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Dogginfox
02-05-2007, 15:40
I was camping 12m west of Winding Stair Gap on Sat night. Around midnight i was startled to hear a pack of coyotes making all kinds of noise. I grabbed my headlamp to investigate. Not 20yds from my hammock i saw 2 sets of eyes and could hear several more walking in the field around me. It was the creepiest feeling i have had on a camping trip yet.

hammock engineer
02-05-2007, 15:54
That's pretty cool, probibly more so after the fact. Those are hard animals to see.

LeeF
02-05-2007, 16:16
I had the same thing happen at Mount Rogers. The coyote walked directly under my hammock. Once again the hiker smell scared off the animals.

Newb
02-05-2007, 16:50
There's an article out of Illinois about coyotes and coyote attacks:

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2007/02/01/news/local/doc45c1bd43e86ba473250188.txt

They mention that human Urine is an effective coyote deterrent. Funny thing is, I've been told all my camping life that if you pee near your tent before you go to bed at night it can deter a lot of different predators. I was also told that doesn't work if you're a vegetarian.

galaleemc
02-05-2007, 22:53
They hunt in small packs up here periodically. I can hear them barking up and down the valley at each other. Scarry. I will not go out at night again thinking they are just barking dogs to shut them up. A neighbor lost her brand new pappillion puppy to fox or coyote.

River Runner
02-05-2007, 23:55
There are lots of coyotes around here, but it is rare that they come so close to people. Lots of folks have had pets come up missing though. A friend of ours saw three dragging off a large dog of his, and was able to scare them off. We've seen a few crossing the road, and a couple hit by cars. I've heard them in the distance while camping, but never up close. That would be quite startling! :eek:

The Weasel
02-06-2007, 00:09
Fastest way to get rid of coyotes is to reintroduce wolves, which are far less likely to cause nearly as many problems. As this article notes, there are no longer coyote at Isle Royale National Park, since the (natural) reintroduction of wolves there about 50 years ago from Minnesota.

http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/intermed/inter_mgmt/ystone_wolves.asp

Sly
02-06-2007, 00:21
They mention that human Urine is an effective coyote deterrent. Funny thing is, I've been told all my camping life that if you pee near your tent before you go to bed at night it can deter a lot of different predators.

It may deter predators but it attracts deer.

hammock engineer
02-06-2007, 00:57
They are taking over a lot of parts of the country. For us in the midwest unfortunatly it means they are driving out (or killing off) some of the other native animals, i.e. deer and fox.

I guess this is what happens when man gets ride of their natural predetor in wolves.

Dogginfox
02-06-2007, 00:59
Id much rather wake up to a deer in camp than a coyote! I had seen a single coyote earlier in the year between rock gap and winding stair but a single coyote during the day and a pack in camp at night are two totally different ballgames in my mind. Guess ill be marking my territory before i turn in for the night from now on.

greentick
02-06-2007, 01:02
Yeah. As Gwinnett Cty, GA shrinks its greenspace at a breakneck pace we hear them frequently in our backyard and see them crossing and/or splattered on the road.

Lilred
02-06-2007, 17:03
Please don't "mark your territory" at night. I sure don't want to set up my tent right after you and your 'marked territory' Good grief.....

oldfivetango
02-06-2007, 17:12
It may deter predators but it attracts deer.

If you don't mind,Sly,can you back this up with a link?
I have always heard the contrary about human smell and
any wild animal that considers humans as predators.
Thanks.
Oldfivetango

jlb2012
02-06-2007, 17:14
deer go for the salt in the urine

Newb
02-07-2007, 08:42
deer go for the salt in the urine

who doesn't? :eek:

Fannypack
02-07-2007, 08:59
deer go for the salt in the urine
deer are nasty animals; On the PCT at Etna Summitt during an overnite cowboy camp we saw deer eating horse**** or maybe it was just the berries in it...

RiverWarriorPJ
02-07-2007, 09:24
deer are nasty animals; On the PCT at Etna Summitt during an overnite cowboy camp we saw deer eating horse**** or maybe it was just the berries in it...
z
x
Lottsa aNiMals eaT GraZin' aNiMal **** (dung)..:eek: ..
x
z

icemanat95
02-07-2007, 10:58
That's pretty cool, probibly more so after the fact. Those are hard animals to see.

