Coyotes are out in mass tonight

[Southern by choice]

Western coyotes also hunt in packs so that comment confuses me. Coyotes areound here do a lot of varmint hunting though and because those are pretty plentiful they don't tangle with ranch dogs to often. We also don't have coy-dogs. It's also more of an urban myth out here.

Hey brownsheep, now I'm confused .... which comment were you referring too?

 

[Royd Wood]

They are starting to get hungry as it gets colder - around here they seem work in packs from 3 or 4 to as many as 32 - yes we had a pack of 32 through our place about 4 yrs ago

 

[Queen Mum]

Pack of 32 is HUGE! Most coyote packs in the Pacific NW are family packs. Mom and pups and a couple from a few years back. 8 - 10 or there abouts. That sounds more like a stray dog pack to me. Those can get really big.

 

[BrownSheep]

Well Gus has been going NUTS the last couple of nights. I figure with the trees being bare, she can see further than our treeline now. Don't know if they're coyotes...although the ones we have out our way are LARGE - like wolf/german sheppard sized and will often hunt in packs. (Unlike their western bretheren.)

This is the one I was referring to. Our coyotes can get pretty large but nothing compared to a wolf. I've seen them anywhere from slightly bigger than a fox to bigger than a larger lab.

 

[Queen Mum]

In the pacific NW they are much smaller. Medium size dog sized. And much more shy, I think. Still a nuisance. But nowhere near the problem they are here and where you are.

Of course there is more food for them there as well.

 

[Southern by choice]

Oh...duh... I missed that somehow.

I really do hate coyotes but I have to say sometimes I will sit out on the porch and just listen to the yipping, and sometimes it makes me so thankful. Being able to hear the sounds of the coyotes and the owls reminds me of just how much nicer that is than sirens of the city. There is no "glow" in the sky from city lights, malls, parking lots etc. just the black sky, with the bright moon or sometimes the moonless black night where the stars are so vivid and you can see more stars than you could possibly count. The joy of seeing a rare electrical storm, in all it's beauty, that appears to be almost orchestrated is a wonder.

Just don't want those animals eating my livestock!

 

[Tmaxson]

I want one of those wildlife cams to put on my property to see what we have lurking around. Guess that's going to go on my Christmas wish list right along with my microscope.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Couple of interesting reads on the eastern coyote, coywolves, and coydogs...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...ds-coyotes-wolf-virginia-dna-animals-science/

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/staffpubs/docs/20133.pdf

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Okay graphic pic warning...but this is something to see---wildlife camera shots from earlier this year of a coyote taking out a buck. This was in Virginia, which is one the states noted for having very large coyotes that could even be part wolf.

http://stickandstring.com/showthrea...k-on-Buck...-WARNING-Graphic!&p=9235#post9235

 

[bonbean01]

Hate coyotes with a passion!!! Once in awhile lately we'll hear them in the distance...it is at lambing time that they start up behind our place and it sounds like quite a number...have never seen them...just heard them. About 5 to 10 minutes after a lamb is born they start...same for our neighbour across the road...each kid and lamb born sets them off. Down our road a little ways there are sheep and cattle...can always tell when one is born at which farm from the direction of the coyotes howling.

Southern, hope your and Straw's animals are safe with your LGDs...and I agree.. hearing the country sounds instead of sirens (lived 2 blocks from a hospital emergency in Florida and heard tons) is a good thing. Used to love the sound of hooting owls until they decided they liked my chickens. Always loved seeing a Blue Heron until seeing them swoop into our pond and come up with a bass flipping. Funny how the wild life sounds and their beauty gets a little changed when they become predators, eh?