Coyote Problem

[larry wv]

+2 on the Howling at train whistles. Also they won't come to calls here either. The last one I killed was sneaking up on a cat on our front porch. Easy shot about 50 feet I have killed 4 with a Bow Deer hunting. The last one with a Bow was chasing a Deer. I missed the first one and had time to nock another arrow and led the second one a bit more. I am not saying I am good with a Bow just that the Coyote had an unlucky day.

Larry

 

[Grumpa]

The Eastern Coyote is a wolf hybrid. Unable to cross the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, they went up into Canada and came east, mating with gray wolves who had been losing population.

The Eastern coyote is half again as big as its western cousin, (60 pounds) and has the jaws of a wolf. They have killed humans.

Here in Pennsylvania, they are found in every part of the state, including the big cities. I had a big one in my backyard last year, (and I can be in downtown Pittsburgh in 5 minutes on a good day).

I grabbed a pistol and went out back, but it was already gone.

Front paws measured 4"x2 1/4", back paws 3"x2 1/4".

 

[longcruise]

At Harbor Freight, for less than ten bucks, you can get a battery operated megaphone with a built in siren. It fires em up pretty good :haha:

 

[bigbore442001]

I hate to say it but the most effective method of coyote control is trapping. This is especially true when you use a well thought out snaring plan.

The problem is that some people get their undies in a bunch when you mention the words trap or snare.

 

[BrownBear]

The problem is that some people get their undies in a bunch when you mention the words trap or snare.

They're only a problem when used in a very wrong place. Then make room for the undie brigade. Snares only work with bait and scent, which dogs love even more than coyotes.

 

[crockett]

Even a modern snare can kill if you create a situation where the animal can jump into brush, etc. and create a situation where it hangs itself. That's why I said if you set under a fallen tree that is across a trail; or, at a crossing point at a fence- if there are any non-target animals you don't want, you have to have the snare back a little, you can stick twigs, etc. into the ground to lead the critter as desired. Height on the snare makes a difference.
On the dog thing, if it is hunting season with dogs around or a place with free roaming dogs- I would not set a snare.
Sometimes when I arrive the critter is awake and standing there looking at me but sometimes they are curled up and asleep.
I agree- incredible misinformation on trapping.
Leg hold traps were made illegal in many areas because the anti-trapping people had a photo of a fox lying dead in a leg hold trap. The trap was large enough for a bear and there is a tension adjustment on the trigger/pan. You don't want a small animal springing the trap so you adjust this tension tight enough for only the target animal to set off the trap. In other words, it takes a heavy bear to spring the pan- not a little fox. You don't want the jaws so tight the circulation to the paw is cut off- that's when an animal might chew its foot off and escape so the jaws have to "pinch" the critter but not cut off circulation. If you trap a larger critter than the target they can often just pull their foot out. Once again you can sneak up on a trapped critter with a leg hold trap that has curled up and gone to sleep. Leg hold traps are actually less problematic than other types but the game laws are being set by folks that don't know what they are doing in certain situations. Kids get into trapping and sometimes they don't do things right but the answer isn't to cancel trapping, the answer is a pre-trapper course to show youngsters how to do it correctly.

 

[longcruise]

Can't use leghold traps at all here in CO!

I agree with Brown Bear, when and where traps and snares are used requires a lot of forethougt. There are quite a few hunters here in this state that will do coyote mitigation for farmers and ranchers for free. Once they get a rep for being sensible and responsible, they get calls.

Most farmers and ranchers don't have time in there day to shoot coyotes unless they present themselves as they go about there business.

A retired freind of mine got quite a few calls. He was a member of a statwide predator hunting group that had a good reputation. He has passed away now but he covered a lot of the state shooting coyotes.

He had one case where a watermelon farmer was having trouble with coyotes going into his fields at night and damaging the melons. They would take one or two bites out of many melons and ruined a good bit of the crop. My friend was contacted and after surveying the situation he placed himself in a windmill tower for the night and used some kind of special light. He shot three coyotes in the first night and none ever came back after that.

