[Sankari]

Main thing is don't leave your dogs outside unattended.

If you are out there with the dogs - typically they won't approach and/or you will be able to call your dogs into the house before anything can happen.

We have coyotes around my house - this is because we live near a main road where the county does not pick up deer carcasses (one of my neighbors has a dead deer in his front yard and has since before Christmas - its getting down to bones thanks to wildlife eating off it). We also live within walking distance of 2 lakes, 3 ponds, and a big marshy area (basically it's all wetlands around us). This attracts geese and ducks... and coyotes especially like to eat the geese.

They do not typically interact with people - but small pets like cats or small dogs or puppies can be stolen away.

There's warnings this time of the year because it's mating season or something.

I'll be honest - I'm looking at the picture from above and unsure if it's a coyote from just the pic? Looks like a husky??? Could be the angle, but coyotes have longer tails and bigger ears? The ones I see are like big brown foxes.

I have no more yard now as I live in an apartment here 😅 we have got the balcony but we are on the third floor. He does sit out there from time to time because there is a bunch of ladies that exercise at the carpark that he watches and who love to call out to him ... My golden has very interesting behaviours 🤦🏽‍♀️

Argh that's just horrible when I hear mating season 😩

Yes my husband saw it clearly - it wasn't a husky. He recognized it from the link @GoldenDude's post. There was a good picture of it there. He's seen many huskies at my work - so he is very familiar with them too. I always like to tease him to be not paranoid so that's why he took the picture. So that I would actually take it seriously. By that time the coyote already moved on to the field and that's why the picture is all blurry.

 

[FUReverGolden]

I agree with all , the coyotes will mostly run away if you scream or wave your arms at them. On the other hand “if” they are loosing their fear of humans who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️ The coyotes in our area are rarely seen , only sunup And dusk. My husband always carry’s a weapon. I carried a homemade walking stick with grip wrap on one end.
It was heavy enough to protect me but light enough that I didn’t mind lugging it on long walks. I could do some damage with it if I had too. I’m sure they have similar items at sporting goods stores.

 

[Hildae]

This is the kind of behavior you see when they are sick or desperate.

 

[Sankari]

We do see coyotes in Western, MA, and also bobcats and black bears. The coyotes I've seen look a lot scrawnier than that one. They frequently come after the neighbors chickens. I saw one once and grabbed a rake and waked it in the air while yelling to scare it off. It isn't a great sign when they are getting closer to people. Either they are rabid, or unable to find enough food. My husband was walking with our kids once and ran into a rabid looking/acting coyote, which was coming towards the kids. He yelled and grabbed a big stick and waved it around while trying to hit the coyote. The kids scurried to safety, then he managed to get away too.

That must be super terrifying. I can really understand how terrifying that is. My mother had to defend us once from 3 or 4 stray dogs once. I can imagine it being a lot worse with a rabid coyote 😰

Maybe this one is getting good food from somewhere... I don't know where - but maybe for French standards I think of it as pretty clean neighborhood? I really hope there's no one crazy enough to feed them. 🤦🏽‍♀️

 

[Sankari]

I agree with all , the coyotes will mostly run away if you scream or wave your arms at them. On the other hand “if” they are loosing their fear of humans who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️ The coyotes in our area are rarely seen , only sunup And dusk. My husband always carry’s a weapon. I carried a homemade walking stick with grip wrap on one end.
It was heavy enough to protect me but light enough that I didn’t mind lugging it on long walks. I could do some damage with it if I had too. I’m sure they have similar items at sporting goods stores.

Definitely want the heeling stick. And as suggested pepper spray/bear spray too. Especially after that video @Hildae posted. Oh my god that was really something!!! Just grabbing the toddler like that. 🤦🏽‍♀️

 

[Megora]

I have no more yard now as I live in an apartment here

Then I wouldn't worry about it.

Most people in urban areas will have more problems with strays and or other dogs in apartment complex.

 

[[email protected]]

That must be super terrifying. I can really understand how terrifying that is. My mother had to defend us once from 3 or 4 stray dogs once. I can imagine it being a lot worse with a rabid coyote 😰

Maybe this one is getting good food from somewhere... I don't know where - but maybe for French standards I think of it as pretty clean neighborhood? I really hope there's no one crazy enough to feed them. 🤦🏽‍♀️

It certainly isn't scrawny!
Maybe looking for voles on under the lawn? The do eat lots of mice and voles. I second the pepper spray idea!

 

[Sankari]

It certainly isn't scrawny!
Maybe looking for voles on under the lawn? The do eat lots of mice and voles. I second the pepper spray idea!

