Coyotes feasting near Wayah Shelter

[Bronk]

Around here farmers kill coyotes on sight...its not unusual to be driving down the road and see coyote skins hanging from fence posts all lined up in a row...

[4Bears]

A yearling doe? And they still call it hunting? At least a coyote goes after something bigger than him.

Coyotes will go after a rabbit, squirrrel, even a mouse, things considerably smaller than they are, the truth is in the case of deer, most generally coyotes go after the old, weak and sick, as healthy mature deer are take to much energy to catch and kill. In reguards to harvesting a yearling doe during hunting season, with the now over population of deer in the U.S. it was the best thing to do, not to mention te best eating.

[Bronk]

What I've learned from these responses is that some peoples encounters with coyotes ended with the coyotes running away as soon as the people flinched, while other coyote encounters ended with the people spending the night on the roof of their shelter. Then you have the Cape Breton woman who was killed by a pack when she apparently tried to outrun them.

I'm wondering if there are right ways and wrong ways to handle an encounter with a curious pack of coyotes when you are alone at night in a shelter without any sort of suitable defense. I assume a pack would be less likely to venture into an area where there are several campers versus an area with a single camper.

I was surrounded by a pack of stray dogs just outside of Erwin...they were people's pets that had formed a pack...about 7 of them...funniest thing to look at, poodles, schnausers and some larger dogs...every kind of dog you can imagine...but they were very aggressive...at first I thought it was a hiker with a couple dogs and before I knew it they had formed a circle around me and were growling and barking...I quickly picked up a stick and started swinging it and was able to break a hole in the circle and back up onto a foot bridge that went over the creek...once I was in a defensible position they got bored and trotted off into the woods. I'd be afraid of "domestic" dogs before wild coyotes any day.

[coach lou]

I was surrounded by a pack of stray dogs just outside of Erwin...they were people's pets that had formed a pack...about 7 of them...funniest thing to look at, poodles, schnausers and some larger dogs...every kind of dog you can imagine...but they were very aggressive...at first I thought it was a hiker with a couple dogs and before I knew it they had formed a circle around me and were growling and barking...I quickly picked up a stick and started swinging it and was able to break a hole in the circle and back up onto a foot bridge that went over the creek...once I was in a defensible position they got bored and trotted off into the woods. I'd be afraid of "domestic" dogs before wild coyotes any day.

When hiking or biking this is just what I do....attack.... grab a stick , pole, anything, make as much noise as possible. I'm not waiting for it to bite me. Knock...Knock....knock, it's worked so far....bears, dogs, baracudas and Homo S.

[WingedMonkey]

Coyotes will go after a rabbit, squirrrel, even a mouse, things considerably smaller than they are, the truth is in the case of deer, most generally coyotes go after the old, weak and sick, as healthy mature deer are take to much energy to catch and kill. In reguards to harvesting a yearling doe during hunting season, with the now over population of deer in the U.S. it was the best thing to do, not to mention te best eating.

I don't need a dictionary to know what a doe or a yearling is. I haven't killed a doe since I was 12, we save them for the children to hunt here. And no one in my extended family of hunters kills yearlings. If you have an over population of deer up there, maybe you need more predators like coyotes.

[Deer Hunter]

Allegheny, mating season is in January and February.

[Feral Bill]

Just for the record, coyotes don't howl. Wolves howl. Coyotes sing.

[ChinMusic]

Just for the record, coyotes don't howl. Wolves howl. Coyotes sing.

I am sure that there is some learned link to support that. What pinhead decided to declare that they don't howl but rather sing?

What next? Coyotes don't bite, they chomp?

[Lupe]

I lived in Oregon for 6 months and went for an afternoon hike nearly every day and took pictures of coyotes that lived in the area. I really enjoyed watching them hunt, frolic, sleep, and yes, sing. I would often stay still and low to take pictures and sometimes they would come towards me out of curiosity (more of my dog than of me), but all I had to do was stand up and they would scamper away. Sometimes a single one would even follow us, but again, I never felt concerned about them. If I stopped, it would stop and if I moved towards it, it would scamper away. My dog at that time was a large black shepherd type dog and she would ignore them on our afternoon walks even when they were quite close, but she would bark and growl the few times she saw them close to our house. Like most wild animals, they can really blend into their surroundings when still, but I got pretty good at spotting them even when curled up asleep in a field, although who knows how many times we may have walked right by one who remained unseen.

Here's some of my pics from that time. I find them to be beautiful creatures, and I spent hours just watching them. Sometimes I would watch them so long I'd be hiking back to my house in the dark as I found them so fascinating...http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1115998790052267607dOsmWi

[SouthMark]

I am sure that there is some learned link to support that. What pinhead decided to declare that they don't howl but rather sing?

