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hutnons
03-07-2008, 00:20
Are dogs that are leashed and sleep inside a tent going to attract coyotes? Where I like to weekend camp, there seems to be a very large population of coyotes. I have seen on several occasions, them hunt down and feed on injured deer.

Can anyone advise on some best practices or if coyotes are safe to be around with my dog?

minnesotasmith
03-07-2008, 00:54
Are dogs that are leashed and sleep inside a tent going to attract coyotes? Where I like to weekend camp, there seems to be a very large population of coyotes. I have seen on several occasions, them hunt down and feed on injured deer.

Can anyone advise on some best practices or if coyotes are safe to be around with my dog?

How large and capable of fighting is your dog? If you have a Rottweiler, pit bull, German Shepherd, Great Pyrenee, or the like, not so much a worry unless they get majorly outnumbered. OTOH, if you own a bait dog like a dachshund, Yorkshire terrier, toy poodle, Chihuahua, or the like, expect them to be considered members of the slow, funny-looking rabbit class by the coyotes.

Appalachian Tater
03-07-2008, 01:08
Keep your dog leashed and he won't be able to hurt the coyotes.

Two Speed
03-07-2008, 05:13
hutnons, when I hiked the Alabama Pinhoti I heard coyote every night. Same for the section of the Georgia Pinhoti between Cave Spring and Dalton. Don't hear 'em every night on the Coosa Backcountry (passes near Blood Mountain), but they've been seen in the area by quite a few people, and I get on that trail 3, maybe 4 times every winter. I also do at least a couple of 50 - 60 mile section hikes on the AT every year. Basically, I hike whenever I can and my mutt, Barney, is almost always with me.

I've never had a problem.

If you exercise some common sense about keeping your dog reasonably close and not allowing him/her to harrass wildlife I sincerely doubt you'll ever have a problem.

For the record Barney (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=22453&catid=member&imageuser=1339) isn't a pit bull, rottweiler. If anyone thinks he's a large or aggressive dog that individual either has vision problems or a weak relationship with reality.

Green Frog
03-07-2008, 06:14
coyotes in the east are skittish. They avoid us and dogs.

desdemona
03-07-2008, 11:14
Well if a smaller dog is outside by itself, I have heard of cases where they will be eaten. But they are scared and also they are opportunists. They woudln't attack. My hiking partner describes many episodes of coyotes coming fairly close with no issues.

--des

hutnons
03-07-2008, 11:29
Thanks everyone for their helpful stories and or experiences.

I have a Chow Chow. It is not a small dog and can be aggressive in situations where it needs to protect itself. he typically likes to lay around the camp and is always (even when hiking on the trail) leashed. That being said, I don't have to worry about him intruding on the coyotes or their dens.

I just wanted to see if coyotes would team up to explore the dog as he lays calmly around my camp especially at night when my dog likes to hang out on guard protecting his territory from intruders.

bloodmountainman
03-07-2008, 12:56
I know of one instance where a kid I know was camping on Cowrock Mountain with his dog. He had coyotes surround his camp in the middle of the night. There was a camp-fire restriction at the time, so no fire to keep them back. He called his Dad by cell-phone, and walked out to the highway. He said it was to uncomfortable to sleep with them all around his camp.

ed bell
03-07-2008, 13:11
coyotes in the east are skittish. They avoid us and dogs.That's been my experience. I have heard them many times in Pisgah NF outside Brevard, NC. Sometimes possibly within a half a mile. First couple of times it was kinda creepy, after that I enjoyed hearing them at night.:sun