Had an unexpected visitor this weekend

[opnspaces]

I was out camping in the desert this last weekend. The weather was beautiful with just a puff of wind from time to time. I was outside on Sunday morning when I spied this guy wandering around the area. I grabbed my camera and jumped in the Suburban and drove off to get a closer look and maybe a photo. After a few minutes though he turned around and wandered back to and through my campsite making sure to look at and sniff everything. It was a great experience to just sit and watch him hunt.

[down_home]

We have or had a pack, of coyotes, behind us a couple hundred feet or so.
There is a deep well marked and muddy, at times,game trail around the property.
Our turkeys are all gone. We had, as many as, twenty year before last, in front yard. We did hear Whipper Wills but no more.
We had a cat taken from the swing by a hawk or..., and a cat that showed up but wouldn't be petted disappeared. Along with a small dog that showed up one night, I heard them kill it near the game trail, an awful sound but nothing I could do.
I haven't heard the coyotes the last few weeks. The dogs still bark at something though.
A stray cat has showed up and not been molested so far.
I like all animals but will have to be realistic about stray cats and the wildlife.
The rabbits are gone too.
I've tried to get up the hill and take out some of the coyotes but no luck. So they have moved on after eating everything, they can catch, or someone has hunted their numbers down.
Oh and the grand kids and DIL saw a big dog or something, they described as monster in the yard and came toward them growling, on the patio and drive, in tears. Maybe it was a coyote and if it is approaching people, a definate danger.

[bucky]

Lawnspecialities, we are close by up in Bunn. I told my wife we were not going to put up a small fenced area to leave the dogs out in because of coyotes. She didn't believe me. She does now.

[Snowman9000]

Growing up in the 60s and 70s, I never heard of coyote sightings here in north central Illinois farm country. Now they are here. Not a common sight, but there are plenty of them.

I wonder why they started spreading just recently.

Used to see a lot of crows. Now very rare sight.
Never heard of turkeys being here, now there are plenty, although not sighted often.
Never saw red tailed hawks, now they are common.
Use to be lots of pheasants, now none. (Harsh winters and farming changes)
Deer were not rare but not plentiful. Then not too long ago they were plentiful. Now (I think because of coyotes) they are less plentiful.
Canada geese used to be uncommon. You all probably know how they are now.

Interesting how these things change during a person's lifetime.

[Dave_H_M]

I live in the country in central IL. yotes are thick here.

If a domestic cat gets out in the open they are yote food. have lost two of them.

:W I think that part of their upbringing here is that mom teaches them what the sound of a round being chambered sounds like. I have also learned that you have to chamber the round before you sneak outside. :B Measure/countermeasure

But I can also understand that in a non urban area they could be considered interesting and part of nature.

[MrWizard]

I saw the nova ? Video about coy wolf
I also read where there is DNA testing on the smaller gray wolf in Texas
Some believe that it is hybrid that we just never knew about it , until investigation research of the eastern coy wolf happened

[BCSnob]

MrWizard wrote:
Almost every state in the USA has coyotes

They are in every US state; they are in many urban areas including Chicago, DC, and NYC.

Chicago: http://urbancoyoteresearch.com/about-coyotes
NYC: http://www.gothamcoyote.com/
DC: http://insider.si.edu/2015/06/cats-dont-roam-in-places-coyotes-call-home/

Coyotes are bigger in the east than in the west due to hybridization with wolves and dogs during their migration east.

http://earthsky.org/earth/eastern-coyotes-a-hybrid-but-coywolf-is-not-a-thing

[myredracer]

We live in a rural area with lots of coyotes. There's a den not far from us and often hear the howls in the evening. Seeing wild animals in their native environment is great. If you have a dog you should know:

They're smart. They'll send a female out ahead of a pack on a hunt to try and lure in a male dog with it's scent. Once lured in, the pack pounces on it. A neighbor behind us had a dog that mysteriously "disappeared". We found a pile of bones with some fur still attached beside our house last year which appeared to be a deer.

They are carriers of parvovirus, a serious and highly contagious disease that can be contracted by dogs from contact with coyote poop. It can be deadly. We used to have a lab that got the virus despite being vaccinated against it. Fortunately our vet was able to save her. The virus can survive for months outside a host and can even be tracked indoors on shoes or clothes.

[MrWizard]

Outside of house cats
The coyote is the most prevalent predator in the Americas
Almost every state in the USA has coyotes

[drsteve]

Coyotes are found in every county in Michigan, including the Metro Detroit area. I see/hear them constantly here in rural farm country, and their numbers have been increasing for years. Our cats stay in the house.

[opnspaces]

nineoaks2004 wrote:
We are overloaded with yotes here and live in a farming community, we have raise goats and have a donkey in each pasture, they protect the goats and will kill any dog or yote that comes in. They have decimated the turkey, quail and rabbit populations, not to mention the chickens and put a large dent in the deer population, we have an agreement with all of us hunters to kill any that we can, even if it means letting a deer pass by, we figure that if we kll one yte it saves lots of other animals.

Interesting, I never know a donkey would chase much less kill a dog or coyote.

Where I live we also have a decent coyote population in the hills around the house and I see one in the neighborhood from time to time. They have been there for years and yes cats do disappear from time to time. But for some reason we've also had a rabbit population explosion and they seem to be everywhere at night. I keep waiting for the coyotes to clear them out but it's been three years and doesn't seem to be happening.

But even though I see them from time to time at home, it just seems different to see one out in the desert hunting mice and such.

Thanks for all the comments, I didn't realize they were so prevalent everywhere else.

[austinjenna]

NATURE!

[nineoaks2004]

We are overloaded with yotes here and live in a farming community, we have raise goats and have a donkey in each pasture, they protect the goats and will kill any dog or yote that comes in. They have decimated the turkey, quail and rabbit populations, not to mention the chickens and put a large dent in the deer population, we have an agreement with all of us hunters to kill any that we can, even if it means letting a deer pass by, we figure that if we kll one yte it saves lots of other animals.

[CavemanCharlie]

Everything has it's place. I'm glad you enjoyed your one Coyote sighting.

But, in my area they have gotten so think they have become pests. They are over populated and causing damage to other wildlife. They are hard on my cat population. I must keep my dog tied up at night to keep her from chasing them. And the HOWLING can get bad. Drives the dogs nuts.

[CC_Crabman]

Nature, it's why we camp. Very cool!