Maybe time for California Coyote hunting?

[pwd72s]

Cats & small dogs...and now this?

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/experts-identify-mystery-killer-decapitated-seals-found-california-beaches-since-2016

Scientists have cracked the case of scores of decapitated seals found on northern California beaches since 2016.

Noyo Center for Marine Science's Sarah Grimes investigates marine mammal deaths, and told The Mercury News she suspected a responsible culprit, but needed proof.

"It was so gruesome," Grimes told the Bay Area newspaper. "I was like marine mammal CSI, seeing all the dead pups with their heads torn off, and I’m like, ‘What the heck did that?’"

The headless bodies were found in MacKerricher State Park, where a student at University of California Santa Cruz caught the guilty party in the act.

We set up camera traps and got one really solid video of a coyote dragging a harbor seal pup and beheading it," Ph.D. student Frankie Gerraty said. "We are pretty confident there has been predation at four sites along the Northern California coast."

Researchers are not yet sharing the video while they continue trying to understand "the seemingly new predator-prey relationship," the Los Angeles Times reports.

oyotes are appearing more often in the area after being poisoned and hunted by farmers and ranchers for decades.

"This really is nature’s balance," Grimes told the LA Times. "The coyote is not a villain. It’s part of the ecosystem that has been missing for some years."

Scientists are still working to understand why coyotes are only going for the seals' heads, leaving their bodies behind, but believe it could have to do with the nutrition content of seal brains compared to other body parts.

[Zeke]

Old news AFA the L.A. Times goes.

Coyotes are a problem in many states. We see them on Ring cameras in the neighborhood frequently and sometimes in the middle of the day. An outdoor cat around here has to be very cunning to live long. Stray cats are seldom seen whereas they used to be a nuisance.

Last year while out on a short jog one ran by me 5 feet away going the same direction. Never heard it coming and I don't wear earbuds. A little freaky but the thing was on a fast trot and gone in 20 seconds.

It's illegal to shoot or poison them here. I'd shoot one in a heartbeat.

[GH85Carrera]

On Christmas day on our trip up to Enid, OK I was some road kill up ahead on highway 412, so I changed lanes. There was a bald eagle in the lane I changed into and it was chasing off several crows from the road kill coyote in the right lane. The eagle flew in a small circle and landed on the road kill. Coyotes are thick up in that area.

[Jeff Higgins]

A truly remarkable little critter. Probably the single most adaptable predator of all time. To the point where litter sizes follow the abundance or lack of prey, going from one or two if times are hard up to 15 or so when food is plentiful. They will eat anything. They can live anywhere.

I hunted these things for years. For money. Their pelts were once worth something. At times, and in places, there have been bounties paid. I've killed literally hundreds of them. Spend enough time "with" them, around them, and you will develop a very deep respect along with a pretty deep hatred. Their depredations can be very, very appalling. Not just baby seals, but baby anythings. And adults as well, of course, but they are particularly attracted to the young of any species. Absolutely merciless killers. They very much have to be, but I'm here to tell you, find enough of their handiwork and you will want to kill every one of them you see as well. Even if it doesn't pay anymore.

[Scott Douglas]

There are signs up at Huntington Beach beach areas warning of coyotes. They've even attacked a toddler down on the beach just south of the pier.

[Scott Douglas]

[Evans, Marv]

It's most likely the nutrition of the brains, that they eat only the heads. I've seen the seme with rabbits aound here. The whole body is left over with hust the neck bones sticking out. Oddly, we don't see nearly as many coyotes here compared to years before, but that goes for all wildlife in general - sad to say, but we see plenty of deer, turkeys, and an ocassional bob cat and get reports of mountain lions.

[look 171]

Come up to my house. After 10ish, you can go out and get yourself some. For sure you can see them with a powerful enough flashlight from my back year.

[LWJ]

Lots of “missing cat” signs in my neighborhood.

[herr_oberst]

I'm in an old, established Portland neighborhood. Standard 50x100 lots Coyotes are common. Weekly sightings. I see 'em early in the morning slinking around. I'm always leery, and so are they. (It's funny to see two or three juvenile coyotes together - they act almost the same as 2 or three adolescent boys walking down the street, joshing each other, acting tough)

I'm always surprised to see any wild rabbits still alive in late summer. Those must be some crafty bunnies.

