Coyotes in my backyard
My husband and I live in a medium-sized city; under 100,000 population within our city limits, but a larger metro area of over a half-million. We also live right by a very big park, with plenty of wooded areas, and therefore we are in prime wild critter habitat.
We have seen foxes, raccoons, blue herons, possum, large hawks and plenty of rabbits, squirrels etc in our immediate neighborhood. We also found deer droppings by our neighbor's driveway.
I have never heard a coyote but I assume they are here. I think I saw one once, running fast through the park at dusk, but the canine in question was far away and the light was failing so I was never 100% sure.
Yesterday morning we were doing some end-of-year yardwork when I found a pile of what first looked like dog poop in the middle of the back yard. My dogs don't potty in our yard. I went closer and it was similar to dog, but not quite the same. It was much darker and the consistency didn't match.
I was hoping it was raccoon but a quick online search told me it was likely a coyote. I e-mailed a picture (!!) to my dad, who confirmed it.
This scat was not even 25 feet from my backdoor.
Coyotes don't worry me much, but I just wanted to give it as a warning to people to always assume there are coyotes around unless you are certain they are not living in your part of the country. They are very highly adaptable and thrive in an urban environment. They rarely eat much larger than a rabbit in the wild (when they eat deer and the like, it's usually roadkill). However, they will take a domestic cat or a small (toy) dog, and if they have pups around they can be more aggressive with a larger dog.
They also can carry rabies, and spread parvo and mange. If you have unvaccinated pups, don't assume they won't come in contact with diseases in your own backyard.
Never leave medium or small dogs loose in the yard at night, even if you are nearby, and only leave them loose in the day if you are there to watch.
Again, I have never heard a coyote but I did assume they were here based on what I know of their habits. It was a bit of a weird feeling to find they had marched right by my house, and I think I have a better idea why sometimes at night Jack will bark deeply and growl and mutter under his breath.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on
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Thanks Beth. It's always good to have a heads up. Here in Naples, Fl the black bear are becoming more and more common in back yards!! I never thought it would be possible but as we humans encrouch on their space I guess it's just what we should expect!!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Bears can be drawn in by bird feeders and really become a nuisance. We've had some adolescent males show up in the downtown on occasion. Thankfully none seem to pass through our yard; I like feeding birds and would hate to have to stop!
The biggest concern with bears, coyotes etc is when they become habituated to humans and are no longer afraid. They recommend if you do see a coyote, to make a lot of noise so they stay afraid of people.
Regionally we had a toddler dragged off by a bear (the kid survived) and it turned out that people in the neighborhood were intentionally feeding it.
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Permalink Reply by Anneliese on
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Our city in Nebraska has a population of just over 44,000 (and it's the third largest city in NE, which shows how sparse our state is), and we live just outside of it in an unincorporated part of the county. I knew that coyotes live here, but I saw a big one just a few weeks after we moved into our house. Down in Arizona we just had the 15-20 pound Mearns coyotes. But up here, we have the big plains coyotes.
I had been seeing a lot of them (and hearing them) when our neighborhood was first being developed (it was all farmland the year before we moved in), but they seem to have moved on. I really like coyotes, but I know that they can be dangerous to pets, so I'm glad they left. But it is just sad that we humans drive so many animals out of their natural habitats. Thankfully, there are miles and miles of undeveloped land, though. But they are actually very overpopulated here, along with deer and rabbits, so the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has put very few restrictions on hunting them. Coyote hunting, anyone? :)
Anyway, like Beth said, don't leave pets loose at night, especially small dogs, because a coyote usually won't hesitate to take an easy meal. Always keep an eye on them too, because coyotes often roam during the day too (that's when I saw most of them). And make sure your pets' vaccinations are up to date, because also like Beth said, coyotes can carry some pretty nasty diseases.
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Yes, I like them too and I don't have a problem with knowing they are here, but it is good to know they are here and I think that most of my neighbors are probably not aware. I will caution some of the people who walk toy dogs on extenda-leashes to watch, especially early in the morning and late in the evening.
In my area, the cities predate the arrival of the coyotes, who only got here in the past few decades. There are two groups; one is moving in from the west and is the mid-western sub-type. The other is moving down from the north and DNA analysis proves there is some wolf mixed in the gene pool. Those are significantly larger with broader heads.
So the city was here before the coyotes, but they move in because cities have abundant mice, voles, rabbits and woodchucks, all of which are tasty meals for the coyotes.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Our house backs up to a very large park with lots of hiking trails. We love it but there is a down side and it is good to remind people to be cautious.
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Our situation is similar. We love it here and would not trade, but my yard gets dug up by possums and the like, we have seen foxes a few times and the foxes make the dogs go crazy when they smell them, and we are always watchful for larger predators.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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We live with them on a nightly basis and I can tell when they're running through with how the dogs are acting. We have solar lights and a few sensor lights but mostly they are a little ways out but it's scary when they sound very close!!!!! At night most of my dogs go in a well lit pen from a door except for Wynn and Armani our Aussie.
We had a neighbor that had many of her cats killed one night by coyotes, she had the DNR out here and they verified it was coyotes...he figured it was a very hungry mother coyote.
We occasionally have a racoon in the grove at one house but have only had one at the other. Their poop is very dangerous!
I bet that is why Jack does this. Mine do a half muffeled bark...as a quite warning/alert is what I've always thought.
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