I've seen them in my back yard and in the woods and tracked them more than a few times without seeing them. There are a lot of coyotes up here in NE.

Bloodroot
02-07-2007, 11:01
I saw a group of coyotes on the trail in the little campground coming out of Grayson Highlands.

oldfivetango
02-07-2007, 13:05
deer go for the salt in the urine

Ever seen it?
I doubt anybody goes in the middle of the night
while stealth camping and wakes up to a deer
licking the ground where they went.If so,I could get
rich selling an "attractant" to all the deer hunters
around here.If enough urine was placed on a spot over
enough time to actually accumulate an appreciable
residual of salt-then I would buy that argument;but only
if the humans were not present at the time the deer showed up.
I am "from Missourri" on this one.
Oldfivetango

Tacoda
03-15-2007, 23:46
I camp on an island early spring before most hikers get out and coyote certainly can be a bit scary. Scariest of all my encounters was when sitting down at camp to hear/find two coyote sneaking up on me. They sure did look formidable and on the hunt but I simply stood up and growled/yelled like a pissed off, smelly, drunken, looking for a fight, monster from the depths of hell, who just took a bath.

oh. and they ran away after that. And I might say. they ran off so fast I thought i scared the bejesus out of them. felt kinda bad about it moment later.

Still though. I play it back in my mind and it certainly was a bit creepy how they looked like they was looking at prey. Seriously, those sob's looked like your domesticated dogs worst nightmare. Funny how we play mind tricks.

Second a year later, I had a coyote growl under my hammock when i moved to reposition myself. this is no lie either. The sob was right under my hammock. I suspected it was a coyote just looking around but the growl raised the hairs on my entire body so i exited my hammock immediately and raise a bit of a temper tantrum because i was tired. I yelled and screamed outside my hammock. I ran around and screamed some more. I heard him running around and he did not bar.

The third time on my second third year on the same island, I had a coyote barking at my hammock. he was making a sure fire rampage spectacule and he would bark at my hammock, run around and bark some more. run to the other side and bark some more. run around. run around and bark some more. I finally screamed at the top of my lungs and it only pissed him off more so he ran around and barked even louder. I yelled louder and he barked louder. He finally got tired i guess and i fell asleep.

After all these coyote encounters, i bought and read a book called 'The Voice of the Coyote' By J.Frank Dobie for some history on coyote and insight.

The Coyote seems to be a very fearful animal from this book but I guess I just seem to piss them off or make them very curious.

The island I camp on is full of them. Near dusk and dawn you will ALWAYS hear them barking, running around etc. Make no mistake. I do fear these animals and rightfully so, i believe they deserve my respect as I hike alone and with nothing more than a butter knife :)

In the end, I have researched thier history, and hopefully understand their habbits and have learned something from it.

This fear I talk about is not imaginary. Since I have been hiking this island and the more I come into contact with coyote of the island I can't help but find myself going deeper and deeper into the island simply to find them.

I hope this years 10 day trip will be even more scary informative than the last. It's sort of a small project I would like to peruse.

Tacoda
03-15-2007, 23:59
Yea also piss on a tree, Or several trees near your camp and deer are drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I experinced this and even watched it.

I don't care what anyone says about this but it's true. I was sitting near my camp just vegitating, thinking about things. Like you do when you are tired and all alone. That kind of stuff. I immediatly got the urge that a deer was going to come right smack into my camp. I ran up the hill next to my camp and sat down next to a tree. Sure enough not 5 min later, a deer came and begun to scrape the side of a tree that i had peed on 3-4 times.

He dug into the root of the tree and was licking.


Oh, the deer and the deer didnt excite me as much as the idea that I had the feeling to leave and observe. It was all very strange timing and felt proud of myself.

