Coyote Problem!

[Daisy's Mom]

Okay I don't know what to do about this... there is a pack of 10-15 coyotes that have decided to live in the woods behind my house. They have eaten a few cats in the neighborhood and they are getting very rowdy; last night they were right in my cousin/neighbor's backyard, fighting. Daisy totally freaks out over it and barks and howly to go out but there's no way I'm letting her out there... 10 coyotes could easily eat her up and she would the the type to go challenge them. From the way she barks at them, I can tell that if I let her out she'd go fight with them and there's no doubt in my mind that they could and would kill her. So my question is, what are you supposed to do about coyotes when you think they might eat your dog? With my family, there is not always someone to take Daisy out on a leash. We just open the door and let her out, and when she's done her business she jumps on the chair next to my window and we let her in. My aunt suggested killing them but I don't want to do that... however I know if they hurt my baby, I would want them dead. What do I do!?

[*BaSim*]

the first thing that popped in my head if i was u i would call animal control!

[shais_mom]

You have to remember that these aren't your everyday cuddly dog. These are dangerous predators who would look at little Daisy as a snack. Over in the county (Hardin Co) where I grew up, and often visit, b/c my parents still live there, there is a horrible coyote/coy dog problem. The solution here is to shoot them on site. I believe my dad told me that in a 5 mile stretch they have killed 30-40 coyotes.
My grandma lives up the road from my parents and she would watch everyday a pair of them come out of the woods, cross the woods, and go into the next woods, she watched them everyday for months. One day they finally got them and shot them both, when they opened up the female she had 4-5 pups inside, so technically they got 6-7 that day.
Call animal control, but they will proabably tell you to shoot them. If there are 10-15 of them, and say 8-12 of them are female and each female gets pregnant and has 4-5 pups think of the problem then!!!! And in this case relocation is not the answer either, they would come back or bother someone else.
In Hardin Co, they have a local, for lack of a better term, "posse" in the neighborhood that tracks the coyotes, they use dogs and ATV's. They had a similiar problem a couple years ago with groundhogs, tho obviously different, due to the danger factor. And with the dogs they would have never gotten so many.
Good luck keep us posted, I am interested in seeing what happens.
Staci

[This message has been edited by shais_mom (edited April 22, 2001).]

[Karen]

Trust me, Shai's mom, this is Massachusetts, and they're not at all likely to tell you to shoot them! Daisy's Mom, I would call animal control for your town - try the police dept. if you can't find a seperate number. These are coyotes, and they will continue to snack on the nieghborhood pets and other small animals if nothing is done. Perhaps animal control could trap and relocate them out to Quabin Reservoir, or some other state park where they wouldn't be so near humans. It's not the coyotes fault humans are taking over more and more of their territory, so we have to be responsible for relocating them, or doing whatever needs to be done to keep everyone safe.

[aly]

Aren't there coyote sanctuary type things in some states? It seems transporting them to one of those places might be the most humane answer. Animal control might know of one. We don't have a problem where we live. I'm glad I don't have to witness them being killed

[KYS]

Karen great post: I don't want to seem
uncaring or mean, but you have to remember that humans have moved
into the coyotes and other wildlife's back yard.
As Karen suggested, call animal control
and see what they suggest, a problem coyotee might be able to be re-located to a different area.

[shais_mom]

Are you serious? They wouldn't tell you to shoot them? In Ohio at least over there that's the first thing they would tell you to do!! My parents neighbors had 2 german shepherd mix dogs for several years, they are not nice dogs period, they tried to attack our dog I grew up with they have tried to cross the property to get Shaianne, and when we raised sheep they tried to get to them, and they have stalked my dad out in his shed, he heard growling and turned around and there they were sneaking up on him, and they dog warden at the time told him, "Shoot them and bury them if they come across your property again"
He never had to do that, they stopped crossing the property line, and recently one died. Now I know that even if a dog is mean to people and animals, the person still loves them just as much as those of us with nice dogs. You can tell the dogs adored their owners even from across the yard, even tho I couldn't stand the dogs. I think that's wild that they wouldn't tell you to dispose of them. Here in this area of OH if the dog warden told the people to try relocate them, I think they would be the laughing stock of the county and the people would illegally shoot them anyway.
Good luck, this is obviously a national problem.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

I agree with Karen, I don't believe anyone would ever get away with shooting coyotes
in California, although where we live we don't have that problem, but I feel sympathy for the people who have lost their pets to them. However I agree they have lost most of their habitat and they should be located on land away from human population.



[This message has been edited by jackiesdaisy1935 (edited April 23, 2001).]

