I would think that a fisher-cat would be big enough that, while a coyote probably could kill one, it’d be risky for the coyote, and that it’d prefer to go after easier prey.
Wait, are we talking about the cat, or the weasel, when we say “fisher”? I thought the former, but now that I’m looking online, I’m seeing info on the latter.
I’ve had some success using coyote urine in my garden for that…
It will not, however, deter a snapping turtle from coming into your garden and eating all your lettuce and other greens.
The problem with using predator urine is it might deter the prey animals … but it also might attract the predators from whence the urine came from … coyote urine attracts coyotes, puma urine attracts pumas etc etc etc … that’s why they sell urine at trapper supply stores … sprinkle a little wolf urine in front of a #3-1/2 foot hold trap and presto, you’ll catch a wolf !!!
Are you speaking from personal experience? If so, how did you get free?
A New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife study of the stomach content of 1,000 fishers only found one with cat hair. This would indicate that fisher predation of cats is extremely rare and your cat has little to worry about from the fisher. If there are squirrels in your neighborhood that is what fishers prefer to eat. Coyotes are a much bigger danger to cats and cats make up about 10% of a coyote’s diet.
Wolves are not a problem in New York as only one has been found there in the last 25 years.
Some eco-freak greenies happened by … “Oh the poor majestic beast, we have to set him free” … they sure were surprised when I turned and bit them … but lesson learned, one territory mark beware … any wolf worth his hide is going to piss on everything … Speaking of which, are we going to replace the carpet in here someday?
A resident coyote pack will actively try to steal a black bears cub, as documented by a couple of random stories here.
But even in the case of grey wolves, competition seems to be the main control on coyote population, and while the numbers did drop in Yellowstone for example that drop in population was only about 1/3 and not total evacuation.
Cougars may sometimes kill a coyote just as a coyote may kill a bobcat from time to time but these are occasional occurrences and not a hard rule. But crazy enough I have actually watch a badger and a coyote hunting together, and the coyote actually groomed the badger after they had both caught several squeekies (ground squirrels) working together.
I shoot a lot of nature photography, and unfortunately most of it is wide angle time lapse so I didn’t have the right camera to take pictures but I have seen coyotes hanging out waiting for their chance on a kill, or in times/areas of less food rushing up to try and steal food from other larger predators. And when bellies are empty obviously the competition and tensions rise.
But most related to the OP, I live deep in the city of Seattle, and I have routinely seen coyotes walking directly next to a dog park at night. They are smart enough to be nocturnal in the deep city, but they seemed to be more interested in the high number of rats as a food source than carrying about epic amounts of dog/(wolf) urine.
My understanding may be incorrect, but it seems that the coyotes that are in very urban areas seem to be in pairs or solo. I assume that they do not have strongly defended territories and I doubt that detecting another predators markings does anything but alert them to needing to keep their guard up.
I can understand the difficulty in trying to keep a former outside cat indoors, but the average lifespan of an feral cat in a group is ~5 years, and only a couple when solo.
Compared to almost 20 for indoor pets, the numbers show how great the risk is. But relating to coyotes night time is the highest risk if you are in an urban area.
Several years ago when we lived across the street from a State Park I put a lot of different foods out at night and used a trail camera to see who came buy. I posted many of them here at the SDMB. Coyotes were common visitors plus many more things/critters.
We had 7-9 cats at the time and we would put them up at night. Most folks did around there, even those with big dogs.
Biggest problem was hawks & owls getting kittens in the day time. Had to be careful there.
Several times we had on of our cats sitting 10 feet from a fox or two that was at the food place just about 20 feet from our front door watching them eat.
Sometimes we had 5 different animals eating at the same time. A lot of times the coyotes would wait back in the woods until some other group would finish.
No neighbors had less then 3 acres and no one was across the street at all, State Park.
Only comments was about dogs that got into a chicken pen or, “Did you get to see the black mountain lion so & so got on his trail camera?”
A few black bear sightings but there were not that many around that park.
So, feeding all the critters did not raise or lower coyote populations that anyone could tell, people were not silly about trash and pets out at night. No campers were ever attacked. A few fell off the cliffs but critters had nothing to do with that as far as I know.
YMMV
Please tell me you caught that on camera, because that’s awesome.
Coyotes where I live are so damn confident that they lollygag around in the daytime near schools. This is urban LA county. Fuckers won’t even run away when you yell at them any more. They are very, very confident around humans and our pets, aka prey. I would happily shoot them all but that’s not so safe with all the people to catch stray bullets.
Never heard anyone trying predator urine as a deterrent, but even if it worked there are a lot of people with a lot of small pets and it would take quite a lot of captive wolf piss to make LA County safe for cats and small dogs.
That, and there are already a lot of wolves around and peeing in any place with humans. Do you really think that coyotes can tell from the smell that the wolves in question like humans and have floppy ears?
I was shooting ultra-wide angle lenses and it was the era of 12MP cameras so unfortunately no. It would have just been little dots and I was viewing it with binoculars.
Looking at some papers it appears that the badger/coyote affinity has been known for well over 40 years.
Here is a cite for those who want to see close interaction.
https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2016/11/2/Spotted-A-Coyote-and-Badger
Read a lot of good stuff which is logical
There is a den right over the other side of my 1200ft moraine in southern NYS. Hunter saw the sign and I can hear momma
My cats been nervous lately and no rabbits so that matches all I have heard
I live very rural at edge of large wood and carried weapons when I walked my dog because of all the stories
The one article makes sense with my recent experience
When I hear them make a kill nearby I go outside at three am and howl like they do
First they shut up then I hear the alpha call them back to the den
I usually take a Hessian Horseman axe, morning star, war hammer or boar spear for protection and a pistol back up
It is not sport unless the other team has a chance of winning
So I howl like mad to challenge them and then I roar and yell curses. I finish off with unloading a few magazines from the pistol
Someone in the area gets hired to track and kill them so they know what I am
They seem pretty smart since they seem to respect the territory I have established
But after reading all this I need to be more preemptive. They may well be watching from just out of sight. May just go howl now just because it is fun
Like the idea of collecting my own urine
Shame on the fur farms
I believe I live and let live. As long as they stay out of my 10 acres they can do what they want but I need to protect my own till I get enough fence built for donkeys. We have plenty deer and roadkill they do not need to come here
Thanks for putting it all in perspective
Oh yeah. I saw bold ones in daylight in Ocala FL but the wild ones I have only seen crossing roads at sunrise and sunset while commuting
What concerns me is the big one that literally jumped over the hood of my truck going up a mountain cut in the state forest one night
Huge!!! Not like the FL coyotes
I take them real seriously. My animals are my family