It was at that moment I realised why I never truly had the urge to hunt for sport. All you hunters certainly have a tough gig lol. Now If I was hungry, and or had a family to feed and could not afford a chuck steak or chicken at 99 cents a pound i might have been taking one or your gods children :P

doggiebag
03-16-2007, 00:29
There's an article out of Illinois about coyotes and coyote attacks:

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2007/02/01/news/local/doc45c1bd43e86ba473250188.txt

They mention that human Urine is an effective coyote deterrent. Funny thing is, I've been told all my camping life that if you pee near your tent before you go to bed at night it can deter a lot of different predators. I was also told that doesn't work if you're a vegetarian.

Human hair is also something most wild animals can not stand. Personally I think it's a treat just to even hear coyotes.

Tacoda
03-16-2007, 00:41
deer are nasty animals; On the PCT at Etna Summitt during an overnite cowboy camp we saw deer eating horse**** or maybe it was just the berries in it...

lol 30 years ago chickens were raised on horse/cow/pig ****

the vegtables you eat are raised on horse/cow/pig **** as fertilizer. Heck even the beef you eat is raise from thier **** spread on corn fields. Admit it. you are a product of ****. Oh. and it takes alot of oil to raise the animals that **** too.

so you are basicly a procuct of oil and ****

Good luck with that.

briarpatch
03-16-2007, 09:36
lol 30 years ago chickens were raised on horse/cow/pig ****

the vegtables you eat are raised on horse/cow/pig **** as fertilizer. Heck even the beef you eat is raise from thier **** spread on corn fields. Admit it. you are a product of ****. Oh. and it takes alot of oil to raise the animals that **** too.

so you are basicly a procuct of oil and ****

Good luck with that.

Its said that you are what you eat. I've met a few folks who must dine on a lot of rump roast. ;)

Tacoda
03-31-2007, 22:48
ya I would like to meet alot of gordon foods people. Or Lipton. Those people are a moral pillar for humanity.

frieden
03-31-2007, 23:03
I saw a coyote at the corner of our road the other day. I've never seen one in the wild before. They are tiny. I wasn't expecting to see one in a populated area, or alone. Apparently, they are quite common aboard Camp Pendleton, and the surrounding area. We've been warned about the dangers of coyotes to hikers. I'm more worried about them attacking Ed. No matter how small they are, I wouldn't underestimate any animal that hunts in packs. There is a mountain lion that visits our complex too, so we never run outside at night.

Rhino-lfl
04-01-2007, 08:38
I have 2 coyote dens behind my house here on the North Shore of MA. These things are not all that afraid of people. I have had them in my backyard, seen them all over the place at dawn and dusk, and heard them well into the night. They are also BIG, much bigger than I thought a coyote should be (at least the ones I saw in Texas), so they can be a little un-nerving. I've also hike behind my house and camped there quite a bit and they do seem curious and will check you out. I had one skulk up behind me like it wanted to pounce and I just let it come up. It got closer and closer until it was directly behind me, then it just sniffed me. I was a little worried, but I had my 9mm out and ready just in case.

Quite frankly, I like them more then the millions of lyme disease riddled tick taxi deer I have.

mudhead
04-01-2007, 08:51
Seems to me that alot of animals are smaller in hot climates.

Remember rabies.

Respect the ability of all wild animals to cause the need for medical attention. Imagine having a wrathy gray squirrel chewing on you.

Raccoons are cute somewhere else.

Tick-taxis should go eat someone else's shrubs.

I might not have this mindset if I never interacted with wildlife. Just find some of it can be destructive.

Rhino-lfl
04-01-2007, 10:27
Seems to me that alot of animals are smaller in hot climates.

Remember rabies.

Respect the ability of all wild animals to cause the need for medical attention. Imagine having a wrathy gray squirrel chewing on you.

Raccoons are cute somewhere else.

Tick-taxis should go eat someone else's shrubs.

I might not have this mindset if I never interacted with wildlife. Just find some of it can be destructive.

I have been attacked by a squirrel before, after repeated attempts to kill it with an air pistol, then traps, then poison, I finally assaulted by backyard with my benelli shotgun.

Tick taxi's are less of a problem these days after having killed 9 of them with my 9mm from my back porch or kitchen window in the last year. My mother, the 10 year old, and my brother in law all got lyme disease from deer ticks in my yard.

I know it isn't legal to shoot like this in my yard, but I do live with only a few neighbors and luckily several of the officers here are married to my gf's cousins.

