Coyotes

[BIZIN]

We dont have a dog problem. Only dog within a 5 mile radius is a toy poodle and a schnauzer. You would think after killing 300 coyotes the problem would be solved but that is just putting a dent in it. Ducks Unlimited figures we have 1000 beavers on 4000 acres, and they are growing exponentially, you would think the coyotes would be eating the abundance of beavers and they wont touch em. And they wont eat gophers either. Around our feedlot and neighbouring area the gophers are so bad that in some pastures you cant take a horse across it. Last year on 320 acres I counted 4500 gopher holes that I put poison down. Killed alot of gophers, but some are immune the pest officer said. I've watched gophers eat the damn stuff and it wont hurt them, then I blow em away. I dont think I have ever heard of coyotes being as bad as they are in Saskatchewan.

 

[traderaaron]

If you have a normal ecosystem I don't believe you will have any real problem with coyotes. By that I mean if you have native grasses enough to sustain your cows over the winter and into spring then you also are supporting an ecosystem of rabbits, ground squirrels, mice, birds and so on. These are the normal diet of a coyote.

We ranch on nearly 60,000 acres in Colorado that has a large enough coyote population, you do lose the occasional calf but to me that's just part of it, you can't spend all your time patrolling for coyotes. The only thing we noticed when we did allow the gov't trapper to fly over and kill coyotes was that we seemed to have an increase in prairie dogs the next year?

I've seen coyotes near cows with calves during calving but they both seem to know the distance to be kept to keep everyone happy, the coyotes are wanting the afterbirth or a dead calf.

This year I did lose one calf to what I believe was a coyote but the Cow was slightly injured and she had her calf right by the fence line away from all the other cows. Had she been healthy I think things would have been different.

I've seen an antelope run down and stomp a coyote so I am sure a Cow 10 times the size will intimidate a coyote more so, not to mention how strong a calf can be.

How and where you calve probably play as big a role as anything in determining whether you may have a problem.

In many settings dogs are going to be a much bigger problem.

On the list of worries during calving coyotes are right near the bottom for me.

 

[Beef Man]

Coyotes here are very thick,nothing for the snowmoobiler boys to get 20-25 in an afternoon. Used to be sheep in this country but they are all gone and am reasonibly sure that they will like baby calf as good as lamb, In most deep snow winters we usually expect to have a large herd of deer in our barley and other hay stacks,one winter they would come in to the yard at sundown and even get into the feedplant and cake storage bin before we were done feeding. Absolutely no deer here this year. A rather large herd of antelope winterd in the area but noticed that they are being moved around a lot. Hunters will have very poor hunting this fall.

 

[Northern Rancher]

A coyote will travel in a circle to eat scabs off his own ass so I'm pretty sure they all eat gophers.

 

[BIZIN]

Well in the 25 years we have lived here I have yet to see a coyote eat gopher. Why would they work to eat when they can have a calf or lamb. It seems once the sheep feedlot shut down the amount of dead calves doubled.

 

[MO_cows]

Coyotes are very adaptable and opportunistic, i.e. smart. So the population of any given area is going to be slightly different from another area due to what they've adapted to, and what opportunities they have had. There was a published news report of a pack of coyotes killing a grown woman up in Canada, obviously they are more aggressive and probably physically bigger than the ones we have around here! And the ones in Texas or whereever else are gonna be slightly different still. I don't think anybody can make a blanket statement about them because everyone's resident population of coyotes is gonna be somewhat different in their behavior.

 

[Aero]

just get a trained dog or 2; the others are just not effective.

 

[diesel1]

First of all where are you located, different locations have effects on the cyotes, and there are different solutions as well. as a varmint hunter i tend to take care of the problem with my rifle. I call them in all spring and thin the packs down, but this does not completely solve the problem. I know in my county the Game wardens have a hot-line you can call and they will fly over your property and eliminate the problem by airplane. Llamas work like a charm, one by itself works but the llamas are more effective in groups of two.

 

[BIZIN]

diesel1... from what i have read it says not to have more than one llama. It says they just want to socialize instead of keep coyotes away. My biggest worry is they will be busy socializing with eachother and not keeping coyotes away. Do you think a llama can cover 320 acres?

MO_cows...the girl that was killed in the Maritimes was attacked by coyotes that were interbred with wolves they said. They claim that when a wolf pack loses numbers they will breed with coyotes or when a male loses his position as pack leader he will move off and breed with coyotes. Dont know if any of that is true, but thats what they said after she was killed.

 

[3waycross]

A coyote will travel in a circle to eat scabs off his own ass so I'm pretty sure they all eat gophers.

NR that may just be the best description of a coyotes eating habits I have ever heard.

 

[djinwa]

I was reading about coyotes on wikipedia recently and saw some interesting stuff. Here's some excerpts:

Coyotes typically grow up to 30–34 in (76–86 cm) in length, not counting a tail of 12–16 in (30–41 cm), stand about 23–26 in (58–66 cm) at the shoulder and, on average, weigh from 15–46 lb (6.8–21 kg) .[5][12] Northern coyotes are typically larger than southern subspecies, with the largest coyotes on record weighing 74¾ pounds (33.7 kg) and measuring over five feet in total length.[13]

Coyotes are opportunistic, versatile carnivores with a 90% mammalian diet, depending on the season. They primarily eat small mammals, such as voles, prairie dogs, eastern cottontails, ground squirrels, and mice, though they will eat birds, snakes, lizards, deer, javelina, and livestock, as well as large insects and other large invertebrates.


Packs of coyotes can bring down prey as large as adult elk, which usually weigh over 250 kg (550 lbs).[


Despite being extensively hunted, the coyote is one of the few medium-to-large-sized animals that has enlarged its range since human encroachment began. It originally ranged primarily in the western half of North America, but it has adapted readily to the changes caused by human occupation and, since the early 19th century, has been steadily and dramatically extending its range.


Coyotes also thrive in suburban settings and even some urban ones. A study by wildlife ecologists at Ohio State University yielded some surprising findings in this regard. Researchers studied coyote populations in Chicago over a seven-year period (2000–2007), proposing that coyotes have adapted well to living in densely populated urban environments while avoiding contact with humans. They found, among other things, that urban coyotes tend to live longer than their rural counterparts, kill rodents and small pets, and live anywhere from parks to industrial areas. The researchers estimate that there are up to 2,000 coyotes living in "the greater Chicago area" and that this circumstance may well apply to many other urban landscapes in North America.


Coyotes will sometimes mate with domestic dogs, usually in areas like Texas and Oklahoma, where the coyotes are plentiful and the breeding season is extended because of the warm weather. The resulting hybrids, called coydogs, maintain the coyote's predatory nature, along with the dog's lack of timidity toward humans, making them a more serious threat to livestock than pure-blooded animals.