I think it's probably much the same situation we see with mule deer and whitetails. Mule deer need much more open, unoccupied spaces than whitetails. Their preferred browse and forage is not as dense as that of a whitetails, so they must range much further to get the same quantity of it. As a result, mules are on the decline as we encroach ever deeper into their habitat. Whitetails are on the rise, even moving into traditional mule deer range.

Much the same with wolves. Packs of wolves can't make it on primarily small game, where coyotes can essentially live on rats and moles and the like. Wolves need good populations of the larger ungulates as prey species, and we don't find those in close proximity to people (except for the whitetails previously mentioned - maybe the wolves will one day follow them in).

Wolves also evoke a far different reaction from us. God forbid one is seen in any kind of setting closer in than the fringes of the "wilderness". We expect the ranchers that are "out there" to deal with them, but just watch what happens if or when one ever shows up in suburbia. It will most certainly be "game on" - we would not rest until it was trapped or killed. Coyotes, meh - folks are not afraid of them. Most actually think it's kind of cool to see one in their neighborhood, with no idea of the ramifications of such a sighting.

Heh heh - that last one is clearly an invasive species that must be dealt with accordingly...

called grand son....

Coyotes in Eastern Montana Very thick !
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1446434297.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1446434314.jpg

Friend Shot this from a hot tub.
Hello Kitty !
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1446434383.jpg

Marv,
I had not heard that story. Not really surprised though. Not too many decades ago any time a coyote or a lion encountered a human, it was 9' tall (on horseback) and blowing fire and thunder (shooting) at at em. Animals had evolved a natural fear of humans. Now they encounter humans jogging, mountain biking, or sitting aroundwearing $1200 worth of REI green and brown outdoor wear and whispering gently. I figure evolution is working the other way now. With no claws, not much in the way of teeth, no fur, and agile only as long as we are upright, few of us would be able to fight off a few determined coyotes. Sooner or later, the animals will figure this out.
Dave

Um.. I think the prediction about evolving coyotes threatening humans is ridiculous.

Naked man vs coyote in a cage match? I'll take the man every time.

Give me a big knife and I'll take on a whole family of them.

:rolleyes:

two coyotes kill a buck - Bing video

I'll take one on one...

I lived off of coyote creek in Cerritos and live on Coyotes hills in Fullerton. When I lived in Cerritos my house backed up to the regional park in the area. I'm a pretty light sleeper and I can tell you that a pack of six will yelp and chirp to each other when they're apart closing in their box. First you'll hear them chirp 1/2 mile apart, 5 minutes later they're 1/4 mile apart and soon 100 yards apart next you'll be hearing their pray dying.

I don't know that I've gone a single day in AZ without seeing a coyote. They're usually roadkill, but I've seen them trotting down the middle of the street in my HOA and even one running on the sidewalk as I rode my motorcycle parallel with him a few feet away. We had one approach us in a parking lot in Tucson once that was a giant. He had obviously been fed a lot by dumb tourists and had no fear of people or cars.

I hear animals screaming sometimes late in the evening right after that, the coyotes howl back and forth for about 30seconds. I think they tell each other there's a kill.

There is a difference between evolution and learned behavior. They learned not to fear people, which is bad for them and people.

I live in the city of Charlotte. 2 miles to a Ruth's Chris, Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus stores. I've seen coyotes, wild boar, deer and fox in my backyard. Pretty awesome.

I grew up on the outskirts of San Diego, and used to hear the coyotes regularly, and lost more than one pet cat back then. We would never see them though, they would stay up in the hills and come down at night looking for food.

I now live in the suburbs of northern Cincinnati, and we've seen coyotes on the prowl here in the last few years. In fact, one of them cornered one of my neighbors in his garage awhile back, trying to get to his little dog. Luckily neither neighbor or dog were hurt, but the coyotes definitely seem more aggressive and not scared of people like I remember from SD 30+ years ago.

Priceless!!

