question about coyotes

I know a professional trapper and he had this one that would keep turning over all of his traps without setting them off. After about a week, it took a dump on one. On a more serious note trapping is a great way to get rid of them, but it isn't easy. He gets $100 a dog to trap them. Snaring works well if there's a fence that they're going under.

Got to agree with the other people - coyotes are pretty shy and slinky. There are always exceptions and I think those are the ones that get the most press. Are they going to take the opportunity for an easy meal (trash, livestock, cats/small pets, etc.) ? - Hell yeah. Are they a huge problem? Not for us. As a matter of fact, it seems that when the local coyotes get hunted out, the foxes, racoons and skunks become really thick and obnoxious, so I don't mind them at all. The occasional appearing nuisance coyote gets a lead contact lens and it's done.

Good luck!

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"The boobs are real, but the smile is fake..."

Coyotes here are large, and they aren't shy. Don't allow your dogs to chase them off your property. Other than that, they aren't going to attack 3 large dogs that are together.

The only thing I've ever found that coyotes are afraid of is a pack of Scottish Deerhounds. Even that wouldn't keep them off the property, but they sure were beating feet whenever they had to cross my land. Even with that, I would never allow a single hound to chase them.

That same pack of coyotes attacked my neighbor's rottweillor. The biggest problem you will have with them is with your small livestock, although they would kill calves while the cow was giving birth.

You need more hound hunters. Around here they hunt them, mostly with running walkers. It keeps the local 'yotes mighty shy and skittish and they avoid people (and dogs) like the plague. Of course the local wolf population has developed a taste for dog, and they can take down any kind of dog.

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Flaming Xtian
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
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Libertarindependent

OH, to be somewhere far enuff from suburban traffic to run hounds again...

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Home is the hunter, home from the hill, and the sailor home from the sea...

There must be something out there that is keeping them fed. Just make sure you aren't. They are not going to be interested in bothering you if they are not used to being in an area with humans. They will probably stay away from your area as long as you are there, even without the dogs. If they are coydogs they will not be so shy. They aren't going to open the trailer door and come after you, I would keep both dogs inside with you when you retire for the night.

Well I waited a whole day and nobody gave the answer that's on some chicken sites for keeping the coyotes away.....human urine. So if you feel inclined to do so, go mark your territory around your camper.
Now I can't say that it works for sure because I have a LGD and another big dog that work very well at keeping the coyotes out of the yard so I've never had to test this method.
Was it all fresh skat or could it have been an accumulation over the months? A couple of big dogs, especially if they run fast can catch and kill the coyotes, so I wouldn't worry about them. Up here coyotes usually are loners or in pairs unless they have young ones and I've only seen a "pack" of 3 once.
My dd had a great dane that would chase down the coyotes and tackle them, and the boxer would catch up then and grab them by the throat....

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http://www.pinterest.com/sanza1/

A wise person speaks when they have something to say but a fool speaks just to say something

Coyotes here are NOT SHY (in north central Alabama)....even with our dogs and us being outside a lot in the daytime we've had the leader of the pack come right up in our yard IN THE DAY TIME!

We've also had them sitting in our yard under the outdoor light howling like it was the moon at night!

We try to keep all the animals fenced in and shut them all up securely at night.

A friend in the next county lost every newborn lamb to coyotes and other critters UNTIL he got a Great Pyrenes dog....then he didn't loose another...he'd tried a donkey and other protection animals but they didn't work. He has sheep AND horses in a 15 acre pasture.

Best of luck. But don't ever ever ever trust those coyotes to be shy!

Oh---and I think the reasons our coyotes are not shy is because there are so many PEOPLE moving out to the country....the coyotes around here even frequent the small towns!

Precisely what I was going to suggest, Suzy. If your coyote population is used to humans, you're going to have problems. So if you live in a fairly populated area, you're going to have more trouble than those of us who live in sparsely populated places.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Coyotes around here run in packs, bold as brass. They is plenty of wild prey for them to eat but they have gotten used to easy food, ie.. sheep/goats/calves/foals and they will even pull out and kill calves before the cow has fully birth them.
Couple of months ago, and believe me, thing was very healthy, won't run from me when I was out in the main pasture. Next day the same thing, and he was shot for it. The rest of the pack ran, lucky for me.
Am sure they were eying my mini horse and while I have excellent night pastures for my animals, I will no longer take a chance of having my animals hurt or killed.

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Shari

ask around for the number of a local trapper invite them out and show them your place work with them to get many of them trapped , the best way to keep yotes away is to trap a bunch of them , then when they know to fear human smell they will. that and thier numbers will be reduced. so they will no have the preasure forcing them into the areas closer to your home.

and shoot every one you see.

they don't generally bother dogs unless they are starving ..usually they eat smaller mammels and don't like to be around people..

