This is a very disturbing story. I post it here wondering whether there have been other similar cases that others may know of.
There have been suggestions that these animals may have been coydogs or rabbies may have been a factor. Suffice to say there are many unanswered questions at this point.
It's a shocking and sad event. I have never heard of a similar attack and will be very interested to hear what the biologists have to say, if they ever figure it out.
Suffice to say I see them occasionally and coyotes are always quite shy, unless they're preoccupied with finding their next meal. They're usually pretty small around here, which isn't the case everywhere.
good god. I bet this twit knows nothing.. sorry.. I can't forgive that advice.
I also have never heard of a (non rabies releted) coyote attack.
I definately *have* heard of people here having rabid coyotes go after them, although never more than one. At least in alberta (I don't know about down east) rabies is endemic in the bat population and surfaces semi regularly in coyotes.
Oh pleeez....we have 5 coyotes that frequent my park, in my back yard, sing to us often, and are by far the most well behavd dogs in the park. I can't imagine an attack. We've had coydogs too. My vote goes to coydogs.
Yes dryer, but rabies *does* make them a bit crazy..
Having said that coyotes are the last thing I ever worry about. up here I like listening to them sing. although I bet I can do things you can't do with your coyotes..
Mr coyote is deathly afraid of wolves. for good reason. wolves will kill coyotes as a direct competitor.. So what's really neat up here when I get a pack of coyotes singing is to listen along and when you decide to go to bed, just give a good wolf call... instant silence... (seriously!) - Not sure it would work down there - you don't have the wolves.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Wow, that is odd. I've had two close encounters with coyotes in the past couple weeks. I was sitting alone by our fire ring in the forest behind out house after my wife, kids, and some friends had left after a cookout and a pack came by, probably after smelling ribs and hotdogs. I didn't see them because it was pitch black dark out, but they were only about 100 ft away when they all started yipping. I turned my headlamp on and pointed their direction and they lit out in an instant. I barely heard a rustle when they did.
The other was last friday when one by himself came into our front yard to see if he could snatch one of our chickens. Our dogs saw him and chased him off.
It's legal to kill coyotes here. Not many people hunt them for sport, but some do. Right now there are far too many living nearby us and it has occured to me that I might have to shoot a few before too long. I thought I might try to pop them with a paintball gun first to see if they'd relocate on their own.
This is the first time I've heard of more than one attacking a person though. Weird.
Coyotes have circled my camp at night and got my dog pretty riled up. The actually worried me simply because it was several and they were fighting among themselves but not actually coming into my camp. Maybe they were shy or maybe they wouldn't cross were my dog had marked as well as hearing him bark and growl, i really don't know.
I do know if you run from them they will chase and try to bring you down, they will go right into prey mode. At least a pack would especially if they had been stalking you.
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Registered: 05/28/08
Posts: 278
Loc: Texas Hill Country
Originally Posted By billstephenson
Wow, that is odd. I've had two close encounters with coyotes in the past couple weeks. I was sitting alone by our fire ring in the forest behind out house after my wife, kids, and some friends had left after a cookout and a pack came by, probably after smelling ribs and hotdogs. I didn't see them because it was pitch black dark out, but they were only about 100 ft away when they all started yipping. I turned my headlamp on and pointed their direction and they lit out in an instant. I barely heard a rustle when they did.
The other was last friday when one by himself came into our front yard to see if he could snatch one of our chickens. Our dogs saw him and chased him off.
It's legal to kill coyotes here. Not many people hunt them for sport, but some do. Right now there are far too many living nearby us and it has occured to me that I might have to shoot a few before too long. I thought I might try to pop them with a paintball gun first to see if they'd relocate on their own.
This is the first time I've heard of more than one attacking a person though. Weird.
We have a problem with coyotes around here as well. There were none the first 7 or 8 years after we built our home, but jackrabbits were plentiful. The coyotes came in and wiped out the jackrabbits. I was walking on one of my jobs last year and came upon some scat. The scat contained a tiny collar in it, probably from a cat.