He said that a coyote or a group of them would get into a hunting or foraging habit and that apparently is what happened at the melon farm. Once he took out the habitual melon biters the problem was solved.

 

[Patocazador]

The best set-up for coyotes that I've seen is a conibear trap in the entrance of a garbage can turned on its side. Trouble is, it catches(kills) dogs better than coyotes.

 

[robinsroost]

I sure would like to put a .530 ball into a few of them if they are getting numerous, or a REAL .390 conical.

LD[/quote]

I have an air rifle that shoots a .22 caliber pellet at 1000 fps and doesn't make enough noise to upset anyone's sensitive ears. Modern air rifles are made in ,17, .22, .25 calibers and can be had in .50 caliber. This might be a viable alternative to you........Robin :wink:

 

[rodwha]

Also .357 caliber that has been used to hunt medium game. Not sure about the particulars though.

 

[crockett]

As I see it, they are terribly intelligent animals. Snares until they wise up, calling until they wise up. Once established they are very difficult to control. Back when Teddy Roosevelt was alive and kicking in North Dakota they ran yotes- sort of like fox hunting for real guys. They had grayhound/Scottish deerhound mixed dogs that could kill a yote if they caught it. That must have been some sport, coyotes, hounds horses and men all riding fast as lightning and throwing all caution to the wind.
In the cold north there is currently a pretty good market on yote hides if prime but in Dixie they are pretty punk. They can have mange that humans can get so plastic gauntlets.
And ticks like you can't believe. I have an old white shirt I put on backwards while skinning- the white fabric lets me see the ticks.

 

[longcruise]

A lot of the greyhound racing dogs that get euthanized because of age or unsuitable temperament are actually ony killed on paper. Many from my area ended up in Wyoming where they would be used in packs to sight run coyotes. No shooting, the dogs killed em. Being kennel dogs the would sometimes run into fences.

 

[satx78247]

A considerable number of the supposedly "euthanized greyhounds" are actually "adopted out", after the insurance company paid for their "loss due to injury or disease". = I know of two "adopters" in Baltimore County, MD who discovered that they had adopted "euthanized greyhounds", when the new owners researched their dog's racing history.
(That is called: intentional/criminal FRAUD.)

yours, satx

 

[longcruise]

One of those dogs of which I wrote belonged to my sister. It originated in a racing kennel next door to her owned by a good friend. She purchased a dog to be raised and trained to race. It was an investment situation. The dog was very fast but once it got the lead it would turn to fight the dogs behind him!

Naturally the dog was banned from the track. For a professional breeder and trainer, that type of dog has got to go. They are a liability to the bottom line. So, the dog was euthanized on paper, meaning that the dog no longer had "papers". Then it was sold to coyote hunters in Wyoming. That was where all of his "euthanized" dogs went.

Insurance was not involved. He did not like to simply kill those dogs, plus he recovered some of his loss on the dog. In this case it was my sisters dog so he had no gain or loss.

Having considerable experience in the insurance business, I would say that no individual breeder could pull that stunt very many times without risking the loss of his coverage. Plus, the new coverage is not easily obtained since insurance companies share their loss experiences through a central information sharing company.

I don't doubt what you are saying at all, just saying that for a breeder it is not a viable long term scam.

 

[longcruise]

I would add that because a dog is "euthanized" on paper and then adopted out, it did not necessarily involve any insurance claim. "Euthanizing" the dog and then adopting it out is not fraud unless the dog is misrepresented to the adopter as something it is not. The adopter does an act of kindness toward the dog and the breeder does not have to kill it. It's a win - win - win for adopter, breeder and dog!

If the breeder is compensated, then where is the wrong in that?

My cousin adopted a greyhound. She had the dog for about 12 years. They are a dog that is bred to such a specialized purpose that they have little personality and are a boring pet.

