Perceptions of coyotes

[Bopeye]

I read this today on a cur dog board............just thought I would share. They were talking about how many of their dogs were getting attacked by coyotes and how they needed to thin them out. Then this guy posted this......
I have removed some info. from his avatar for his protection.........he doesn't need any phone calls. 

Does the coyote really look around, notice Joe, Bob, and Sally got shot and decide to go into heat?
I always thought they were pretty regular about their heat cycles. 

Is there really "nothing" we can do about problem coyotes? 

Anyone know of any other misconceptions of the coyote?

wildlifecory 
Joined: 20-March 07
Member No.: 11,455

Coyotes are hard to thin out. They respond to population changes and can change their heat cycles and increase litter sizes in response to loss of individuals in a population. If coyotes aren't causing a problem you shouldn't kill them because they may be replaced by ones that will cause problems. If they are causing a problem there isn't much you can do. I would always hunt more than one dog in areas that they are causing problems. Dogs can give a yote a good run for his money.

[Hawks Feather]

Bop,

Correct me if I am wrong, but this PETA person thinks that no coyote should be shot because the next one might be worse.  PETA would like the way he thinks.     

Jerry

[THO Game Calls]

In one respect he has a point.

Say you have a farmer who knows he has coyotes on his land.   They don't bother his cattle.  He might not be likely to let you "thin them out" because he doesn't want them replaced with coyotes who might eat his calves.   I've run into a few farmers who feel this way.  Also run into a few who see the coyotes as a good thing in that they eat the ground hogs.  The fewer ground hog holes in his pastrue the fewer cows with broken legs from stepping in them.   

Might sound strange, but I have run into this. 

There is a good thread on Huntmasters that discusses the population density and how coyotes respond with litter sizes written by Rich Higgens and based on a scientific paper on the subject.   I don't remember all if it but it had to do with the available food and the number of female coyotes that were in prime breeding age as opposed to younger coyotes who were not yet of prime age haveing fewer numbers in their litters. 

As for dogs giving a coyote a good run for his money, I would bet the other way. 

Can you thin them out?   Almost every game animal in the US has been devistated by over hunting.  If it were not for conservation efforts, many places would not have deer, turkeys, or other game animals.   Yet man has done everything he can to rid the world of coyotes, from poisoning, trapping, shooting, you name it and they are still around, thriving.  About the only thing that can really take a toll on them is nature in the form of disease - mange for one.  Otherwise, it will be the coyote and the cockroach after the dust settles and the world comes to an end, and I am bettng the coyote eats the cockroach.

Al
THO Game Calls
www.thogamecalls.com

[Bopeye]

Hawk,
  Never really thought of it like that, but he hunts squirrels and coons so I don't believe he is PETA. I just thought a couple of his comments were typical of an uninformed hunter.

THO,
  I know a chicken farmer that won't let you shoot coyotes. He likes being able to throw chicken carcasses out back and having the coyotes clean them up. I gave him a card anyway, I'm guessing if they keep associating him with food that eventually they might eat a few of his cats or something......

[Mallardsr]

I had an interesting conversation with my uncle yesterday while visiting my dad at hospice. He had several chicken  houses and often had many casualties do to overcrowding. He used the coyotes as a disposal. He never to his knowledge had one come into the houses. His biggest problems were skunks they loved to bite the heads off of the chicks. RP

[Jimmie in Ky]

True coyotes breed only once a year. Fact The possibilty that we have more dog DNA in te mix in the east is a huge question because some are seeing coyote pups at odd times of the spring in some areas. I am hearing these rumors but have not seen such myself.

Litter size depends mainly on age of the female

Much of the Problems coyotes cause related to pets is due to th alpha pair guarding thier territory. One of the reactions we target when calling.

A good deal of what your friend was stating is propoganda put out by animals rights groups. One ssuch study they like to tout most was done in Yellowstone Park by an animal rights backer. Forget his name it's been so long since I read his reports. In yellowstone the wolf is now king of predators and will kill any other predator in it's territory, just as the coyote does. This leads to the older females doing all hte breeding and therefore th large litters in his study. Naturally every young coyote th wolves found or caught were killed and not a part of the breeding population. This also leads to the false assumption that lower numbers brings higher litter counts.  Jimmie

[Bopeye]

A good deal of what your friend was stating

One quick thing to clear up just in case this is what some believe.
I don't know this guy at all. I merely read his post on one of the cur dog boards I go too. I've never chatted with him by phone, email, pm, nothing. Don't know him from Adam.
Just wanted to clear that up. Everything else is good info. 

[Rich]

Killer coyotes don't wear signs on them which would identify them as killers. Alpha coyotes are going to do their level best to protect their pups this time of the year. If a dog gets too close to the den, then chances are good that there will be trouble.  To say that there is nothing that can be done is rather silly. The way I see it, there are two choices. Keep your dog home, or go out with a  howler and a rifle. I would take the howler and rifle route, but that is just me. Now if I had coyotes coming up in my yard to atack my dog, I would maybe tie my dog up for a couple of weeks while I trapped as many coyotes within a mile of my house that I could.  There are remedies, it is simply a matter of choosing which one to use.