I have never once seen a racoon. I have been scratched my fisher cats, carried wild turkeys out of my garden, taken pictures of bald eagles, shot deer, watched coyotes, and even stopped in the road to let a bever cross, but never a racoon lol.

aaroniguana
04-01-2007, 10:29
Animals are smaller in warmer climates. I grew up in central Florida and the deer we had in the swamps of south Merritt Island were the size of German Shepherds. We called them swamp deer or marsh deer, but of course neither are native nor do they live in North America. They were just small White Tailed deer.

eventidecu
04-01-2007, 10:58
It may deter predators but it attracts deer.

Thats incorrect to the enth degree. Wild Deer run like being shot out of a cannon at the very instant they smell human anything. Some don't run but thats because they see a human not smell them. At the point they smell you they bolt. Unless tame and or used to humans feeding them. Take a wiz in your camp sight at night and normally nothing will come into your camp except maybe a coon or opossum, not an animal that relies on it's nose for safety. Some bears which smell food might because it's the top of the food chain but most won't even then. Deer, definitely will not come to human pee. Salt or no salt.

UCONNMike
04-01-2007, 12:59
I was camping 12m west of Winding Stair Gap on Sat night. Around midnight i was startled to hear a pack of coyotes making all kinds of noise. I grabbed my headlamp to investigate. Not 20yds from my hammock i saw 2 sets of eyes and could hear several more walking in the field around me. It was the creepiest feeling i have had on a camping trip yet.

I had a similar experience about 10 miles south of Harpers Ferry. I started hiking @ 7pm and I was tryign to get to the Bears Den Hostel. and abotu a half mile past the side trail to the Blackburn Trail Center, I had 3 coyotes fan out around me, and they followed me to Snickers Gap. They would get ahead of me and spread out and then move to teh rear, they did this 3 times from Blackburn Trail Center to Snickers Gap. It was terrifying, and I never hiked so fast, but once I crossed that main road, I layed down on teh other side for 15 minutes to see if they were going to cross the road. They didn't, and I ran the last mile to the Bears Den Hostel, got there @ 2:30am.It was teh best feeling to be inside a closed building, away from the outdoors for that night. And needless to say, I never did any night hiking after that.

frieden
04-01-2007, 13:17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote

rafe
04-01-2007, 13:32
If you're refering to Rhino shooting "tick-taxis" just be aware that ticks really are a serious problem in some parts of New England. And the signs at the AT trailheads will remind you of that, frequently and graphically. I just spent the last few hours cleaning up lawn debris... next step is a tick-check.

frieden
04-01-2007, 14:04
http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=Coyotes&mkt=en-US

rafe
04-01-2007, 14:34
I don't mean to get cranky, and I shouldn't have risen to that bait. Sorry.

If you think that killing deer is the answer to a tick problem ...

Nope, I didn't say that. OTOH, the reason there are so many deer is that we've eliminated all their natural predators -- eg. wolves and coyotes. If the woods were full of wolves and coyotes, it might make thru-hiking a bit dicey. ;) This thing we like to call "wilderness" is quite an illusion. Hasn't been anything like a wilderness in the last 400 years or so, around these parts.

Chaco Taco
04-01-2007, 15:04
A couple of weeks ago, I was stying at Derricks Knob Shelter in GSMNP and about 830 in the evening, we heard a hog get jumped by a pack of coyotes. It started with the hog making an awful noise, then the coyote howled after the young. Next you coupld hear the coyote pups come along. It happened about 300 yrds away from the shelter. Started back up a couple of hours later. One of the ridgerunners that was staying at the shelter had said it was rare to hear something like that. It was pretty excitting. As I left the next morning I kept an eye out for any signs of parts of the hog but never saw anything

saimyoji
04-01-2007, 15:35
...we should have open season on humans to eliminate AIDS, TB, lice/chiggers, ticks, fleas, etc.

Now you're thinking clearly. :D

Mandatory sterilization for the stupid and lazy would be a great program to initiate in public schools. Licenses for parenthood, punishable by abortion and sterilization; death for all drug offenses....

