# Coyote in the back yard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242 "2012-01-21T21:44:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/21 "2012-01-24T14:23:05Z")
We have a cattle ranch in Colorado out in the plains and canyons. We’ll call 'em in sometimes with a wounded jackrabbit call. It’s impressive to see how far away they’ll come in from but what’s truly astonishing are the ones you don’t see until they’re damn near right on top of you. They use the relief, natural cover, sagebrush, tree fells, whatever but they’ve popped up unannounced at 40 yards before. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/22 "2012-01-24T15:20:33Z")
Ugh, I hate coyotes. Mangy little bastards eat pets, fawns, and calves. We’re not beset by small vermin so I seen absolutely no redeeming value beyond target practice. I was in my treestand this year watching a bedded doe in the top of the field, she spooked and a coyote popped up 3 feet behind her so I dumped him. I’m seeing regular coyote tracks near the house when the hound and I go snow shoeing so I suppose it’s time to go hunting. I worry about the Kimber dog, she’s a bit graceless and slow to begin with and the deep snow has slowed her down even more. My mom is hell on coyotes. Our old dog, Kate, was being chased so Mom whistled her back to the house and shot the coyote on his way by - you don’t mess with the dogs when my mother is about. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/23 "2012-01-24T15:22:56Z")
One of the ladies at our veterinarian’s office had a couple of photos of some fat, very healthy-looking coyotes in Merritt Island, FL. I’m used to lots of interesting critters around here (feral pigs, bobcats, the occasional black bear), but this was the first time I’d heard of coyotes in the neighborhood. For some reason, it always seemed like the one highly-adaptable critter we _didn’t_ have hanging around. ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/24 "2012-01-24T15:27:19Z")
I’m in a subdivision in a fairly rural area of mid Michigan. I have a 60 acre field behind me, and a mile of mixed woods and open field behind that. There’s a small river in the back yards of the houses across the street. We get critters or signs of them all the time. I’ve heard the coyotes howling at night before, and it seems like they are right out under the apple tree in the back yard. I once had a fox chase one of our cats out of the cornfield. He made it 20-30 feet into the open area of the back yard before he realized that there were people here, and he turned and scooted back into the corn in a heartbeat. This morning when I left for work, my headlights picked up 5-6 deer that had bedded down in the back corner of the yard by the neighbor’s garden. There’s critters everywhere here. And I have a couple of neighbors that let their pets wander at night ALL THE FREAKIN’ TIME! One has an ancient little lab that is deaf and half blind, and a 3 legged cat that hops more than runs. The other has a black cat that comes over at night to torment our herd through the sliding door on the deck. How these guys haven’t become coyote chow is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/25 "2012-01-24T19:36:08Z")
The coyote population has dropped in our neighborhood over the past few years. There is still plenty of small game, and foxes have moved in. The feral cat population once huge is nearly non-existent now. I suppose the coyotes may have become used to the ‘fast food’ of pets and feral cats and moved on to easier hunting grounds. They are certainly still a problem just a few miles away. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/26 "2012-01-25T05:12:25Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > That was interesting. It seems like the raccoons almost always traveled in threes, except that one time when one was a skunk. I was surprised to see coyotes and raccoons or opossums in the same picture. The buffet seems to be like water in the desert. No killin at the water hole. The racoons will scoot up a tree if the coyotes surprise them but mostly they sort take turns… The possums & skunks seem to be sayin to the coyotes, f’ool you really don’t wanna mess with me.’ BNawahahaha No end of fun from that Critter Cam… ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/27 "2012-01-25T15:22:34Z")
Every time I read the thread title, [“can’t afford to feed him anymore”](http://www.lyricstime.com/dead-milkmen-big-lizard-lyrics.html) pops into my head. ---
**Author:** ![activgurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@activgurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/activgurl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/28 "2012-01-25T18:02:50Z")
Yup, gotta agree with ducati; instant target material. Five years ago, before we realized we even HAD coyotes around, we lost 8 out of 16 baby calves. I’ve had them within 50 feet of my house, checking to see what was edible. Kind of hard to hit on a foggy night, but GAME ON! ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/29 "2012-01-25T18:15:17Z")
☹ Lucky people… we don’t have coyotes in NW Fairfax county. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/30 "2012-01-25T18:24:26Z")
**activgurl** , while there’s no way to prove our coyote eaten calf carcasses were actually taken down by them, the scarred and torn up legs of others that managed to survive leave no doubt as to what’s going on. Ther’s nothing else out there capable of the like. > [@ducati](#): > > This is _exhibit A_ for why any local predators are [silenced](http://www.aacblog.com/?p=8403)quickly in my yard. And _Exhibit B.__Exhibit C_. Hey, **ducati** , my [tool](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=637894) isn’t a far cry from yours. With many tens of thousands of acres to cover on either side of two rivers, a “collie” ain’t gonna do a lick of good. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/31 "2012-01-25T18:30:29Z")
We had one in our neighborhood (and I live in the suburbs). He got two of the neighbor’s cats. Haven’t seen him for a while. Maybe he moved on, or got hit by a car. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/32 "2012-01-25T18:49:59Z")
We get coyotes in backyard all the time, and we’re just 9 miles from Boston. It’s one reason our kitties don’t get to go outside. In the summer you can hear them howling. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242/33 "2012-01-25T21:56:43Z")
Our neighbour lost 2 cats a few years back. A kid in our town was [attacked](http://http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1118476--coyote-shot-after-biting-8-year-old-oakville-girl) last week. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coyote-in-the-back-yard/610242.md?page=1)