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

We are in Western NC and have a terrible coyote problem around here. We use several techniques to try and keep them away from our house and barn. Yes, they will snatch dogs if they can. The coyote around here ate five cats belonging to a neighbor and they also snatch small dogs when they can. Here are some of the things we do:

-Human male urine: My husband and 3 sons go "pee" in a circle around our house and barn. We have a "circle" type area marked out in the woods, it is not near the house but just out into the woods and one area is on a path, and whenever they get a chance they just go "pee" in that area. When we have relatives to visit and even our renters in our Cabins, we ask all the guys to go "pee" around the hiking trails behind the barn. People think it is funny and they usually go along with it after we explain they are helping run off the coyote.

-fire crackers: When the coyote get close, we toss out a few fire crackers. We do not do this every time, just when they are on the path near the house.

-We put up outside flood lights around the barn. We keep our 2 cats in the barn at night to protect them (we lock them in a room where we put their food, water and a litter box) and we have a tall fence yard and another sleeping room for the 2 dogs. The coyote would circle the barn but it stopped after we put up the flood lights.

We did try and Solar Motion lights but they do not put out enough light and the motion part was very unreliable. We now have outside flood lights but we only put one bulb in each to save on electricity a bit plus one bulb is enough for each area.

-We also cut back all the brush from all sides of the barn and dog run area. We cut it back to the ground, 8 feet wide is the smallest area, the other areas are completely free of brush for a wide section.

-We also, about once or twice a year toss out soap chunks. An Old Timer near us swears that soap will run them off. I do not know if that is true or not but he says the smell of soap will confuse them and so they do not go near it. We save up the old left over chunks of soap and toss them out in the woods, again in a "circle" like area around our house and barn. Also, we rent out Cabins and people leave all sorts of scented soaps and we use those to throw in the woods too. Do not use liquid soap since, of course, it will wash off quickly. Also, don't use anything bad that your own dogs might get. Our dogs were curious and sniffed around the soap the first time we tossed it out, but now they just think it is a normal thing.

-Of course you know to keep garbage and dog food totally out of sight and where no coyote can get it.

-I am not sure this helps but my sons think it is fun to "bark" and "growl" at the coyote. They claim it is a way of "marking" territory and so they make very fierce and terrible loud growling noises out towards where the coyote are. It has been interesting actually. Several times young coyote pups have "barked" back at my boys! The adults do not call back, things get very quiet when we hear the adults, but the pups "think" they are talking to another canine. In any event, it keeps my boys busy and interested in the coyote problems.

Good luck - I would suggest that no one method will work and doing many different things over time might help. Good luck!

Land dweller, there is nothing you can do to keep coyotes away. If they want to come around, they will. Don't leave any food of any sort outside where they can get it. That includes live chickens. There is no point of inviting them to dinner.

I suggest that you put a good fence around your property so that your dogs can be loose on your property and can not get off your property. That will probably be enough to keep the coyotes outside the fence, at least while the dogs are outside.

Human urine does nothing to deter them. To a coyote, the smell of humans simply means "food". Unless they are hunted hard in your area, they won't have any fear of humans. Human smell just means cat food on the porch, yummy garbage, easy to eat cats and poultry.

Coyotes here do run in packs, but you don't "see" a pack. They run spread out and keep in touch with calls and howls, not by sight. You might see one running, but he can call in 3-4 more if he finds something big enough that he'd like some help.

When you get around to building animal pens, make them secure, right from the start. When I had sheep, I would lock them in the barn at night, and in the morning, I'd see where the coyotes had been trying to dig under the barn door. Not every night, but they'd come around on a regular basis to see if anything had changed.

I think small animals would be at far more risk than dogs. I assume your dogs don't currently live on the property since you don't.

We have tons and tons of coyotes here but have had no problems. Neighbor free ranges chickens but has had no losses. He says the only time he sees coyotes is when apples are on the ground. We hear but don't see coyotes out here in the country. When we were in the suburbs we saw foxes, coyotes, and wild turkey in our yard. The turkeys would walk down our driveway. I've not seen any of those things out here in the boonies.

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

Lots of coyotes here in Kentucky. Oddly enough we have more problems with them wanting to eat our dogs than our livestock and our dogs are not small but 50-60 pounds. Coydogs are common around here also and according to the wildlife biologist that we've spoken to, they are less timid and much more dangerous to animals AND people than the average coyote.

Their numbers tend to cycle up and down depending on the rabbit population. They'll eat the rabbits down to almost nil and move on. In a year or so when the rabbit population comes back so will the coyotes. And on and on it goes. If we see them in the woods we leave them alone. If we see them around the house, barns or livestock we shoot them. My husband has killed 3 while in pursuit of one of our dogs.

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frugaltable.com
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We have yotes around our place. I too find their scat pretty close to our cabin. We hear them frequently as well. I don't worry about them. I've only seen two in the five years we've been at our place. They're shy, and if your dogs are 160 lbs. the coyotes will be smart enough to go look elsewhere for easier pickins.

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"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow the fields of those who don't."-Thomas Jefferson

I love hearing them get together. They make lovely hats.

I was talking to one of the neighbors yesterday evening when he brought back my fence jumping cow. He asked me if I had any chickens go missing lately, since he has lost almost a dozen and five guineas and swears it is the yotes since his wife snapped pictures of them in their yard. I have lost none. We are within 1000' and the only difference is that I have my dogs running the pasture with the birds and livestock.