View Full Version : Coyotes losing their fear of people?
Doc Safari
05-11-12, 13:09
I didn't think much of it at first, until I saw a show on one of the science or Discovery channels or something about a woman that was attacked and partially eaten by coyotes.
I've had two encounters at the ranch now where one or more coyotes got within 30 yards of me without being afraid. The second one was within 30 FEET (but on the other side of a fence). I didn't have a safe backstop in either case, so I couldn't take a shot even though I had my M4 with me. The second one I yelled at, and it just looked at me like, "I know you ain't talking to me."
On that TV show, they killed the dogs and DNA testing revealed they had been mixed with wolf DNA at some time.
I'm beginning to think the coyotes around here are tainted as well.
Anybody else notice coyotes losing their fear of people?
Not coyotes but I have had a couple of Red Foxes come within 15 feet of me, sit down and watch me in my deer stand. They knew I was there and didn't budge for at least 20 minutes. One of them stayed where he was as I got down out of the stand. He followed me all the way to my truck.
I have not really noticed this but, then again, I'm probably the world's worst coyote hunter.
Doc Safari
05-11-12, 14:52
Not coyotes but I have had a couple of Red Foxes come within 15 feet of me, sit down and watch me in my deer stand. They knew I was there and didn't budge for at least 20 minutes. One of them stayed where he was as I got down out of the stand. He followed me all the way to my truck.
I've had foxes behave like that on many many occasions. Different animal. Remember that guy who traveled to Alaska every year to live with the bears? He had a family of foxes practically become his pets.
But coyotes, if you see them at all, have always run when they encounter humans. Despite the fact that a neighbor has lost a goat and a pig to them, I've never until recently been able to get close enough to one where it just stood its ground. In years past they would take off like a shot if they accidentally ran across you. But here lately...that isn't the case.
I'm not saying these might be wolf-coyote hybrids. Maybe they are just so used to getting into people's trash that they aren't as skittish.
LOL--maybe they're just hungry and not actual mutants. :D
At any rate, it worries me somewhat...not for me but for families around here with pets and young kids.
I still plan to cap any that I can safely shoot at.
SeriousStudent
05-11-12, 18:02
......
Anybody else notice coyotes losing their fear of people?
Yes.
I live near a large metro area in Texas, in a burb of about 70,000 people. We have had coyotes come into people's yards in the subdivision where I live, while they were in the yard. People have had pets taken in front of them.
One lady had a pet dog killed in front of her, so close the blood got on her pants.
Another friend had one hop the fence while her 4-year-old son was playing in the back yard. She ran out the back, and hurled a pot at it, and it fled.
The local animal control folks have been "less than effective". Fortunately, several of the local police officers live close by, and are working to resolve the situation.
I saw one of the coyotes running along a major street while commuting to work very early one morning. It was a coyote, not a dog. I grew up on a ranch in West By God Texas, and know coyotes. I sped up to try and hit it with the car, but it hopped the curb.
So far we have lost a half-dozen pets. I'm praying no children are attacked before we finish tracking these things down.
Heavy Metal
05-11-12, 18:17
I didn't think much of it at first, until I saw a show on one of the science or Discovery channels or something about a woman that was attacked and partially eaten by coyotes.
I've had two encounters at the ranch now where one or more coyotes got within 30 yards of me without being afraid. The second one was within 30 FEET (but on the other side of a fence). I didn't have a safe backstop in either case, so I couldn't take a shot even though I had my M4 with me. The second one I yelled at, and it just looked at me like, "I know you ain't talking to me."
On that TV show, they killed the dogs and DNA testing revealed they had been mixed with wolf DNA at some time.
I'm beginning to think the coyotes around here are tainted as well.
Anybody else notice coyotes losing their fear of people?
She was a small woman, likely on her period and I bet she ran from them. Three strikes.
If I am in the woods and a Coyote comes within Glocking distance, it is going to get leaducated.
Heavy Metal
05-11-12, 18:18
Yes.
I live near a large metro area in Texas, in a burb of about 70,000 people. We have had coyotes come into people's yards in the subdivision where I live, while they were in the yard. People have had pets taken in front of them.
One lady had a pet dog killed in front of her, so close the blood got on her pants.
Another friend had one hop the fence while her 4-year-old son was playing in the back yard. She ran out the back, and hurled a pot at it, and it fled.