This spring I witnessed how they do it. I have an invisible fence for my dogs that encloses them on two acres around the house. There were two coyotes in the pasture just outside the barrier. One of them would come in close and lure my big airedale to chase after him. The airedale (Rooster) would charge after him, but peel off at the barrier. The coyote circled around and came right back and did it again while the other one was waiting crouched in the fringe. Of course this all stopped as soon as I had time to get out my Henry .17 HMR. (Now it sits by the back door)
I tried for a couple years to fire warning shots, then dusting them with bird shot, then #4 shot, but they kept coming back. Now it's full scale war and take no prisoners. There are 4 fewer that there were last spring.
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WOW, my heart goes out to the victims family. More rare than a lightening strike or shark attack.
It is hard to generalize about coyotes because they are so adaptable. The coyotes I have seen in the backcountry are very shy, but the ones around the City seem to be comfortable with humans. I really like the ones in our neighborhood because they control the goose population. However, they also have reduced the fox population. A person spoke at our City's Animal Control Commission and demanded that something be down to keep the coyotes from killing the foxes.
A couple of years ago I saw one at about 12,000 feet in January. What are they are eating at that altitude in January?
A terrible tragedy. I hope no one over reacts.
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Actually i am not a "twitt" but I happen to think that having a knife would be better than trying to punch one in the nose. Any weapon, if you got into that situation, wold be better than nothing, which I think is what "she" had....Nothing and now she is dead DUH !!!!!!!sabre11004
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Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
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I tried for a couple years to fire warning shots...
Thanks for the info. It pretty much blows my paintball plan out, but I didn't have much faith in it in the first place to be honest. I might as well skip past deterrence.
My wife is ready to go shoot them herself as it stands. They've taken most all her outdoor cats and she's mad as can be.
I'm not a hunter, I haven't even shot a rifle in over 30 years, so I figured my next step would be to get a 410 shotgun and pepper their tail ends, but if that's not a real deterrent either than I'll just borrow a buddies rifle and get to business.
The pack that lives near us is getting bolder, that's for sure. And our dogs are no match for them. They're all either old, fat, crippled up, or stupid and they stay up late to howl like drunken sailors with the coyotes every darn night. I'm not convinced that they weren't chasing that one the other day in hopes to get some tail.
I supposed my best bet is probably to get up early and set out some bait where I can get a clean shot with a clear line of sight, then sit and wait.
One thing is for sure, I know they're going to keep picking off our critters if I don't do something.
First and foremost my heart goes out to the victim and her family.
I'm a city boy but I live on the edge of the city....big coyote country. I hear them at night all the time and I run or cycle through their habitat on the way to work. Usually at night. Just about every one I've ever seen turns tail and runs as soon as they notice me. The critters in this attack don't sound like "normal" coyotes.
I'm much more worried about the mountain lions.
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I suspect chumming to incite that type of behavior from coyote. The Department of Transportation uses an area in one of the local open spaces to dispose of road kill. I have seen aggressive coyotes in that area.
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I lived on a government sheep research station in Idaho for a year as a child. They were researching, among other things, coyote predation on sheep flocks. They used great Pyrenees dogs to protect the sheep from yote attacks. For those with livestock and pets threatened by yotes you might look into these types of dogs. At the station nobody seemed worried about people being attacked by the yotes. Maybe times are a changing. They did trap live ones for research purposes. I had an uncle visit and he looked at the nice little coyotes in the dog pens. One came up to him so he stuck his finger in to let the "nice little yote" sniff it... yup, uncle got stitches. Times might be the same...
Wild dogs, pet dogs, coyotes, cougars, even smaller animals will attack people at some points in time but lets not go crazy. My condolences to the family. That pack of yotes should be hunted.
I've spent a lot of time with coyotes but never was afraid of them. I do keep my dog away from them and I wouldn't hesitate to kill a coyote to protect my dog, but I like coyotes. Generally I do not have my dog camping with me, so I don't worry but rather I enjoy hearing them howl. Jim
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Registered: 08/21/03
Posts: 330
Loc: Southern California
When I was a child, our family was camping on the beach near San Felipe in Baja, and my Dad and I woke to find a coyote sniffing my sister's face (she was maybe eight at the time). My Dad chased it off, but he was visibly shaken by the episode. Other than that, I've never had a close encounter with one. I had never heard or read of a coyote attack on humans before.