[Daisy's Mom]

The shooting laws in Massachusetts are pretty strict, which I actually like. Like Karen said, the coyotes don't know they are doing anything wrong. And there's no way I'd ever be able to shoot a coyote anyway... I don't even like squishing bugs! I'll give animal control a call. Thanks for the replies, everyone! This is pretty scary. I fall asleep at night to coyote howls and then Daisy's howls on top of them! She desperately wants at them... I don't even like to think about what would happen if she got in a fight with 10 coyotes.

[RachelJ]

The problem of coyotes has been in our local newpaper recently. Our city is a suburb of Chicago and has lots of traffic, but there is a very small marsh and a golf course and some open farm fields nearby. The subdivision right next to where I live has resported 20 - 30 cats and dogs missing. Some of these it is know to have definitely been killed by coyotes because they were seen. A coyote actually tried to attack two labradors walking with their owner. Other coyotes have been sighted coming up on decks and trying to get to an animal inside a sliding glass door. A teacher from the Illinois Math and Science Academy who has studied coyote behavior and advised other communities with this problem has indicated that to the coyotes your animal is food. Normally a coyote will not approach a human. If it does, that coyote should be considered a danger. A person should make themselves appear as large as possible, waving their arms and shouting. We have been advised not to leave any dog food or water dishes outside, nor garbage cans that a coyote could get into. We have been advised not to have bird feeders because the spilled seeds attract rodents who are coyote prey. Coyotes hunt at dawn and dusk and this is a time to be especially careful. We have been advised to supervise our pets when they are outside at any time. The subject of trapping came up. It was indicated (by this coyote expert) that trapping or killing the coyotes is not a viable solution because when the coyote population falls, the remaining ones have more babies to fill the void and coyotes have quite a wide range of travel. The ones that should be irradicated are the ones that are aggressive towards humans because that is not normal coyote behavior. I have a 4 foot fence to I feel we have some protection, but the articles have been saying that a 6' fence is necessary. The bottom line is to be very careful.

[Corinna]

Ok no one get mad but here in Montana we would be told to shoot JUST be sure it's not wolves. We call the fish and game since they are wild animals . They are the only agency able to legaly transport them to another area. We have new comers lose cats and small dogs to them every year Please be very careful with small pets and CHILDREN we are having some attacking small children the last couple years . It's due to lake of food due to our unusual weather the last few years.

[Daisy's Mom]

What a night last night! I have never been so scared in my entire life! I let Daisy out late afternoon; it was still a little light out so I didn't think the coyotes were out yet. Well a few minutes later, I hear Daisy's frantic barking and coyote yipping and howling. I flew outside in tears, armed with treats and ham, waving my arms wildly and screaming, "DAISY! DAISY, COME!" She was in the field behind my house. Then I saw the ten coyotes run across the field and into the woods! Daisy tried to run after her but I had caught up to her by then, and I grabbed her and ran. This is quite a feat, seing as she weighs more than half of me! Well I totally pampered her for the rest of the night and kept thanking God that my baby is okay! I have not called animal control yet because everyone around here has informed me that they won't do anything. My friend told me her mom called about coyotes near her house before and they didn't do anything. I am so scared. Those howls are the eeriest sounding things, and poor Daisy is about to go crazy with the fact that she can't go get them. I just wish that they'd go away!

[Karen]

Call Animal Control! Make a fuss! Remind them you vote -0 okay, they don't have to know you're not 18 yet. DEMAND that something be done, as you fear for the lives of pets and any small children that live in or may be visiting the neighborhood. Be pushy - you have the right to feel safe in your own home. If Animal Control ignores you, call the mayor/town council, whatever form of local goverment Westminster has. If that fails, call the media - what local paper do you have? Anything closer than the Worcester T&G?

Make a fuss!

[Dixie Belle]

I have coyotes in my backyard, side yard, front yard....Okay, I live in the middle of the woods. However, food for the coyotes is plentyful, so they pretty much stay clear from us here. But I can pretty much bet that your pack is not getting enough food. You should call animal control and see what they say. They should have to do something. If they are coming close to your house, they are posing a threat, not only to your pet, but to you. If animal control doesn't want to help, I would recomed getting press involved. Do you know how bad animal control would look if they refused to help people with a problem like this? Are there small children close to where the pack is living? When you talk to some one, bring this up. Don't center on the danger to pets, center on the danger to humans. They are more likely to help then. Unlike us here at Pets, some people don't care about pet saftey, but they would about people. And by all means, keep us all posted, and good luck.

[Anja Bear]

I am glad to see that not everyone agrees with the idea of killing those poor coyotees. They were here first and if you choose to live in there backyard it is up to you to find a happy medium. You can't kill everything that happens across your path. Unfortunatly coyotees and dog do fight and dogs are killed, Take them out on a leash or build a coyotee proof pen around your back door to allow you to let your dog directly out the back door. Dogs are also hit by cars but you can't shoot them.
When you choose to live in the wooded areas it is up to you to live in peace with all of your woodland neighbors.


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It's not much of a tail but I love it.