The local animal control folks have been "less than effective". Fortunately, several of the local police officers live close by, and are working to resolve the situation.
I saw one of the coyotes running along a major street while commuting to work very early one morning. It was a coyote, not a dog. I grew up on a ranch in West By God Texas, and know coyotes. I sped up to try and hit it with the car, but it hopped the curb.
So far we have lost a half-dozen pets. I'm praying no children are attacked before we finish tracking these things down.
Some have-a-hart traps might be good. Then you can shoot the Coyotes with a .22 and let the pets free.
mallowpufft
05-11-12, 19:16
Two falls ago I was out in OK on some family land walking the fence lines with my brother on law looking to scare up some doves. Saw something moving and it was definitely a coyote. Didn't have time to cut a birdshot shell into a slug so I hit it with my 41 mag at 30 yards. It had seen us and kept walking toward us till half its skull went missing (an aside but the 280gr soft point lead CorBons are nice) Mangy and stanky as all get out. Wasn't worth skinning, which made me a bit sad because western yote pelts in the fall are nice.
Fast forward to this past deer season here in western VA and I was out hunting and in addition to the two fawn carcasses surrounded by coyote droppings I saw walking in I saw a couple coyotes chasing a buck at noon when I was getting ready to walk out.
And that's when I bought my first AR, just for those coyotes.
It's best to blame my misspelled words on autocorrect.
I live in MN and i remember hearing that the Twin Cities was having problems with coyotes getting too close to people.
My wife and I were driving near Cal State Fullerton when we saw a young coyote sitting at the top of some steps that lead to a housing subdivision around 5 in the afternoon.
We live with a park behind us and hear the coyotes when they make their kills late at night. Sounds like the veldt with all the howling.
Coyotes have always been crossbreeding, with both dogs, and gray wolves(thats what many used to think the red wolf is/was). Coy-wolves have been id'd in both northern Minnesota, and northwestern Wisconsin, there are reports of same from upstate NY, and Maine as well. They are right in the middle as to size, bigger then the coyote, smaller then the wolf. We have also discovered that they maintain the coyotes boldness, and have no qualms about living in close proximity with humans.
As to coyotes losing their fear, well thats not necessarily an accurate interpretation, coyotes have always been bold, wily, and opportunistic around human settlements. The problem of this, is greatly amplified due to the almost total extermination of gray wolves from their historic range. Gray wolves are/were mother natures check on the coyote, and while individual wolves will/have bred with them, pack wolves will mercilessly depredate coyotes...
I've hunted coyotes for decades, I admire the hell out of the little canines, they are just so damn adaptable, most ranchers/farmers despise them, which is ironic, its because of ranchers/farmers merciless persecution of gray wolves, that the little coyote has become so prolific.
mallowpufft
05-11-12, 21:30
Coyotes have always been crossbreeding, with both dogs, and gray wolves(thats what many used to think the red wolf is/was). Coy-wolves have been id'd in both northern Minnesota, and northwestern Wisconsin, there are reports of same from upstate NY, and Maine as well. They are right in the middle as to size, bigger then the coyote.
I grew up in the "mountains" of western Taxachusettes and can recall seeing many of coyotes that had cross bred with dogs and roamed in packs of yotes/wild dogs/hybrids. Pretty big dogs, almost the size of German shepherds.
Not too comforting when you're twelve and out camping in the woods with friends in a 35sq. mile town with 1200 people in.
It's best to blame my misspelled words on autocorrect.
SeriousStudent
05-11-12, 21:43
Some have-a-hart traps might be good. Then you can shoot the Coyotes with a .22 and let the pets free.
That is one of the solutions we are applying. We did get one of what we think are three coyotes that way.
I have lived in metro Atlanta for 43 years. Saw plenty of coyotes when visiting my sister in Arizona, never in Georgia until recently. Within just the last couple of years, coyotes have been seen all over metro Atlanta, especially on the North Side. In fact I personally saw one around dusk standing in the middle of the road not more than 100 yards from my house. There have been many reports of coyotes killing small dogs in the metro Atlanta area.