That's likely. There's huge fields here but I don't train Ramses on them. It's possible there are mice and vole 🤢 skin crawls just thinking of this whole situation.. I go to another field just because it looks all manicured (?) - and not full of mud. But people use that field (in the pic I attached where the coyote went) to train/play with their dogs..

 

[PalouseDogs]

I live in a rural area. I hear the coyotes yip-yipping almost every night. They control the rodents, rabbits, and the "barn cats" (the semi-feral, mostly un-neutered cats associated with a lot of rural residences). I am much less fond of free-roaming cats than coyotes. I don't like my dogs disappearing over hills out of sight chasing coyotes, hence some recall training with an ecollar. Most coyotes and timid, but if I had a small dog or a cat I liked, I sure wouldn't be letting it run around in the dark outside of a fence. We have a 2-acre yard, fenced all the way around. The coyotes have never come into the yard, although if food is scarce, they might lurk around outside the fence hoping for a bunny. We have a lot of bunnies. The coyotes are welcome to them, although Hawthorn is pretty good at bunny control. I get most annoyed by the coyotes when the dogs hear the coyotes singing and feel like they need to go stand in the yard and bark for half an hour. I have to block their access to the dog door to shut them up.

The moose, which have become more common in eastern Washington over the past 20-30 years, are much scarier than the coyotes.

 

[GoldenDude]

I live in a rural area. I hear the coyotes yip-yipping almost every night. They control the rodents, rabbits, and the "barn cats" (the semi-feral, mostly un-neutered cats associated with a lot of rural residences). I am much less fond of free-roaming cats than coyotes. I don't like my dogs disappearing over hills out of sight chasing coyotes, hence some recall training with an ecollar. Most coyotes and timid, but if I had a small dog or a cat I liked, I sure wouldn't be letting it run around in the dark outside of a fence. We have a 2-acre yard, fenced all the way around. The coyotes have never come into the yard, although if food is scarce, they might lurk around outside the fence hoping for a bunny. We have a lot of bunnies. The coyotes are welcome to them, although Hawthorn is pretty good at bunny control. I get most annoyed by the coyotes when the dogs hear the coyotes singing and feel like they need to go stand in the yard and bark for half an hour. I have to block their access to the dog door to shut them up.

The moose, which have become more common in eastern Washington over the past 20-30 years, are much scarier than the coyotes.

Them mooses need to stay in eastern Washington. Don’t send them westward.

 

[Sankari]

I hear the coyotes yip-yipping almost every night. They control the rodents, rabbits, and the "barn cats" (the semi-feral, mostly un-neutered cats associated with a lot of rural residences). I am much less fond of free-roaming cats than coyotes

The moose, which have become more common in eastern Washington over the past 20-30 years, are much scarier than the coyotes.

I am not fond of free roaming cats either and based on your description - looks like we might need a coyote or two back in my neighborhood in France! The feral cat population is out of control back there! I am tired of slimy cat poop with funny colours, dodging them in the streets etc.. We have foxes and deers and have encountered them back in our neighbourhood in France but nothing untoward. They usually run away from us. Our residences border the forested areas but the animals never really roam the residential areas - very unlikely to see sightings. Sounds a bit confusing because we also live in a city. We lived in France - everything is confusing and difficult to explain. I am sorry about that.. 😂

May I ask what's happening with the moose....? 😶

 

[kjengold]

We live in a rural area of Western NC. We have all types of wildlife here. The coyotes seem pretty docile. There are plenty of bunnies and other small critters to keep them well fed. However, at the end of November my trail camera caught two coyotes being cautious of a small critter. We believe the small critter is an opossum. There's another critter back in the in the brush observing. Here's the link:

 

[Goldens&Friesians]

I was deep into some gator conversation yesterday and bears and probably before that about cats. All that caught up with me and now I have a question about coyotes. Yes I know... always about the wildlife, why can't I just be normal? 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

We are living I would say in a nice suburban(?) area - family homes and apartments. Very quiet and residential. People are great with their dogs - we haven't had an issue. And we go out alot with Ramses since now we live in an apartment here. My husband's (Pierre-Emmanuel aka PE) colleagues told him there could be coyotes in our area. Rare but possible is what they said. But we both hadn't seen any so far. Today Ramses went out with PE and they saw a coyote. Which to be honest, in the beginning he wasn't sure if it was or not. PE decided to ask an elderly lady walking past if it was one. And she said yes it was indeed a coyote... And his follow up question was are they dangerous? She said she didn't know..