[ckcarr]

Coincidentally, just last weekend I was out looking for things to photograph when on a remote back road I came across two golden eagles sitting on a coyote carcass. They just looked at me, but I wanted to get a closer look and so they reluctantly flew up in the sky but kept circling. When I was done with my coyote carcass inspection they came back down and resumed their feast. Carcass pic's at 11:00 !

[Cooper911SC]

We had a skinny mange covered coyote kill one of our chickens a couple of weeks ago. 10:30 in the morning. Lots of traffic whizzing by. ( We live right off of a busy secondary road)

I shooed it away, it dropped the hen and disappeared into the neighborhood. Nextdoor was abuzz for the next week as it roamed the area.
I kept my chickens locked up for a week… I did see the coyote in my yard 3. days later… they know where the food is.

[Henry Schmidt]

We had coyotes roaming the property until a feral Great Pyrenees decided to adopt us.
She patrols the perimeter, marks her territory and the Coyotes are no longer a problem. If I understand the species, Coyotes teach their young to avoid these type of hazards.
Neighbors say they've seen Cleopatra engage up to five coyotes at once.
I struggle to understand why America ranchers hesitate to employ guardian dogs where predators like Coyotes are a menace. There are efforts in some states to do what the rest of the world has done for centuries... Man's best friend for a reason.
Of course you always have goofy neighbor push-back, One claimed that she steals chicken (never seen her, but chickens go missing) but we have wild Peacocks and she has no interest in even those tasty little baby morsels.

[Turbo_pro]

I understand that California has a glut of these amazing guardians.
During the pandemic, idiots thought it would be oh so cool to have a big fluffy dog to keep them company while they sheltered at home.
These dogs need a job and when their owners went back to work, they left 125 pound working dog sitting in the house. What could go wrong. Now their a 100s in rescues waiting to go to work.
If you know someone with Coyote issue, these dogs are available and ready to work.

[ckcarr]

Great Pyrenees are used extensively out here in Utah for sheep protection.

[Henry Schmidt]

Originally Posted by ckcarr

Great Pyrenees are used extensively out here in Utah for sheep protection.

You don't have to ask them twice. They do it because it's in their blood.

[pwd72s]

Ditto the Turkish breed, the Kangal...or Anatolian Shepherd. Evren's mother has a pair of them. I remember he writing that he was nervous about dog sitting for his mom, worried about the safety of his german shepherds. What? That's when I learned of them. It all worked out for Evren with his mom's "gentle giants".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangal_Shepherd_Dog

[pwd72s]

Kangles that did their job:

[Jeff Higgins]

https://komonews.com/news/offbeat/great-pyrenees-casper-that-killed-8-coyotes-to-protect-sheep-nominated-for-farm-dog-of-the-year-american-farm-bureau-purina-georgia-john-wierwille-ewe-can-do-it-naturally-landscaping-pregnant-mate-daisy-lifeline-animal-project



Great Pyrenees that killed 8 coyotes to protect sheep nominated for Farm Dog of the Year

WASHINGTON (TND) — A Great Pyrenees who almost lost his life one year ago while protecting sheep from 11 coyotes has been nominated for the People's Choice Pup in the Farm Dog of the Year competition.

Casper, named for the friendly ghost, made headlines in November 2022 when he killed eight coyotes that were threatening his pregnant partner and the sheep on his Georgia farm, his owner, John Wierwille, told the Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB).

Wierwille said Casper took out three coyotes that made it inside the pen and then leaped a 4-foot hog wire fence to go after the rest of the pack.

"He just charged them. Maybe in ten seconds he had the first three dead methodically. Just one, two, three,” Wierwille told GFB. "Casper saw me, and I think he thought ‘The boss is here, I can go after them.’ He leaped the fence in one bound and went after the rest of the pack chasing them through neighbors’ yards and carports. It went on for about 30 minutes. The next morning, we found coyotes along the railroad tracks that Casper killed. In all he killed eight of the eleven coyotes."

Casper went missing for two days and returned with infected wounds that Wierwille didn't think he would survive.

After multiple surgeries, 15 days with an emergency vet and help from Lifeline Animal Project in Atlanta, Casper made it through.

His injuries left him with a bald spot on his back, a scar on one ear and a docked tail but that doesn't stop him from expressing his happiness.

"Now he just wags his whole body starting with his shoulders down to his haunches," Wierwille said. “It’s a remarkable site to see."

[red-beard]