What next? Coyotes don't bite, they chomp?

Some pinheads, namely wildlife biologist, have concluded that the coyote's "howl" includes a multi-tonal range of notes so that just two coyotes howling may sound like half a dozen. Although this vocalizing has survival value in advertising territory and locating other members of the pack, it often seems that they are singing for the sheer enjoyment of it.

Coyotes sound like a bunch of whiney poodles. A wolf's howl will make the hairs on the back of your neck bristle.

[ChinMusic]

I get it. Wolves bite. Coyotes nibble..........

[Feral Bill]

[QUOTE Coyotes sound like a bunch of whiney poodles. QUOTE] As the owner of a whiney poodle (coyote sized), I fear he does not match his wild cousins in singing ability.

[RetroGear]

Can you imagine being a cute little fawn and being ripped apart while you're still very much alive, all the while your mother sits there just watching, not so much as belting out a cry. Mother Nature is so freakin' cruel. Why does she want us to kill each other in such a savage manner, I'm sure there are other ways to control our populations. I'm sick of people saying, oh, that's just nature, as if it's alright. The fact is, for one to think it's alright, one must engage the sociopathic part of their brain.

You sound like a 6-year-old girl. Grow up.

Mother Nature is so freakin' cruel.

No it's not. “Mother” Nature, the “cruel” sea, “savage” mountains, and other personifications of inanimate things are completely and totally indifferent. Live, die, thrive, rot, whatever … they do not care.

A wolf's howl will make the hairs on the back of your neck bristle.

The very few times that I’ve been lucky enough to hear a wolf howl far off in the night, I’ve wondered how a family of a half-dozen Neanderthals felt when they heard it … were they frightened? Did they check to make sure their women, children, and spears were close at hand? Did they move closer to the fire? If we think a wolf’s howl is wild and a little spooky today, how did man feel 100,000 years ago?

[randyg45]

My forefathers had cause to think of them as great spiritual creatures.....

Yeah, I have a little Shawnee and a little Cherokee in my family tree; but I've never concerned myself overmuch with their superstitions, or those of other stone-age savages.

[vamelungeon]

I kill every coyote I see if I've got a rifle in my hands.

[MissMagnolia]

I lived in Oregon for 6 months and went for an afternoon hike nearly every day and took pictures of coyotes that lived in the area. I really enjoyed watching them hunt, frolic, sleep, and yes, sing. I would often stay still and low to take pictures and sometimes they would come towards me out of curiosity (more of my dog than of me), but all I had to do was stand up and they would scamper away. Sometimes a single one would even follow us, but again, I never felt concerned about them. If I stopped, it would stop and if I moved towards it, it would scamper away. My dog at that time was a large black shepherd type dog and she would ignore them on our afternoon walks even when they were quite close, but she would bark and growl the few times she saw them close to our house. Like most wild animals, they can really blend into their surroundings when still, but I got pretty good at spotting them even when curled up asleep in a field, although who knows how many times we may have walked right by one who remained unseen.

Here's some of my pics from that time. I find them to be beautiful creatures, and I spent hours just watching them. Sometimes I would watch them so long I'd be hiking back to my house in the dark as I found them so fascinating...http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1115998790052267607dOsmWi

Great picture!

I love hearing coyotes sing. In Utah there's a bounty and anybody can shoot them and bring in an ear to get paid. Makes me sad. I found a carcass hanging from a tree one time, right near a great place I used to like to visit. Now it's overflowing with bullet casings, broken glass and an occasional carcass so I don't visit anymore.

I do have a friend who was walking with her off-leash dog and another dog on leash. Coyotes attacked and nearly killed the off-leash dog right in front of her as she screamed at them and the other dog tried to go help. I actually don't know if the dog survived once it got to a vet, but coyotes aren't all song and beauty. They are scavengers and hunters.

A final thought about coyotes. Ever since I read "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver I look at coyotes in a whole new way. That bounty in Utah? Coyotes just have bigger litters when hunted. They are both predator and prey and are very cool. I respect them.

[BFI]

Yeah, I have a little Shawnee and a little Cherokee in my family tree; but I've never concerned myself overmuch with their superstitions, or those of other stone-age savages.

So you consider your family to be "stone savages".... ...interesting.

[Gray Blazer]

I think we should go to the "Roller Ball" form of government...but not really.

Idiocracy...

[Skidsteer]

A yearling doe? And they still call it hunting? At least a coyote goes after something bigger than him.

Actually a coyote would likely go for a newborn fawn because it's smaller and weaker and less risky to attack.

[WingedMonkey]

Actually a coyote would likely go for a newborn fawn because it's smaller and weaker and less risky to attack.

Does Pennsylvania have as season on fawns yet?