Coyote Encounter

[Jdeere562]

I KNOW that I will catch flak for this...but. I have thick skin.
I look at bald eagles in the same category as a coyote. Just doing what they do to survive, and I understand that.

Same State Park where I BB-gunned the coyote that people were feeding and ran him off.

Spring thaw on the lake. At least two dozen eagles eating carrion that they had found.
Older couple (probably 75) came to walk their small dog and he was probably 25 yards in front of them. no leash.

Eagle dropped down, sunk his talons into the dog. Swooped off with Fido yelping all the way. Landed on the lake ice
in front of them and proceeded to eat lunch. They will pick off house cats as well.

The older couple were devastated.

 

[Nmr1981]

Eagles are making a huge comeback around here. And coyotes are found in all 21 counties in NJ. They are losing whatever fear of humans they may have had and seem to have a natural curiosity which is dangerous to kids, pets etc…They are very effective pack hunters. Eagles are majestic creatures I love seeing them, they do a great job cleaning up carrion.

 

[HM12460]

I had a raccoon come at me on a local bike path a few summers ago, middle of the afternoon. It had symptoms of rabies. I "dispatched" him with my Glock 27.

 

[andyd]

Over 50 yrs ago, my girlfriend's older sister lived around LA hills her sister caught a coyote making off with her 2yr old.. The single coyotes I've encountered on my walks around the marsh I back up to, ran when they saw me. Hemioiler, regardless of any suspicious eyes tossed by Mom you did well. They have replaced raccoons as my trash can raiders. My trash barrels no longer attract any predators

 

[Pablo]

Another trick a coyote will pull. Pack of them will get in the woods close to a house. One will come out and act like it wants to play with the family dog. Then the friendly pet will follow the coyote into the woods. That's when the pack attacks the pet and kills the dog.

That’s the old way

Coyote around here really smart

While generally protective of their young they allow the pups frolick time near a domestic dog. Dog will definitely think play time and come in….

 

[y_p_w]

All I was thinking was the optics of this. I'm a pretty tall guy (6.5) bundled up in a black winter coat with black hat and gloves, several weeks scruff on my face, walking two complete strangers home carrying a large "club". Thankfully the mother is pretty calm and thanks me and that's it. Says something about it being in their backyard the day before. She has my cell number because I called her, but I guess my point of all this is what kind of society have we bred where I felt more apprehension from the possible misunderstandings of the situation than the coyote. I took off from there the second the moms car stopped with no more than a "I was just walking and heard the screams, stopped to help". That was it, not sticking around.

This was a while ago, but I was hiking in a situation where a lost (from his hiking group) HS age kid found me and asked for help. I ended up guiding him to where I was going to (but his group was not) and where we hopefully could get decent cell reception or maybe a pay phone. It did occur to me to just tell the kid to wait some place and I'd call for help, but I guess he would have been freaked out being left alone. In the end I gave him a ride in my car where we found a fire station that was empty (it was a mostly volunteer department). It did occur to me that some people might be suspicious of an adult male with an unrelated teenager, but I couldn't just abandon him.

In the end we stopped at a lodge where there was a pay phone and I called 911. He was able to get some cell reception where he called his group leader. I waited around and the fire department showed up fairly quickly, where I guess they were on call and might even drive around their vehicles. But yeah the possibility of there being a misunderstanding crossed my mind.

As far as coyotes go, I guess I've been lucky with all my encounters. I've seen plenty. Some I saw in Wyoming were huge. I was at a campfire program at Grand Teton National Park where one just wandered in and then wandered out. It didn't seem scared of the people there, but it didn't seem like it would be aggressive. If it was, I'm sure there was someone there with bear spray. But around here the most I've ever seen is them just wandering around looking for whatever to hunt or scavenge.

 

[carviewsonic]

I worked outdoors for much of my career. Had several encounters with coyotes being curious about me, or interested in the lunch I was eating. I never had one be aggressive. I wouldn’t want small kids or my dog near one though.
Glad Hemioiler was there to help those kids.

 

[Lubener]

Coyotes are typically very timid towards humans unless they are sick or feel their pups are being threatened. My two encounters, they moved away from me but were very watchful of my presence.

 

[vavavroom]

Coyotes are typically very timid towards humans unless they are sick or feel their pups are being threatened. My two encounters, they moved away from me but were very watchful of my presence.

How shy coyotes are depends on how close to humans they live. At Stinson Beach, a band of coyotes will walk across the beach parking lot and walk out onto the beach in the presence of many people. They will not get closer than about 10 tto 20 feet but they are pretty comfortable in the presence of people. Along local trails, coyotes will run away at about 30 to 50 feet distance. I had one alpha eye me from about 6 feet away before he slowly moved away to join his band.