Coyote mauls Roswell family's dog
http://www.ajc.com/news/north-fulton/coyote-mauls-roswell-familys-1418998.html
Wolf eradication in parts of Alaska have caused an explosion of coyotes in those areas. Wolves kill the hell out of coyotes just like Denali says. I can't imagine that a coy-wolf would be any bolder than a normal coyote. Wolves sure aren't bold in 99% of cases. I've been winded by them at 400 yards and they've run like hell.
I snared two coyotes in my grandma's retirement village outside of Palm Springs about ten years ago (right off her back deck) and killed them with a golf club. Quite an education for my California cousins :secret:
LowSpeed_HighDrag
05-12-12, 21:58
I live in Northern Colorado, right at the foothills of the rockies in a rural suburb. My mom's house is on a few acres with a wildlife preserve behind it and a lake in front of it, so we got to see all sorts of wildlife around us. About 10-15 years ago we would see coyote tracks in the snow or hear them yip at night. Rarely would we see them in the preserve, and as soon as they would catch wind of us they would dart. Fast forward to today and she tells me they have seen coyotes and foxes sleeping on the porch under the warm dryer vent, sitting in the yard watching them, and confronting their two australian shepherds. Its a very upscale neighborhood and not the sort of place to camp out and hunt, and of course animal control is no help.
I remember driving through that neighborhood when I was 16 and hit the biggest coyote as he darted across the street at night. I was in a big ol Dodge going about 35 and clipped his ass. He just kept on running.
Funny this thread came up as I was wondering the same thing. I live in the suburbs of North Dallas and the other night about 2am I was out on my patio and I think it was a coyote poked his head under my gate. It had a long slender muzzle and the typical flared cheeks though I didn't get a real good look at it. My dog (~85lb American Bulldog) quickly leaped over to the gate before I could even react bit and held the poor coyotes head. The coyote was pinned by the head between the gate and the ground with my dogs jaws over top of it's face.
Thankfully my dog released the coyotes head upon command as I would probably have a bloody coyote mess to clean up if my dog hadn't.
My guess is that the coyote was probably looking for a small animal to eat but instead found something it didn't bargain for. :confused:
Here is a pic of my dog and the gate behind him where the coyote poked it's head through (I opened the bottom of the gate up like that a while ago so that the stupid cats my neighbors own have a chance to get the hell out of the yard when I let the dog out in the mornings).
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/notj5.jpg
They're still plenty afraid behind my house when I go out the back door. Smart yotes they are! :D
I wish a coyote would be so kind as to walk around in my yard :suicide: for a couple of daytime minutes when I'm here.
ICANHITHIMMAN
05-13-12, 08:28
Man its funny this came up when it did we are having a hell of an issue here in western NY this year. They are stalking around our fenced in yard at night trying to get to our dogs I think. I shot 12 last year but it had no effect. I have been seein gthem in the middle of the day walking right by our house. The fisrt one I saw this year was bigger than my lab and he weighs 70lbs.
I remember back to my boy scout days the coy-dog were a big issue at camp in the Adrondacks.
I just saw another (what I think was a coyote) tonight a little after 1am running around the streets by the elementary school. Ran back into the field when it saw my headlights.
:(
gatorfan605
05-14-12, 10:00
They come through our parking lot at work religiously. I don't know if its bravery or a lack of options.
I just saw another (what I think was a coyote) tonight a little after 1am running around the streets by the elementary school. Ran back into the field when it saw my headlights.
:(
They come through our parking lot at work religiously. I don't know if its bravery or a lack of options.
Very likely you saw a coyote, as to them being out of options? Not to bloody likely, thats just the coyote, bold, at times in your face, and wily!
I watched one morning as my neighbor and his family exited for the days activities, kids to school, mom & dad to work, took about 20 minutes for them all to leave to their various destinations, I was watching because I was out front waiting for a ride to work, sitting on the front step.
A moment or so after the mother left I caught a flash of motion from the shrubs just adjacent to their front door, literally no more than 60 inches from where they had all poured out the front door, out popped a large, beautifully healthy, coyote, he stretched, and loped off to the backside of their property, this was in Roseville, which is no more than 5 minutes from Minneapolis, a city of 3,000,000!
Cincinnatus
05-14-12, 13:31
She was a small woman, likely on her period and I bet she ran from them. Three strikes.
If I am in the woods and a Coyote comes within Glocking distance, it is going to get leaducated.