It's been several years since I have hunted, and once did have leased land about 25 miles from Del Rio, TX. These are not from my game cam, but we did see the last in daylight a few times with our own eyes.


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oP0FYhR01_c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Me too. But put me in there with 3, 4, or more? I'm not so sure.

As for the knife, yeah then I've got an artificial canine tooth of sufficient length and strength to do a lot of damage. I'd actually rather have a 3-4 foot stick, with sufficient mass to act as a club, and a sharpened point to reach out and do damage. But the point is that we humans are relatively fragile.

Tobra correctly points out that "evolution" is the wrong term. It is learned behavior. These animals once learned to avoid humans. Now our behavior is teaching them that humans are really nothing to fear.

I live in the high desert of New Mexico, and my place backs up to 37,000 acres of Natl. Forest Wilderness area. We get lion, bobcat, bear, mulies, whitetails, coons, wild horses, and damn near everything else you can imagine on four legs, wings, or that slithers. I enjoy these animals. But when they are a problem its time for them to go. I think the coyotes are a problem, and its getting worse over time. I mention that I shoot them on sight. I don't shoot very many. They know my place is dangerous and are rarely seen during daylight. But they are always around, in very close proximity. I know where 3 dens are on neighboring properties. If I had my way, those dens wouldn't be there. But my neighbors think the coyotes are wonderful (yet they wonder where their cute little dogs went). They call the sheriff when they hear me shooting. The deputies come out and quietly agree with me that my neighbors are stupid.

Oops, sorry to hijack a thread about cool things seen on game cams.

If you carry a gun and you see one of these in your neighborhood is it within the law to shoot it?

I have no idea so This is a legit question.

It is within the law to protect yourself against predators anywhere in Texas. Former Presidential candidate, and former Governor, Rick Perry, whacked one while out for a jog, in the most liberal city in the state.

That's enough affirmation for me.

No worries at all. This exchange has been excellent.

The reason I posted this was I grew up waayyy before game cams. We used tintype cams. Here is a sample:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1446482352.jpg

So we'll figure it out. :cool:

Tintype? Man, you must be older than you look. Was Mr Grant really the drunk they made him out to be?

In Sacramento County, if I were to shoot a coyote defending myself on the American River Parkway, I would almost certainly lose my weapon and go to jail. Good stout walking stick is all you need for one. If there were two or more, you would be in trouble with just a stick.

I'm in an unincorporated county area of Ventura Co. It is perfectly legal to discharge a firearm on my property, providing no neighbors are put as risk or complain. Here is the Kalifornia ruling on coyotes:

Legal Status
Coyotes have no special protection in California and may be killed by any method that is not prohibited by federal, state, or local statutes.

Since the passage of a state ballot initiative measure in November 1998, leghold traps cannot be used to capture coyotes except in situations where a human health and safety emergency has been declared by designated officials, or in selected situations where the existence of an endangered species is threatened by predation. Toxicants or poisons used to control coyotes are illegal, with the exception of fumigant cartridges available only to predator control specialists to asphyxiate coyote pups in their dens. No chemical repellents are registered for use in repelling coyotes from property or from livestock.
In essence, you would not be charged for killing the coyote on the American River Parkway, but you would be charged for discharging a firearm within city limits. A felony I think????

Wow, those cams are really neat, amazing pics guys! Don't have one but think if I did, would capture some good shots. Just might put that on my santa wanty list.

Two years back, had a coyote 'blindly' run past me (... guessing 20 yards away) and was zeroed in on some small game. Then last Winter while out x-skiing, came across a deer carcass, cleaned down to the bone, bloody tracks all over. I'm always hearing the pup's yelping and even just yesterday at dusk - 6 / 7 pm.

Also, a few years back a State park that's adjacent to us picked up a lone grey wolf. Very unusual for the area! Apparently was hit by a car. The DNR decided to taxidermy and display it.

The elusive big cats too are making a comeback and of all places.... the northwest area of Chicago. A few reported spottings, positive tracks and tree markings.