 

[Pablo]

How shy coyotes are depends on how close to humans they live. At Stinson Beach, a band of coyotes will walk across the beach parking lot and walk out onto the beach in the presence of many people. They will not get closer than about 10 tto 20 feet but they are pretty comfortable in the presence of people. Along local trails, coyotes will run away at about 30 to 50 feet distance. I had one alpha eye me from about 6 feet away before he slowly moved away to join his band.

Well because it's a hybrid. That one has decent amount of canis domesticus

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Too many humans making a mess everywhere, I say.

OMG! a wild animal!

Really.

 

[vavavroom]

Well because it's a hybrid. That one has decent amount of canis domesticus

Not a pureblood? What an inappropriate mutt!

 

[Langanobob]

We’ve lived in coyote country for close to 40 years. Very intelligent beings and they’ve never caused a single problem and I kind of like having them around. Dog (Catahoula) hates them though and when they yap at night or come around in the daytime she goes ballistic and runs them off.

 

[IndyIan]

How shy coyotes are depends on how close to humans they live. At Stinson Beach, a band of coyotes will walk across the beach parking lot and walk out onto the beach in the presence of many people. They will not get closer than about 10 tto 20 feet but they are pretty comfortable in the presence of people. Along local trails, coyotes will run away at about 30 to 50 feet distance. I had one alpha eye me from about 6 feet away before he slowly moved away to join his band.

How big are these coyotes? Here they get up around 50-60lbs which is quite a predator to have cruise by your toddlers.... I don't hunt coyotes but if they make themselves easy to shoot near the house, then they get shot.. Same with bears, but they've always been running off into the woods anytime I've seen them. So far there's only been 3 coyotes in 20 years, that wanted to scope our place out so obviously that I could pick them off while in my bathrobe...

 

[RhondaHonda]

Had this one dead on my back porch after mowing one evening. I think I spooked it with the mower and it ran and died. Could’ve been poisoned by someone or just old. The turkey vultures cleaned it up in a few days srsrtled me when I was blowing the patio off and it was lying near the back door!

 

[RhondaHonda]

 

[vavavroom]

How big are these coyotes? Here they get up around 50-60lbs which is quite a predator to have cruise by your toddlers.... I don't hunt coyotes but if they make themselves easy to shoot near the house, then they get shot.. Same with bears, but they've always been running off into the woods anytime I've seen them. So far there's only been 3 coyotes in 20 years, that wanted to scope our place out so obviously that I could pick them off while in my bathrobe...

They can be as large as a medium-sized German shepherd but with a lighter build. Maybe 40 pounds? There are also many small coyotes that are maybe 20 to 25 pounds. I see the smaller ones in the city and the bigger ones in the coastal hills.

 

[ripcord]

I KNOW that I will catch flak for this...but. I have thick skin.
I look at bald eagles in the same category as a coyote. Just doing what they do to survive, and I understand that.

Same State Park where I BB-gunned the coyote that people were feeding and ran him off.

Spring thaw on the lake. At least two dozen eagles eating carrion that they had found.
Older couple (probably 75) came to walk their small dog and he was probably 25 yards in front of them. no leash.

Eagle dropped down, sunk his talons into the dog. Swooped off with Fido yelping all the way. Landed on the lake ice
in front of them and proceeded to eat lunch. They will pick off house cats as well.

The older couple were devastated.

There is a guy at my church that guides Western Washington salmon river fishing trips and he tells of people showing up wanting to take their small dogs on the boat. If they are smaller breeds the bald eagles will go for them, so he just bans dogs on the boat to keep it simple. He has a hard enough time keeping them from trying to poach the salmon they get in the boat.

 

[Pablo]

I walked up on a freshly dead coyote as well. I jumped. Thought the thing was alive!

Not really big - mostly wild coyote genes. Not like the tall husky GSD sized ones I used to see in parking lots of Bothell and Redmond

They can somehow interbreed with wolves as well. Fascinating

 

[Langanobob]

Years ago a fellow in a neighboring rural community found a tiny puppy alongside the road on a blustery winter day. The little thing was miserably cold and only a few days old. He took it home, warmed it up and bottle fed it. In a short few weeks they figured out that their new puppy was a coyote. They named her Sandy and she grew into a wonderful friendly intelligent pet. Sandy got along great with their dogs and their cat and the main difference was that the coyote was a lot smarter than the rest of the family. She was fun loving and happy. Unfortunately it's illegal to own a coyote in Nevada. They couldn't take her to a vet for shots because the vet would be legally required to report it or possibly even put her down. They ended up finding a home for Sandy at the Southwest Animal Rescue in Arizona where she has been for the past 10 years. They still visit her. Here are a couple of photos taken on a road trip when they still had her.