Urban Coyotes
When we moved in last May, our neighbors told us others had told them there were coyotes who lived in the neighborhood. There are railroad tracks behind our fence, and on the other side, the back of another neighborhood with all wooden privacy fences (most of our neighbors have chain-link). Our neighbor also said they used to have an indoor/outdoor cat which disappeared.
So we were always careful about having Pooka out at night. A few months ago, at 2AM we heard a very loud howling which sounded like 20 coyotes (and of course was probably only 5) and it was very creepy. Put a hatchet by the back door.
Then a neighbor across the street told us she'd seen 2-3 coyotes running out of her yard and back across the street. A few houses down there is a waterway/ditch that has no fence so I think they go through there and into the neighborhood to look for food. This made me feel a little better that they don't seem to like to jump fences. I have seen a skunk in that same area. But it also made me worry about having Pooka in the front yard too. We installed motion-activated floodlights in the backyard.
Our housemate was out in the backyard with his husky a few weeks ago and said he heard a few coyotes howling, and they must have been close because they stopped when he went outside.
AND THEN! last week, in the afternoon, I was standing at the back door watching Pooka sniff around the back fence and she started barking (kids and people with their dogs sometimes go walking back there along the tracks) and then from behind the brush a rather large coyote starts trotting by. He doesn't care that Pooka is barking at him and doesn't even really look at her, just trots along, going north. For a split-second I thought "my that is a rough looking dog who actually looks a lot like a .... coyote!" and I opened the door and yelled at Pooka NO and COME and then remembered my recall "PizzlePizzlePizzle!" it took her two barks to finally hear me (it seems like so long) and she turned and ran to me like she's supposed to. (a very very very good training tool). By that time the coyote was pretty much gone and Pooka was whining and wanting to go back outside to defend our territory.
It was very scary and I was all panicky. I calmed down because I was actually very very happy that the coyote was not interested in Pooka one bit. If he had been, I probably would've been too late, or it could have caught up to her in the long run. My husband told me coyotes aren't really inclined to jump fences. They're not like deer. Now I watch Pooka when she goes out pretty much all the time because this happened in the middle of the day.
I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge on urban coyote behavior. If coyote's are less inclined to go after other canines? (I remember there was a sad story on here a while ago of someone's corgi getting dragged off and being put down) or if it was simply because this coyote was by itself, or if they tend to only hunt at night? Can someone confirm they won't really jump fences, especially as a pack?
My husband said ranchers would buy human hair from barbers and spread it along fence lines to keep some animals away. Any tips like that? I don't know if that would work with urban coyotes.... any thoughts would be appreciated.
So we were always careful about having Pooka out at night. A few months ago, at 2AM we heard a very loud howling which sounded like 20 coyotes (and of course was probably only 5) and it was very creepy. Put a hatchet by the back door.
Then a neighbor across the street told us she'd seen 2-3 coyotes running out of her yard and back across the street. A few houses down there is a waterway/ditch that has no fence so I think they go through there and into the neighborhood to look for food. This made me feel a little better that they don't seem to like to jump fences. I have seen a skunk in that same area. But it also made me worry about having Pooka in the front yard too. We installed motion-activated floodlights in the backyard.
Our housemate was out in the backyard with his husky a few weeks ago and said he heard a few coyotes howling, and they must have been close because they stopped when he went outside.
AND THEN! last week, in the afternoon, I was standing at the back door watching Pooka sniff around the back fence and she started barking (kids and people with their dogs sometimes go walking back there along the tracks) and then from behind the brush a rather large coyote starts trotting by. He doesn't care that Pooka is barking at him and doesn't even really look at her, just trots along, going north. For a split-second I thought "my that is a rough looking dog who actually looks a lot like a .... coyote!" and I opened the door and yelled at Pooka NO and COME and then remembered my recall "PizzlePizzlePizzle!" it took her two barks to finally hear me (it seems like so long) and she turned and ran to me like she's supposed to. (a very very very good training tool). By that time the coyote was pretty much gone and Pooka was whining and wanting to go back outside to defend our territory.
It was very scary and I was all panicky. I calmed down because I was actually very very happy that the coyote was not interested in Pooka one bit. If he had been, I probably would've been too late, or it could have caught up to her in the long run. My husband told me coyotes aren't really inclined to jump fences. They're not like deer. Now I watch Pooka when she goes out pretty much all the time because this happened in the middle of the day.
I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge on urban coyote behavior. If coyote's are less inclined to go after other canines? (I remember there was a sad story on here a while ago of someone's corgi getting dragged off and being put down) or if it was simply because this coyote was by itself, or if they tend to only hunt at night? Can someone confirm they won't really jump fences, especially as a pack?
My husband said ranchers would buy human hair from barbers and spread it along fence lines to keep some animals away. Any tips like that? I don't know if that would work with urban coyotes.... any thoughts would be appreciated.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah C. on
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i've seen this used against raccoons and fish-birds to protect pond fish.
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Permalink Reply by Gromit, Sparkle, and Doug on
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Wow, that's cool, Sam. My brother built his out of stuff around the garage. I'll have to send him the link in case he wants to upgrade or add more "firing positions."
Doug
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Ha! I e-mailed Sam's link to my brother and he wrote back: "That's exactly what I use now. They work real good on animals and humans. I've forgotten it was there more than once and walked into it. It scares the something out of you and gets you wet. It's very embarrassing when a guest walks into it. When the grandkids are here I try to hide the sprinkler in the brush and trick them into walking into it. They turned the tables and got me once which led to great celebration. The coyotes figure them out and avoid them so I have to keep moving them."
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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I realize that by now there is probably no one still reading this thread, but just for the record here is my real and true experience.
I live in a suburban/urban area in southern Wisconsin. Several dogs have been killed by coyotes here recently. One or two were not witnessed, only afterward was it "determined" that they were killed by coyotes. Could have been other dogs. The victim dogs were running unsupervised. People are up in arms because a child might be killed. Of course, one has to wonder if we allow our toddlers to run loose unsupervised for hours like we do our dogs.
One dog (one I actually have personal knowlledge of) had just stepped outside with its owner in the morning on a fairly busy street, and the coyote grabbed her dog and ran. The owner didn't see it coming, couldn't stop it. The remains were found later several blocks away. Who knows why it attacked? Newspaper accounts made it seem that this could have been another unattended dog.
My beagle was offended by the sight of a coyote walking in our front yard one morning around dawn when he accompanied my husband outside to get the morning paper. The beagle took off after the coyote, at full voice. If the coyote had not already had a rabbit in his mouth, I doubt my dog would have survived. As it was, he was wounded, wounds became infected, and we wonder at the bravery (stupidity) of a beagle.
Our coyote was BIG and ugly. And he tricked my beagle, just like Wiley E. Coyote. So I do believe these guys could be hybrids with wolves.
So there's my real and true adventures, and the ones that happened but may have been misreported as something else. They're all mixed up together in the papers and neighborhood gossip.
Julia
Oooohhh, and then there was that one hawk that came down so low for such a long time over my running corgi bunny-butt, before deciding she was not all bunny.
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