We just had a coyote run by our back yard. Is this good or bad?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
If you have a cat or small dog, bad. Keep the cat inside.
There is a story someone told me around here where a coyote was limping to lure a dog out into a field. The dog went out to investigate, and the fake limper, backed by his minions, attacked and killed the dog.
They are big babies when they are alone, but sneaky-smart, and dangerous to smaller creatures when they are in a group, which they usually are.
[ May 01, 2005, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Bad if you have pets, keep them in doors. But, coyotes are cool. I love coyotes. Don't shoot him.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Depends...with Sasha around I would call animal control and let them know baout it, and call them again if you see it again.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Yes, don't let little kids out alone.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Out of deference to Syn's sensibilities, I won't give my initial suggestion. Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
We live on the edge of the rural areas. In other words, Animal Control is the local slaughter house.
We have two dogs fenced in. They've been barking at something for months. Now we know what it is.
Sasha understands that Coyote's are not to be pet. You stay away from them.
In self defense I'm thinking of hiring a RoadRunner.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
You know you grew up rural when you think, "What? People don't normally have coyotes around?"
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
But Mack, coyotes are so not rural anymore. They are in suburban areas, big time.
We used to call them "coydogs," but they are really coyotes. Coyotes will only mate with a dog if there is no other coyote around.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
This is a good link, Dan. I thought this was interesting, in answer to the animal control death squad question:
"Eradication and/or relocation of the urban coyote is not effective. These programs actually provide a vacuum in nature causing these animals to have even larger litters, ultimately increasing the coyote population."
Sort of like pruning a plant makes more fruit grow.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I've realized I'm totally nonplussed when I see any kind of wild animals. I guess 'cause of where I grew up. We had moose chase the school bus, bears eating blueberries in our backyard, foxes and coyotes running through the yard, deer galore, a flock of wild turkeys (the bird, not the liquor) roaming through our yard and fields.
Last night driving from my dad's house, we saw three deer, a fox, and field mouse. Well, I saw the deer and the fox. Nathan heard me TELL him, "Hey, look, deer. Oh cool! There was a fox!"
I miss it. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Yeah, we used to have a real deer problem where I grew up. We lost a third of our cats in my lifetime to coyotes. And every couple of years, a cougar would come down and devour someone's pet dog.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I grew up in the Adirondacks, forever wild and all that. But since moving to Massachusetts, I have seen more wildlife than anywhere else I have lived. I even saw a badger-my dogs were sort of attacking it in a field. One would go fr the face, one for the behind, but it was still winning. When I finally got one of the dogs away it was able to make it into the woods, and back itself gainst a tree. At that point, my bigger dog just did the "pretend" attack to look cool, as he knew he was done for if he went after it.
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