Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
My opinion about coyotes if very prejudiced because of Dolly and a life spent living here. She has a very strong personality but is also very affectionate. A few months ago she brought me my very own dead gopher. She dropped it in my lap while I was sitting at my desk. Her face, head, and front legs were covered in grass and dirt and she was panting. How could one turn down a gift from the heart?
I don't believe in wiping out coyotes and I think if a solution is needed that it's going to be difficult and time-consuming and very unpopular no matter what it might be.
How big is Dolly? As coyotes have come eastward they've been getting bigger and becoming more of a pack animal. The male I shot was 45lbs and the female 35lbs with a big set of chompers! Both I got at 30 yrds from the house so those ones needed to go. Most of them stay well away from the house and I don't mind them in the woods, and we've got our dogs in with the goats, so the coyotes have always looked for easier meals. They have killed a young deer here too, working as pack like wolves by driving the deer into an ambush where it fell and never got up.
My opinion is that if they make themselves easy to shoot then do it. Eastern coyotes are too big, smart, and capable, and if they get too comfortable around people, small or weak people have and will become prey.
How big is Dolly? 45-50 pounds.
Around here they live in packs. Saying one big dog could defeat a pack of coyotes is difficult to predict. There's a game they play here when they are near residential housing. A female in season will attract the attention of a big dog. She runs, the dog chases. As the dog gets tired something interesting happens. The female disappears and a yearling appears that is strong and fit like no domestic god. He runs like the wind and knows every bump in the trail. He's brave and immortal like a teenager. The big monster starts to run out of gas like he's never done before. Another yearling appears and soon the domestic down is done, all in. The pack surrounds him and they take away his hind legs. Then they just eat him.
This happened to a pit bull that was really a monster. It was discovered later that he was a trained fighter out walking with his trainer. The pack didn't fight him. They ate him instead. I was asked by the Sheriff to take Toby out and find out what happened. I found a spiked collar, fur, bones and misc dog pieces. It appeared that no coyote was hurt during the meal.
This kind of dog mismatch happens every now and then. Dachshunds were bred to go down badger holes and kill a badger. A badger is one tough opponent. Everyone usually thinks of them as little old ladies dogs. At an off-leash dog park in San Diego, a pit bull attacked a dachshund and the result wasn't exactly a fight. The dachshund killed the pit bull so quickly that if you blinked you missed it. The dachshund got under the chin and into the neck and thrashed around shaking the pit bull's head back and forth. It was like the dachshund was on speed. I've never seen a dog expend so much energy is such a short period of time. The bigger pit bull never had a chance. Then the dachshund sat down as if nothing happened. The whole area was silent in shock. The body of the pit bull looked like it was one more shake from being decapitated.