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Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
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I like coyotes
Me too, Jim. We've always had packs running the ridge and hollows where I live, and I have never heard of one being aggressive towards people. But this past year all my neighbors have lost pets to them.
It may have a lot to do with the Lake level being so high. The Army Corps has flooded the lake for most of the past two years and this has decreased the nearby surrounding habitat by around 1000 acres where squirrel, rabbits, quail, rats, and other small critters used to be plentiful.
At the same time we've had the Conservation Dept, the Forest Service, and the Corp close well over a hundred miles of off-road access trails to vehicles in our County and those that border it. This has certainly led to an increase in their population and forced many coyotes to head out into nearby areas. Everyone within a few miles of me lives on at least 5 or more acres surrounded by public land so it's easy for them to hide out on the fringes of our living space.
Another factor is that we have killed off all of the wolves which are natural predators of coyotes. Any time people fool around with the natural balance, things get screwed up. No predators = over population. Removing habitat = change of behavior or extinction.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
That's true and it's sad. But, after reading these accounts from early settlers in this area I'm not so sure I'd want packs of wolves running around here anymore.
I have been hiking since the early seventies and have seen many many animals. The one animal that I have never seen in the wild is a coyote. I have pretty close encounters with bears, cats, and a fox or two but never a coyote. I had an encounter with a cat in the early eighties that we thought that we were going to have a problem with but in the end, it worked out ok, but it was as close as I would want to come to a conflict with a wild animal...sabre11004...
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I am afraid of domestic dogs! I have been attacked by domestic dogs while riding my bicycle. I am apprehensive when hiking alone and hear a pack of coyotes too. All it takes is one bite in the wrong place and any dog can kill you.
In the late 1970's my ex-husband and I hunted coyotes for the money. A good quality hide would bring $70 - $50 for the hide and $20 bounty. Coyotes were really killing lots of domestic sheep so at that time there was a good bounty on each. Ex had a job winter feeding elk on the big bend of the Green River. We would put bait out the bedroom window and pop off the coyotes early in the morning. Coyote money is what fed us that winter. (we also had two kids - age 1 and 3).
All wild animals are dangerous. I watched elk gore each other to death. The moose were very aggressive and would chase us while we were riding on the snowmobile.
I honestly think that a major problem is that no hunting is allowed in national parks. Animals shy away from people when they associate us with danger. Hunting establishes this connection. As for anti-hunters -- all I can say is that if you cannot look something in the eye and shoot it, gut it, clean it and cook it, you have no business eating meat at all. Honestly, when habitat is reduced by human population, hunting is really needed. I saw so many antelope starve to death in the winter. Hunting to keep the population down makes a lot of sense.
In the late 1970's my ex-husband and I hunted coyotes for the money. A good quality hide would bring $70 - $50 for the hide and $20 bounty. Coyotes were really killing lots of domestic sheep so at that time there was a good bounty on each. Ex had a job winter feeding elk on the big bend of the Green River. We would put bait out the bedroom window and pop off the coyotes early in the morning. Coyote money is what fed us that winter. (we also had two kids - age 1 and 3).
I bought a new rifle with coyote pelts in high school (early 80's) when I could get $135 a pelt for them in january and february..
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I honestly think that a major problem is that no hunting is allowed in national parks. Animals shy away from people when they associate us with danger. Hunting establishes this connection.
I agree completely there, especially with the big cats and wolves/coyotes.
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As for anti-hunters -- all I can say is that if you cannot look something in the eye
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and shoot it
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gut it
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clean it
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and cook it
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you have no business eating meat at all
No problems here.. backstrap's mighty tasty out of them little ones.
That's funny that you say that because I do not eat meat...at all.. I think nature has a way of taking care of it's environment and it's animals. When you think about it when we are in the back country we are in "their" territory. We have basically ran them out of their own habitat so they have every right to be there and to do what they see fit to have an established territory, which again, we are slowly stealing from them. Hell, no wonder they are pissed off and get at us every chance they get. You can't really blame them. I do carry a weapon to protect myself and it would always be a last resort to shoot one of them. I also always carry a couple of packs of firecrackers in my pocket when I am on the trail and that has always worked to scare off any animal, and I have had to use them on several occasions...sabre11004...
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