Love this! :D
I am on the south side of Atlanta by the airport and there have been on and off sighting of coyotes in the subdivision I am in. My father has even seen one in the back fence on his way to work early in the morning, maybe 20 feet from his truck, just standing there looking at him like it didn't care.
squeethebee
05-14-12, 21:40
I grew up in the "mountains" of western Taxachusettes and can recall seeing many of coyotes that had cross bred with dogs and roamed in packs of yotes/wild dogs/hybrids. Pretty big dogs, almost the size of German shepherds.
Not too comforting when you're twelve and out camping in the woods with friends in a 35sq. mile town with 1200 people in.
It's best to blame my misspelled words on autocorrect.
That's where I am now and they are still very much around. Found most of a neighbors sheep some years ago, and hear them almost every nite. No more wild turkeys in my yard either.
ed
If I am in the woods and a Coyote comes within Glocking distance, it is going to get leaducated.
Sig line material there!
Got this one @ 75 yards with LDI DBAL-I2 IR Laser and Barnes 70 grain, shot him right between the eyes and the Barnes put an nice half-dollar sized exit hole next to his anus....
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/Night%20Vision%20Kills/Me%20&%20Black%20coyote.jpg
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/Night%20Vision%20Kills/Sig%20&%20Black%20Coyote.jpg
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/Night%20Vision%20Kills/Black%20Yote%20Head.jpg
We recently had a guy bitten while lounging in his back yard here in Peoria AZ. I see them on a regular basis, usually on the way to work or on the way home. This and my friend's recent suggestion that we hunt 'yotes prompted me to get my 'G' hunting license for this year so I'm ready to go get some.
thirteen/autumns
05-31-12, 09:33
deleted wrong post...
Got this one @ 75 yards with LDI DBAL-I2 IR Laser and Barnes 70 grain, shot him right between the eyes and the Barnes put an nice half-dollar sized exit hole next to his anus....
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/Night%20Vision%20Kills/Me%20&%20Black%20coyote.jpg
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/Night%20Vision%20Kills/Sig%20&%20Black%20Coyote.jpg
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/Night%20Vision%20Kills/Black%20Yote%20Head.jpg
Thats just about the neatest color phase I've ever seen, where was this canine bagged?
I've had two encounters at the ranch now where one or more coyotes got within 30 yards of me without being afraid. The second one was within 30 FEET (but on the other side of a fence). I didn't have a safe backstop in either case, so I couldn't take a shot even though I had my M4 with me. The second one I yelled at, and it just looked at me like, "I know you ain't talking to me."
I'm beginning to think the coyotes around here are tainted as well.
Anybody else notice coyotes losing their fear of people?
I don't get the issue with the backstop.
One of the beautiful things about using a 5.56 is some of the varmint bullets you can use, one of the 50-55gr varmint bullets would fail to ricochet even if you tried to do it on purpose, say skipping it off of concrete (of course, not missing always helps too).
Having had to put several deer down while at work, and right in the middle of town, I keep a mag of 55gr SP on hand that would most definately not be approved by Doc Roberts for use as a patrol rifle round (although it's what we used before we knew better).
Not sure what your backdrop was, but I'd bet money with coyote appropriate ammo you'd have been fine.
And yes, they can get trained to not fear people. Years ago I had one pop up in my mom's back yard at dusk, she lived in a house on a property that was a greenhouse complex and backed up to heavy woods near an agricultural area, but towards the growing edge of town.
Ballsy bastard just stood there looking at me like he was wondering what I was doing in his yard.
I think people quit shooting at the coyotes in that area (in most of KS any farmer will blast the hell out of any coyote pretty much on sight).
That coyote made the mistake of not knowing that I was carrying a 9mm with night sights, and being within 30 yards of me.
Federal 9BPLE might not be a good load for police work, but it's a great general purpose varmint load for anything you might shoot at with a 9mm.
I have shot three black dogs in my backyard about 250 yards out the back door here in North Florida!!:D
Right after sundown yesterday I had the FoxPro Prairie Blaster on Bay Bee Cottontail for about 5 minutes when I picked up a heat signature on the FLIR PS 32 at about 300 yards out.
Switched over to the ITT Pinnacle PVS-14 with LDI DBAL-I2 IR 0.7mW laser and shot him in the shoulder with a hand-loaded Barnes 70 grain TSX @ 175 yards, he spun and died right there.
