Coyotes getting worrisome

[k0ua]

The one I was close to I saw while riding my ATV. Wife and I were riding Southbound on a straight hilly dirt road. Wind blowing hard from the South. Topped a hill and this cat was walking down the middle of the road about half a mile ahead of us. We stopped and watched it for a few seconds. Being the "Manly Man" I am, I said I'm chasing it!!!! Off I went!!!! I was within 100 yards of it, running 50 mph when it noticed me. From the middle of the road it leapt on top of the 8ft high roadbank to the right. The adjoining field was old CRP ground. Grown up in grass/weeds waist high. An occasional 6-8ft tall tree. I climbed the bank on the ATV and no cat to be seen. I knew it was hiding in the field somewhere. Standing on the ATV, I'm idling around in the field trying to scare it up. I rode past one of the small trees and after passing it caught something out of the corner of my eye. The cat was lying flat beside the tree. When my eyes made contact with it's eyes it whirled and ran the opposite direction. By the time I got turned around it was into a brushy ditch. I rode back down the bank and onto the road where my wife was waiting on her ATV. We sat there talking about it for maybe a minute and she suddenly gasped and said there it goes, pointing back to the North down the road. About 150 yards away it calmly walked across the road, never looking at us. Was not the least bit scared of us. It never acted like it was out of control and running scared. Simply out witted us......

I'll take Coyotes anyday.

Yeah, tangling with a large kitty does not seem like a lot of fun. They are very powerful. A single coyote could be kicked in the ribs and perhaps launched. A rabid one of course could surely bite you, but I don't have much fear of meeting one or two of them. Maybe a pack of 6 or 8 could be a problem for a human. Of course even a single coyote will eat your cat or small dog.

 

[DieselBound]

Cats vs dogs... unless we get to the Grizzly and Polar version of bears the cats are on top. Fangs and FOUR sets of Freddy Kruger knives! And cats can leap and twist really, really well.

Haven't seen any mountain lions in my area, though I recall several years ago the game department doing a catch and release further up into the mountains from me.

Black bears are around, though I have no visible siting of one: plenty of scat. When I go out on my property I tend to make sure I make noise (usually talking with/to my dog) so they have time to wander off before I stumble across them.

I'm also fortunate that I don't have any bad neighborhood dogs. Neighbors tolerate my dog (she will roam a bit- mainly goes and visits other dogs): I know that she doesn't cause any problems.

 

[ovrszd]

Westcliffe01,

Very well written and in my opinion accurate. Coyotes naturally fill whatever void is available. Their personality in that void becomes whatever is most successful. They only fear and respect the superior species in that society that they have experienced. No different than the Canadian Goose attacking the Golfer.

 

[k0ua]

That is why it is a good idea to fire a few rounds at them whether you hit them or not. It if probably better if you don't hit them. That way they can "smarten up" and learn that man is to be feared. "Keep your distance, those things can hurt us."

 

[beowulf]

It if probably better if you don't hit them."

If it is better that you don't hit them, then I am doing it precisely right. I have managed to hit only about four out of the 20 or so shots I have taken at them. Granted that they are wary and usually some distance away, but I have missed some good shots as well. Glad to see I am smartening them up. LOL

 

[k0ua]

If it is better that you don't hit them, then I am doing it precisely right. I have managed to hit only about four out of the 20 or so shots I have taken at them. Granted that they are wary and usually some distance away, but I have missed some good shots as well. Glad to see I am smartening them up. LOL

And they get even warier when you start slinging lead their way..

 

[westcliffe01]

Trust me, there is no better deterrent that having dead rotting comrades reminding them of why you are dangerous. Otherwise you are just making noise and when noise is not associated with death or danger you will quickly be disregarded. For this exact reason, I prefer to leave the animals on the edge of the field, preferably in the path that they will commonly take. This tactic worked just as well with baboons in africa as it does with coyotes in the US.

 

[ovrszd]

Trust me, there is no better deterrent that having dead rotting comrades reminding them of why you are dangerous. Otherwise you are just making noise and when noise is not associated with death or danger you will quickly be disregarded. For this exact reason, I prefer to leave the animals on the edge of the field, preferably in the path that they will commonly take. This tactic worked just as well with baboons in africa as it does with coyotes in the US.

Hey, you leave a couple human bodies in your driveway and I won't come on in!!!!!

 

[prichard]

Hey, you leave a couple human bodies in your driveway and I won't come on in!!!!!

Lol. Actually a long history of people doing just that. Vlad the Impaler comes to mind.

 

[roadhunter]

I was thinking about this thread on Friday night when the coyotes started yapping. I was a couple miles in the backcountry sitting under a tarp shelter wondering what the reaction would be of those on this thread if they were sitting there with me. LOL. I bet it would be priceless.

 

[DaveNJ]

I was thinking about this thread on Friday night when the coyotes started yapping. I was a couple miles in the backcountry sitting under a tarp shelter wondering what the reaction would be of those on this thread if they were sitting there with me. LOL. I bet it would be priceless.

Used to like hearing them at night when backpacking in Maine wilderness. I admit I was surprised to hear them here in Jersey at night a few years back. Wolf howls however give me the chills. A neighbor adjoining the hunting property we used to own in north central Pa was a dog/wolf hybrid breeder. The racket those things made at night would sure get a reaction.