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 Sondra on
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We have a resident coyote and bob cat at the ranch where I board my horse. They both have come down to the chicken coop near the house. There are 2 large ranch dogs (don't know where they were while the bob cat had him self a chicken dinner). We see coyotes all the time out on the trails, they do not seem to be afraid of us. They are not very big , but I still would not trust Corie to be safe from them, especially in a pack situation. We are in San Jose, CA
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Permalink Reply by Kari & Quin on
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I live in Arizona, DO Not Take Any Chances. Always go out side with your dog if you have coyotes, I too thought it would only be a problem at night.... I lost my dog to a single coyote on the morning before Christmas. He was only outside for maybe 10 min. When i went out to get him the coyote was draging him off. For my new puppy I am making a fully inclosed pen that has a roof on it so she can go out into it from a dog door in the house. Oh and i have heard of coyotes taking your dog while you stand there with them on a leash!!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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That's awful! What kind of dog was it? I'm glad you are able to build an enclosure that will keep your new puppy safe.
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Permalink Reply by GoGoRainbow on
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THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I had no idea there was so much knowledge on this subject here as I hadn't really seen it discussed much. I scanned, if not read entirely, all the studies posted. I think I may go to our neighborhood meetings and see if I can pass out some information on "hazing" coyotes to keep them from getting bold. Our coyotes now still seem afraid of humans and that is good. My husband, however, forbids me to throw rocks at them if they are not actively bothering us. Noise will have to do. I don't think anybody feeds them... most people seem aware of the missing-cats situation and so aren't happy about the coyotes. Maybe, though, we can have people report missing pets because the studies showed, an increase in missing pets leads to an increase in human contact.
The coyote I saw looked 30-40lbs because it looked about the same size as the small husky that lives with us. Unfortunately, Pooka is only 20lbs. Fortunately, the lady 2 doors down has 6 dogs, 3 of which are much smaller and more annoying than Pooka, so perhaps they would go after those first ;) just kidding.
I am still watching Pooka every time, though she has become more and more territorial and spends a lot of her time by the back fence barking (not necessarily related, she's going through a naughty phase right now) so I might need to find someway to... add a second layer of fencing to keep her away from the back border and to add another fence they'd have to jump. Luckily Pooka's going out schedule is random, so they can't ambush.
I agree its better she is barking and aggressive than submissive and running away. Our neighborhood seems really good about trash (I never see any bins knocked over) and Pooka has nothing but balls and frisbees outside, so food/chews aren't inviting. We, however, have LOTS of trees and have LOTS of squirrels. I once found a nest of baby bunnies amongst the trees, though they were moved(?) within 3 days. Our yard is attractive to critters, unfortunately. This morning my husband say 2 hawks in our trees. The bird feeder hasn't been up in months! (j/k)
One more question!
Would you think that because this coyote was alone, it could be a good sign that food is plentiful since it was not worried about being in a pack? Or do they only get into packs at night for the hunt?
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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"Would you think that because this coyote was alone, it could be a good sign that food is plentiful since it was not worried about being in a pack? Or do they only get into packs at night for the hunt?"
MOST of the time, they hunt alone or in pairs and use the pack to defend territory. I say "most of the time" because, for example, if there is deep snow they might hunt in a pack to bring down a deer, or if they got into a field of lambs they might all come together to bring down the lambs and ward off the ewes. But solitary or pair hunting is the norm.
Everything you said sounds good, especially the hazing to keep them shy. My aunt has Jack Russells and lives with coyotes on her property (they have acreage) as well as other assorted critters. She has gotten by for years by installing lights, taking the dog out near the house on a leash at night and letting her off-leash during the day. She started leashing them at night because the Russells would actively try to attack the coyotes, and she figured the dogs were too small and would be out-matched. Yes there are horror stories of coyotes snatching small dogs who are leashed, and yes there are some of coyotes getting pets during the day, but those situations are the exception, not the rule.
The other thing I would suggest is to make sure there are no attractive denning sites right by your property (unused culverts, a spot under a porch or deck, etc) because coyotes are very defensive around denning sites and might attack a dog not for a food source, but to protect the den.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I wonder how a coyote could get a leashed dog! I would be kicking, screaming, hitting , throwing gravel or whatever I can and anything else it took to protect my dog! It is just something I can't imagine...I suppose if they snuck up grabbed the dog and ran but this just seem to unreal! Just my thoughts!
I also have solar spot lights on my fence and regular small solar lights there also...these help me see the outline of my fence and I did this thinking that other animals may not like them!
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Jane, I think that it happens so fast and people aren't expecting it that they just sort of freeze for a few seconds. I don't think I'd drop the leash, for starters!! I imagine if you have a tiny toy, like a little Yorkie, it would all happen so fast..... But yeah, I'd be screaming and fighting and chasing the darned thing myself.
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I just wanted to add something: even if you don't have coyotes, or don't THINK you have coyotes, if you leave your dog off-leash at night (even if you are standing nearby), you run the risk of your dog getting skunked; getting the worst of it in a fight with a momma raccoon (or even worse, a rabid raccoon)--- raccoons WILL stand and fight if cornered, can weigh around 20 pounds and have wicked claws; or running into the already mentioned coyotes which you might have never seen nor heard til now. Your dog could also come back with a face full of porcupine quills.
If you leave them loose unattended in the yard in daytime, you might have a problem with passing teens opening gates, stray dogs, fights with woodchucks, your neighbors granddaughter sharing her Hershey bar through the fence, intentional or unintentional poisoning, fence-fighting, or your dog digging or climbing to get over/under the fence.
And there are always pet thieves around.
For cats, add to the above list other cats and neighboring dogs, and for toy dogs add to the list threats from above (eagles,etc). In certain parts of the country, throw in alligators, mountain lions, poisonous snakes, fire ants, killer bees, or wild boars.
So really keeping your dog leashed at night, and only loose in the yard if someone is there to supervise during daylight hours, is just good common sense, coyotes or no coyotes. I don't have a fenced yard, but I can imagine how easy it is to just open that door and let out the dog, especially if the weather is bad, you are not feeling well, or you are in a rush. There have been quite a few days when I really did not want to trudge out with my dogs, when I was sick or it was pouring. And of course there are lots of pros to a dog to allowing it to have unsupervised play time. We should always do so knowing there is some risk involved, though.
Edit: And now add fishers to the list.
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Permalink Reply by Gromit, Sparkle, and Doug on
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Lots of good information here.
Some might find this useful: My brother and his wife live on 15 acres in San Marcos, California. The coyotes would come into the house area at night and in the early morning. My brother's big dogs would bark but were penned up so couldn't do much. My brother was worried about the coyotes becoming more bold because his grandkids visit and some are very small. He didn't want to shoot them as his neighbor's home is somewhat close and he didn't wish to upset the folks with gunfire even though it's a semi-rural area. So his nonviolent solution was to take a motion detector and wire it to a sprinkler controller hooked to a couple of "rainbird" style sprinklers. He heard the sprinkler go off early one morning and went outside to check and found the water spray area on the dirt and coyote tracks that indicated the coyote left in a big hurry. Within a couple of weeks the coyotes were keeping their distance from the house.
Doug
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What a clever idea! A predator who is not under a lot of food pressure is going to take the easy way out when it comes to finding food, and getting sprayed unexpectedly when it's not raining out is probably enough to make them decide that there are better places to hunt!
It probably wouldn't be enough to keep a wounded and starving coyote off your chickens, say, but plenty to encourage healthy coyotes to move on to a different place.
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Very inventive!
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