A couple of days ago our 130 lb dog alerted to something in the front yard at dusk. He went berserk and man is he loud! It was foggy but I could see it was a fox or a coyote. I have never seen a coyote around here before.
Then a couple of days later I went out the back door to go to the garage and there he stood near where we feed the squirrels. (I have dusk to dawn lights in that area). I called the wife to see him. He is handsome! Fairly big, probably 80 lbs and fluffy with a nice mane. Not scruffy at all. He looked like a wolf. I hope the squirrels take note.
Occasionally you get one that likes a good all-you-can-eat buffet.
I’ve done it, so I’m not saying you’re wrong. You have provided the coyote with this feeding opportunity.
Take my word for it, he won’t forget as long as the easy, fat squirrels are there. The coyote will soon learn what time you feed the squirrels and when they will be plentiful and distracted.
He’ll either decimate the population or the squirrels will figure out it’s a dangerous place and quit coming or you’ll have to remove the coyote.
I’m not gonna tell you how you’ll have to do that last part. But call the game and fish commission and make sure they’re in season or a varmint with no law to protect them.
Watch your cats and dogs and children when they’re outdoors.
We’re gonna see more and more of this in the next few years. It’s just a matter of time.
We were told by our local wildlife guy that removing coyotes, if you already have a population, won’t help. You’ve just created a vacuum that the other coyotes will fill. You need to remove any food sources and harass them, so they’ll want to avoid you and your general area.
It weighs 80 lbs and looks like a wolf? Are you sure it isn’t a wolf?
Coyotes typically don’t get anywhere near that size. The Eastern Coyote, which is possibly a hybrid coyote/wolf, gets to a max of 55 lbs or so. Western Coyotes are more like 30-35 lbs. If you saw an 80lb wolf-like creature, you probably saw a wolf, IMO.
I would stay clear of it. Wolf or coyote, an 80lb carnivore can ruin you if it decides to. Feeding it will bring it around more, which is a bad idea. If it gets used to people it may have to be put down or relocated if it becomes aggressive.
The genius Coyote we had that figured out the automatic dog feeder in the Beagle kennel was clearly a big brave DOG of his kind.
Usually around here they stay around the fringe areas where we live. You can certainly hear them at night and you see sign they’ve been near the pond.
But big Guy was not afraid. He’d sit out by the kennel watching us if it was time for the feeder to throw out food. He knew we weren’t coming close. The beagles were penned up. After the first week they quit even barking at the Coyote.
We tried many things. Never fazed him.
Game warden said take him out. He’s never gonna leave on his own. Guaranteed food source is too much of a draw.
I hated to do it. The Coyote was obviously smart. Hell, he could tell time.
He would’ve eventually killed or hurt a pet or my chickens. He was trying to gain access into the kennel. 13 inch Beagles wouldn’t have had a chance.
(This coyote I called Big DOG was no where near 80lbs, probably 40 max)
Have had two different bears like that. They would sit down and watch the house. Spooky. Noise from banging pots and pans did not phase them. Noise from a .357 mag got their attention (shot into a tree stump near it).
We had a small-ish (one to two sizes up from a fox) coyote run across the back yard this morning! I had heard of them in the area but had not seen one yet. If it decides to stay and snack on the squirrels I’m not sure how upset I would be.
Creepy is the word.
Our bear never actually stood around and stared. Mostly saw his butt ducking into the brush.
Once saw him standing in the pond about knee deep. I have to say when he stood up he looked awfully big.
The warden said he was a juvenile. I think he was from a big genetic pool. Cause he scared the crap outta me, he was so tall.
Yeah. Black Bears are opportunists. But don’t usually attack humans. They’ll break into your cars and house though.
Never had one break into the house. Our cars, about 5 times. What is scary there is you wonder if they are in the car taking a nap.
When I see doors open on our cars, I know what it is. Ummmm… “Anybody home?” Again, I leave an escape route and look for movement in the car by making big noise.
My wife doesn’t think he was 80 lbs either. I looked at a lot of coyote and wolf photos but don’t see one with such a nice ruff around his head. There are also about 8 raccoons in the area in summer.
Coyotes should be killed on sight with utmost prejudice. Fuck Those Motherfuckers!
Doxie was attacked at least 3 times. The last time, the coyote was in the yard and gonna kill Trixie and maybe Ted (Dixie and puppy Hickory were absolutely traumatized), but Doxie took him on, and saved those two. Took a few scars, but lived to be the Hero he was. That dog was The Best.
Gary, the first Coyote that tried to kill Doxie, took a bullet through the Jugular and is now hanging on the back of a Papasan chair. I want to get rid of the chair, but not sure where Gary would go then.