 

[satx78247]

NO question that adoption IS good for everyone (especially the HOUND!).

At least here in TX, most greyhounds (that are adopted out as pets) are carefully examined & cleared by a veterinarian/neutered/micro-chipped/"fostered" before adoption & generally (at least to the people that I know who've adopted) "receiving papers" from the adoption agency isn't uncommon.

Btw, MANY greyhounds that are adopted-out as "pets" end up as WINNERS in the amateur sport of coursing. = Texas has any number of "coursing clubs", where all of the various breeds of sight-hounds are welcome to compete.
(I was once, long ago, "active in the hobby" in a small way, as my kid sister & I bred Afghan Hounds.)
Hopefully, once my lady's physical condition is better stabilized, I'll be looking for a greyhound or two/three, that "retired sound" or were "a step too slow" for the track but which have potential for coursing.

Note to ALL: Greyhounds are sprinters & they are some of the world's greatest "couch potatoes". = These hounds do WELL as apartment/house pets, as they are usually QUIET, "tend to become 2-dimenshional fixed objects" at home & are quite happy to attend their owners on walks/jogging/bicycling/camping/etc.

yours, satx

 

[flyfisher76544]

The problem is that some people get their undies in a bunch when you mention the words trap or snare.

They're only a problem when used in a very wrong place. Then make room for the undie brigade. Snares only work with bait and scent, which dogs love even more than coyotes.

We set snares on travel paths, so you do not need bait or lure when you use snares on the path. You also can get the ones that have what is called a "stop" which will not kill the animal but hold them in place. That is what is used in areas with pets and also makes it so you can release non-target catches. A lot of states require the use of stops and some require us to use "Break-away" style snares so that if a larger animal, such as a deer gets caught they can get away from it.
The best management practice for handling coyotes will be trappers. The National Trappers Assoc and a lot of state trappers orgs have been working with DNR and the Federal boys trying to help out. You will not wipe them out, but you can keep their numbers at a more manageable level.

 

[FishDFly]

"The best management practice for handling coyotes will be trappers. The National Trappers Assoc and a lot of state trappers orgs have been working with DNR and the Federal boys trying to help out. You will not wipe them out, but you can keep their numbers at a more manageable level."

Ditto.

In Texas lots of folks are putting up deer proof fences and other's are replacing 5 wire barb wire fences with hog wire 4' high and a single strand of barb wire on the top to keep feral hogs out of pastures.

After the fences are up for a bit the coyotes will start digging under the fences to get around.

A snare at the dig placed right at ground level works very well.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The Eastern Coyote is a wolf hybrid. Unable to cross the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, they went up into Canada and came east, mating with gray wolves who had been losing population.

The Eastern coyote is half again as big as its western cousin, (60 pounds) and has the jaws of a wolf. They have killed humans.

Here in Pennsylvania, they are found in every part of the state, including the big cities.

Front paws measured 4"x2 1/4", back paws 3"x2 1/4".

Well that solves one question...how they went hybrid here. Since I am an hour away from the PA border, they probably came down the C&O canal park, and US 15.

I will try to measure any tracks that I see, and get some images, to verify size.

About 10 years ago a pair was stalking a man and his 5 yoa son in the local, regional park. Makes sense if they are a hybrid.

LD

 

[satx78247]

In 2009, when I was in Baltimore County, MD a Deputy Sheriff shot a wolf/coyote (with perhaps some domestic dog, mixed in too) hybrid just east of downtown. = It weighed about 60 pounds & she said, "It seemed healthy & well-fed"..
(WBAL AM Radio News said that coyote hybrids of all sorts "are becoming common" all over MD, VA & PA.)

Incidentally, PBS-TV here in The Alamo City recently showed a documentary on "urban coyotes" & showed footage of 2 coyote-hybrids running down a street in Manhattan, NY. - I would guess that, given that fact, that the coyotes are essentially everywhere "back east".

yours, satx