...desperate times call for desperate measures....:eek:

Rhino-lfl
04-01-2007, 18:58
That's the nice thing about the majority of the hiker community. They love nature, but know how to respect it from a distance. Living in TN was pure hell. There were so many backwoods "Gomers" that shot animals wherever they found 'em, had no concept of hygiene, and an IQ of 15. Unfortunately, many states have people like that, including, apparently, MA. Duh....:confused:

Is that a ding at me? Because I'd like to see you put up with lyme disease and rodents that attack your kids.

Rhino-lfl
04-01-2007, 19:00
Now you're thinking clearly. :D

Mandatory sterilization for the stupid and lazy would be a great program to initiate in public schools. Licenses for parenthood, punishable by abortion and sterilization; death for all drug offenses....

...desperate times call for desperate measures....:eek:

You got my vote for president.

hal0ofwint3r
04-05-2010, 14:44
dogginfox, if anyone tells you that you made this up, i'm with you and not them. that's how some people are. these kinds of people are always in denial about everything. i'm not saying anybody has said anything yet, but i'm pretty sure someone will. people are ignorant. but anyway, your story is great. hope you had some bear mace. i was solo hiking on a trail in northern pa when a coyote came right into my camp site while i was packing things up early in the morning. he stopped about fifteen feet from me and instead of taking off, he just hung around for several minutes. i didn't even think about getting a picture of him because i was in i can't believe i'm seeing this mode. it was great though. then he wandered off. then, after i left, i ran into another one laying in the brush right in the wood line. the trail turned into more like a grass path on top of the mountain. vehicles go up there to do maintainance on the trail and at the lookouts. i wanted to get a shot of him but he got up and went into the thick stuff and looked at me. i could have got a shot but the brush was too thick. i love hearing them though. especially when they're in packs and they are going crazy.

Schuetzen
04-05-2010, 15:32
The last coyote I saw was this morning in the pasture in front of my house, one of my calves was chasing it.

mikec
04-05-2010, 16:14
I had one call out right next to the Jenny Knob Shelter, VA when I was there by myself one night. Scared the you-know-what out of me. During the night I could hear that same call as the animal got further and further away.

Panzer1
04-05-2010, 16:23
deer go for the salt in the urine

When I used to deer hunt, I never peed near my deer stand if I could avoid it on the theory that if the deer smelled my Pee they might figure out I was there and somehow get away.

Panzer

hal0ofwint3r
04-08-2010, 19:35
listening to coyotes going crazy is the coolest sound in the woods

Incahiker
04-09-2010, 07:54
Except when they are ripping apart a creature that is screaming at the top of its lungs not too far from the tent. Sounds like the raptors tearing apart the cow in the 1st jurassic park....

hal0ofwint3r
04-09-2010, 08:26
yes, this is true

DrRichardCranium
04-09-2010, 16:34
now you're thinking clearly. :d

mandatory sterilization for the stupid and lazy would be a great program to initiate in public schools. Licenses for parenthood, punishable by abortion and sterilization; death for all drug offenses....

...desperate times call for desperate measures....:eek:
you got my vote for president.

ja wohl, mein fuhrer!

DrRichardCranium
04-09-2010, 16:38
dogginfox, if anyone tells you that you made this up, i'm with you and not them. that's how some people are. these kinds of people are always in denial about everything. i'm not saying anybody has said anything yet, but i'm pretty sure someone will. people are ignorant. but anyway, your story is great. hope you had some bear mace. i was solo hiking on a trail in northern pa when a coyote came right into my camp site while i was packing things up early in the morning. he stopped about fifteen feet from me and instead of taking off, he just hung around for several minutes. .

Probably because some dumbass gave him food before. So he learned how to "yogi."

People who feed wild animals need to be smacked upside the head with a large sock of manure.

hal0ofwint3r
04-10-2010, 08:45
i saw dumbass, so i was thinking that was referring to me, but then i saw before, so i was going to say yeah, my quote doesn't say i feed them anywhere. and i bear bag too! yeah, someone probably fed him before. i hope the next time they want to feed one, the whole pack comes. then he won't do that again. and we have plenty of manure here in lancaster to smack people with too.