It aeems to be a rare phenomenon.
“Genetic surveys of wild coyotes have rarely documented evidence of dogs in the genetic makeup of coyotes, despite domestic dogs and coyotes sharing the continent for the past 9,000 years.”
“These rare hybrids only occur when there is a shortage of healthy and viable mates of the same species.”
I’d bet that Jack Russoyotes are very uncommon.
Thanks for the info. I’ve been hearing about this for at least 30 years without seeing any serious reporting on it.
We had a coyote get into the house while we were out and got one of our dachshunds. The hallway she was cornered in looked like an abattoir.
That’s a horror show. So sorry.
I found the head and pelt of my neighbor’s cat on my front lawn right after I moved into my house. I hadn’t met them yet. A different neighbor took me over to introduce us so I could tell them. They were getting ready to move in a month.
When we moved here to RI 25 years ago there was a growing feral cat population in the woods nearby, and growing reports of coyotes in the area. Within 2 years the feral cats were gone, along with a lot of small pets. But after cleaning out the ready food supply the coyote population dropped significantly.
I had a field bred English setter ( Nothing like a showdog) he weighed 55# and could run down and kill a coyote. Very few dogs can catch a coyote besides the sight hound breeds. Coyotes will usually attack dogs under 20# unless they are old. I do know of a couple of dogs in the 40# class that were eaten but I htink that is the exception. As for fences, a coyote can easily go over an 8ft fence. 6ft will not even slow them down.
I know someone who moved to a house deep in the woods. There were coyotes around and he was worried about his kids so he got a 100+ pound Bernese Mountain Dog. He says no coyotes were seen within a mile of his house after that. I don’t know if one would kill a coyote but they are the kind of dog that would chase after one. I imagine Irish Wolfhounds would do just as well and kill them like they do with wolves, by grabbing them by the neck and shaking them until their neck snapped.
In the past year I’ve read an article about a Great Pyrenees killing several coyotes. He got torn up, but survived.
Yeah, it’s kind of like in combat sports, where if you have just too many weight classes between you and your opponent, size begins to have a quality all its own.
My brother-in-law has had a succession of Pyrenees for guarding his sheep. The coyotes mostly avoid his property, but a few have been killed by the dogs.
My best friend lives across the street from National Forest, so he sees a lot of wildlife. One morning there was a coyote slowly limping down the street. It kept looking back at its pursuer—a cougar. He didn’t get to see how that turned out, but probably not well for the coyote.
They’ve got a massive size advantage and a very thick coat. Livestock guardian dogs breeds were developed in multiple countries (about 30) because they work pretty well. What virtually all of them have in common is that they’re pretty big. They’re not super-dogs, but with that mass advantage they’re fairly effective against much lighter coyotes in isolation. Usually it doesn’t get that far of course - the presence of a guardian dog(s) alone is often a sufficient deterrent. But if it does they can more than hold their own.
Coyotes are not extremely efficient killers thats why they hunt smaller animals. Lately I have heard talk that they have learned to rip the throat out of some of the larger breeds but I don’t know if that is true.
Yeah, I know. Zombie thread. But I’ve kind of been a zombie poster here for a while, and I’m uniquely qualified to address a couple of these points. Since I was last active on SDMB, I spent over four years as Executive Director of Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary, and we had coyotes there, not to mention wolves, foxes, mountain lions, bears, lynxes, bobcats, and so forth.
Ooh. Multiple misconceptions in this paragraph from the OP.
First, while coyotes may not have the same pack structure as wolves, they most definitely run in family groups with some absolutely intriguing pack dynamics. Don’t get me started on how their reproductive habits change when the pack is threatened (Or do. It’s fascinating).
Coyotes definitely hunt cooperatively and they will absolutely take down prey larger than themselves. While a bunny rabbit (or a bunch of field mice or voles) make a meal for a hungry coyote, they are also known to take down deer and other critters larger than themselves to feed the whole pack.
Not only can a healthy coyote jump a 6-foot fence, but they can climb even higher fences! Unlike cats, which typically leap from a standing start, a coyote will get a good running start and go straight up chainlink fences, retaining walls, and similar structures much higher than six feet.
The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries has guidelines for keeping canids like coyotes, and they call for fencing that has a “minimum vertical dimension of 8 ft. (2.44 m) with an additional 3 ft. (0.91 m) fencing cantilevered toward the enclosure at 35-40º if the enclosure is not covered with roof or fencing.”
Also, they specify that open-topped enclosures can’t have acute-angled corners, or the coyotes will just shimmy on up by planting feet on each side like a rock climber going up a chimney.
And they call for wire mesh buried under the substrate along the fenceline extending 2-3 ft. (0.6- 0.9 m) or a concrete apron extending 1-2 ft. (0.3-0.6 m) into the enclosure. When we built our coyote, wolf, and fox enclosures, we hog-ringed 3-foot chainlink fence to the bottom of their exterior fences and buried it six inches under the dirt to prevent digging out.
If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, don’t forget to take that into consideration on your fences, too. Even though coyotes have much smaller feet, they’re also quite lightweight and they can run up a snowdrift and over a fence pretty easily.
If you really want to keep coyotes out, you’re best off using coyote-scaring tricks instead of trying to build a taller unscalable fence.
Such as?
Yes, please do!
Adding my voice to the chorus - I’d be delighted to read about this!
We’re all about fightin’ ignorance around here, yanno. That, and snark. Gotta bring a bit of snark.
I’m bummed that there never was a solution to the mystery of @Lanzy’s 50-lb Jack Russel terriers.
MYTH
“MYTH: Coyotes lure domestic dogs. FACT: Coyotes are family oriented and do not use their family members to bait or lure other animals. When a free-roaming dog chases and harasses a coyote, the coyote will flee to the safety of family members. If a dog continues pursuit, coyotes will defend their families.”
I wonder if there’s an inconsistency in the use of the word “lure.” The document you cite refers specifically to “use[ing] their family members to bait or lure other animals,” but it seems more likely to me that an adult, hunting coyote would reveal itself to a target animal at a distance and use controlled retreat to bring it to a more secluded area where it had backup. That seems like pretty basic pack tactics, and I would call it “luring.” Am I completely off-base?
Your definition is consistent with the Canada wildlife’s definition. This is not a tactic that coyotes normally use…and yes coyotes are pack animals. In most cases when coyotes attack dogs, it is because the dog is the aggressor.