It is my birthday today. Took the morning off and my lovely wife and I are headed to DC this evening to have dinner with friends.

Grant was a maintenance drinker...a couple of Apple Brandys and all was well.

We must be one of the few places where 'yotes are on the decline and wolves are expanding. As a young boy during deer season we would see several 'yotes but they have been hunted so relentlessly around here that they are pretty rare to see compared to years past. We still hear them at night, most nights. They have been hunted so hard because they were so plentiful that they were hunting in packs taking down large livestock with increased frequency. There is no closed season or bag limit on them here in WI and you an use dogs to hunt them. Honestly I disagree with allowing dogs to hunt them. I have seen two wolves in the past few years here. One crossing the road in front of me and the other near our house. My mom saw one running across the back fence-line at our house one day. That is a little too close for comfort, but in this case I am guessing he was on his way to new territory. We now have a wolf season as well since they are well established, but it is tightly controlled.

I will still take a shot at a coyote during deer season but don't actively hunt them now since their numbers are (in my lowly estimation) less than a tenth of what they were at their peak. Turkeys as well. We have flocks of 50 instead of 200. Ruffed Grouse is non-existent where we hunt and you used to see a dozen or so a day out in the woods.

We have coyotes in the neighborhood every night. I often see signs posted "missing cat, Maltese, or chihuahua "... Guess what folks? We also have rabbits, squirrels, opossum, fox, skunks, coons, bobcat, rats, owls, red tails. They are all just doing their thing and except for the occasional rat invasion, don't bother me. I was walking my dog last night and a coyote crossed 10 yards or so in front of me. My dog is 50 lbs and I am pretty ugly and menacing so he just went on his way. Sometimes a cougar or black bear will come into the neighborhoods but it's pretty rare.

Once in a while we see a loner coyote that looks unhealthy and is actively hunting mid day. They will sometimes approach and act aggressively. We let animal control handle those since they may be carrying disease. They set live traps and either relocate or euthanize based on their health condition and threat to humans.

Rats and ground squirrels are fair game year around for me. Boy can they mess up a garden.

Amen brotha! You should shed what they do to avocados.

Pretty cool photo!!!


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

Happy Birthday Paul...and many happy returns! ;)

We hear packs of the howling and yipping every night. Sometimes it sounds like they're no more than a 100 yards from the house. I never see the packs, but often see one lone coyote out in the daylight. I don't know if it's an outcast or just a straggler.

About 2 years ago I was driving thru an "Urban" area on the southside of Chicago(Roseland to be exact) and I had to come to a stop cause this giant "dog" ran directly in front of my car. I said "Holy S*** that no FN dog" Seconds later a Animal Control van crossed in front of me followed by a cop car, in hot pursuit of said "dog"

The things that struck me were A. how long its torso was B. how beautiful its coat was C. how in the f did it make to 119 and Wentworth?

Happy Birthday!! SmileWavy

The Australian wild dog is the dingo, we have huge problems with domestic / dingo hybrids. Do coyotes interbreed with wild or semi-wild domestic dogs?

People often speculate as to the frequency of coyote-dog hybrids, or coydogs, in urban settings. Coyotes and dogs are related, and they are biologically capable of producing hybrid litters. Coydogs have been raised in captivity. Genetic surveys of wild coyotes have rarely documented evidence of dogs in the genetic makeup of coyotes, despite domestic dogs and coyotes sharing the continent for the past 9,000 years. Although it is possible, coydogs in urban settings are unlikely
-Coyotes are highly seasonal breeders; dogs are not.
-Coydog females have a shifted estrus cycle that does not coincide with the coyote period.

From my critter cam next to the house:http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1446516571.jpg

Seems they are mostly Coyote with a lot of Wolf and some dog thrown in.

The Coywolf Emerges as North America's Newest Top Predator

Here's another article on why the coywolf is spreading like crazy. Just happened to stumble upon it: Greater than the sum of its parts | The Economist

So do you think that coyotes like wolf pussy or the other way around? :)