to chase away one doe. It'll be pay back time once bow season open though

 

now i've got this image in my head of specialed

[carolyn]

In Jtree last spring this guy from the city was talking to the ranger one morning and found out there was a bobcat hanging around the campsite. Dipshit decided that night to leave a steak out as a kitty treat. I heard/saw him showing people tracks of the bobcat the next morning.

 

Lucky Jay was sleeping in his bivy sack a few hundred feet away. Hmmmm...he would have made a healthy snack!

 

Hey, I did see a coyote earlier this week in the suburbs of mpls. He was crossing the road...chasing the roadrunner! For real, tho. Quite a rare site around here.

[Fejas]

Coyotes run in packs all year long, but usually at night when hunting. Thats why they howl, it is to let the others know that they are congragating to go hunting... They are like any other alpha lead pack. you can drive them off by being agressive twards them... In the case of your dog and horse, they will get a lot closer and be a lot more agresive if you are on or around animals that show fear to a pack...

 

I've actually ran with packs before... This is wild boy, hillbilly fejas as a kid, but where I grew up there are a lot of coyotes, and I would call them in the middle of the night and take off runing throught the woods... I could see them running in the moon light ten to fifteen yards or so away from me... My oppinion is that they are harmless beasts if you act like you own the show... but I've never had a run in with them that resulted in atacking my horse and dog...

 

Specialed: try Irishspring soap and a carrot peeler... works great for my baby girls out in the woods...

[specialed]

Woods Roses are wild roses that bloom in the spring and smell real good. I'm not writing poetry about it or anything. Fejas: Irish Spring and a carrot peeler? as in put flakes of the soap around the plant?