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/Night%20Vision%20Kills/556%20&%20FLIR.jpg
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/NV%20Coyote/NV%20Coyote%202.jpg
Doc Safari
06-04-12, 09:41
I don't get the issue with the backstop.
The "backstop" was somebody's house.
I didn't think much of it at first, until I saw a show on one of the science or Discovery channels or something about a woman that was attacked and partially eaten by coyotes.
I've had two encounters at the ranch now where one or more coyotes got within 30 yards of me without being afraid. The second one was within 30 FEET (but on the other side of a fence). I didn't have a safe backstop in either case, so I couldn't take a shot even though I had my M4 with me. The second one I yelled at, and it just looked at me like, "I know you ain't talking to me."
On that TV show, they killed the dogs and DNA testing revealed they had been mixed with wolf DNA at some time.
I'm beginning to think the coyotes around here are tainted as well.
Anybody else notice coyotes losing their fear of people?
Of course. They are smart animals and will avoid what they know is dangerous and consider eating what they don't consider dangerous. If they are treated as cuddly woodland creatures, they have no reason to fear us and will not. In my area, they were re introduced and all the wealthy soccer moms wanted it. Then, as expected, wild animal meets easy food source, and people's fluffy dogs and cats and such started getting eaten.
Soccer moms, not so happy and in tears on the news over "fluffy" being grabbed before their eyes. Now there's a limited hunting season on them as their population has exploded. Have a few run through my back yard a few times chasing a rabbit.
I was taking a walk in the forest close by on a hike and came around the corner and one was in the middle of the path and had no intentions of getting off the path. This was a big animal too. I think of them as scrawny little dogs you see in the desert. Not this guy, he was at least as big as a full sized large dog.
I yelled at him, no response. I then strode at him to make it clear who the alpha creature on this path was, and he bolted after I took a few steps. I felt back peddling potentially more dangerous then going forward at that moment.
I have not seen any, but it's been reported local black bears are showing much less fear of people also, and that's bad mojo right there.
Mauser KAR98K
06-04-12, 15:58
Varmint loads and sound suppressors should do the trick. Course some stupid yuppie politician is going to want to trap and release the bastards.
Considering the sizes of these yotes and health, they would make great blankets.
http://www.phossil.com/thom/Night%20Vision/NV%20Coyote/Dead%20Dog.jpg
mallowpufft
06-04-12, 21:17
Seeing all these pics makes me wish I had private land to hunt yotes on here in VA. For now I'll have to wait for fall or drive out to OK and visit the inlaws if the urge gets strong.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I847 using Tapatalk 2
I've had two encounters at the ranch now where one or more coyotes got within 30 yards of me without being afraid. The second one was within 30 FEET (but on the other side of a fence). I didn't have a safe backstop in either case, so I couldn't take a shot even though I had my M4 with me.
Might be time to switch to an 870 full of high-base #6's or add a 22 pistol full of high-velocity hollowpoints.
The greenbelts in Seattle are full of coyotes, and every telephone pole in the ultra-liberal, gun-hater neighborhoods has several missing-cat flyers.
Okie John
I have them in my area as well. There are several reports of them walking into buildings full of people in broad daylight if you search. They can live anywhere that supplies food and do. They're always crossing the main roads around here as well. The few that are around my house won't come out to anything other than a bait pile or the house next door while they're on the porch. The misses see's them within 20 yards all the time but they never come near me. The only thing logical that I can think of is that it has something to do with male and female.
Another thing that most don't know or realize is that they are an animal that responds to pressure. Everything that was thought in the 70's mostly doesn't apply anymore. They actually will breed in larger number more frequently when they are threatened. If you kill some off they will literally breed larger litters in double the size to accommodate the loss and have a better survival rate. They don't need the range that was once thought and they normally hunt solo or in two's. One will decoy and the other approaches from the rear. You see this a lot on game cameras on deer or other larger animals. There have been countless studies on them with tons of new information.
Here's a couple from 40-50 yards out my door.
Healthy fox...this guy comes out as soon as I walk away from the pile and set the camera up.
http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad17/Chrisk1135/50a6e573.jpg
Beautiful yote
http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad17/Chrisk1135/d3eb25fd.jpg
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