What are your thoughts on how to handle possible sightings of coyotes or what to do when they are near you? I can't really avoid this area because it's right near our apartment complex. It's where he goes to potty.. I have attached some pictures. Apologies in advance if this sounds like a silly question that you're all more experienced with. Thank you 😊

View attachment 899500

I live in the country and we have tons of coyotes. Growing up we got used to our barn cats only living 1-2 years before they disappeared-likely coyotes. Coyotes can definitely injure/kill large dogs-having been a groomer at a vet clinic I saw first hand a couple German Shepherds and labs come in all torn up by coyotes. Generally a single coyote won’t bother a large dog, but a pack might. I have seen a coyote go trotting through the front yard of my current house as well as several in the field around us too and we are further from the woods here than my house growing up. That said, I did still bring my golden along (off leash) into the woods when I trail ride my horses. One because she had a flawlessly reliable recall and two because coyotes know a horse can kick them half way across the county. So basically, be aware; don’t let them outside unattended especially after dark; but don’t freak out too much. All the ones I have encountered run from people-even in packs. Never even heard of one having rabies around here. I was actually under the impression that the canine strain of rabies had been eliminated from the US? And I assume this is what coyotes would have? Here is a photo from an IL government site with my source for believing canine rabies is gone:

 

[Tagrenine]

I live in the country and we have tons of coyotes. Growing up we got used to our barn cats only living 1-2 years before they disappeared-likely coyotes. Coyotes can definitely injure/kill large dogs-having been a groomer at a vet clinic I saw first hand a couple German Shepherds and labs come in all torn up by coyotes. Generally a single coyote won’t bother a large dog, but a pack might. I have seen a coyote go trotting through the front yard of my current house as well as several in the field around us too and we are further from the woods here than my house growing up. That said, I did still bring my golden along (off leash) into the woods when I trail ride my horses. One because she had a flawlessly reliable recall and two because coyotes know a horse can kick them half way across the county. So basically, be aware; don’t let them outside unattended especially after dark; but don’t freak out too much. All the ones I have encountered run from people-even in packs. Never even heard of one having rabies around here. I was actually under the impression that the canine strain of rabies had been eliminated from the US? And I assume this is what coyotes would have? Here is a photo from an IL government site with my source for believing canine rabies is gone:


View attachment 899523

Rabies has variations, but those variations can all crossover. It’s why horses and goats get rabies from raccoons. Coyotes are the same way, usually pick up rabies from raccoons and pass it on.

Aggression and Rabid Coyotes, Massachusetts, USA

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Ontariodogsitter]

At least they aren't as brazen as foxes, this is about 100' from the house...

 

[Sweet Girl]

I live in downtown Toronto (not a suburb, not even just outside the city) and we have coyotes in the parks. They are mainly out in the early mornings and at night when I am not there, but a few weeks ago, I was walking through with Shala in the middle of the afternoon. I thankfully had her on leash (which is unusual in the winter when it is mostly deserted, save for other dogwalkers) because the zamboni guys were clearing the ice rink and Shala will run onto the rink if the door to it is open.

Anyway, we were halfway across the big field when I started to hear yelling behind me. I could hear the yelling but couldn't hear what he was saying. I turned and saw the guy on the zamboni, standing up, waving his arms and yelling. He could see the coyote coming into the park from the north end. It was far bigger and more majestic looking than I expected. The people with small dogs scooped them all up (some foolish ones started to run - I told them to calm down and not give it a reason to chase them ) and we kept walking in the opposite direction. The coyote paid the yelling guy not one bit of attention - he just kept right on coming in and went down into the off-leash area and woods (we were on our way out of the park by then). It was about 2pm. It seemed to just be minding its own business, but I didn't hang out to see what happened. Honestly, I was thankful the guy yelled because I would have thought it was a dog - from my distance, it appeared well-fed, its fur was nice, etc. and it was just trotting along.

 

[Ontariodogsitter]

If only common sense could be legislated.
Your description of "majestic" very much describes the one I saw at the intersection, since I was in the car, so basically at eye level, I knew it was a coyote, but it was truly beautiful.
Nature is what it is, and if humans were willing to educate themselves on the environment they live in, there would be fewer collision courses.
Still blame Disney !

 

[Sankari]

@kjengold - wow that's an interesting video. The behaviour you mentioned matches what PE said Docile but it was quite calm in it's surroundings. It saw the both of them but went away.

Coyotes can definitely injure/kill large dogs-having been a groomer at a vet clinic I saw first hand a couple German Shepherds and labs come in all torn up by coyotes. Generally a single coyote won’t bother a large dog, but a pack might.

That is good to know. My golden retriever is definitely not good at being aggressive or defending himself. He has had one surprise attack by a male bichon frise back in France which tried to bite/grab onto his face and he only whined and shaked his head. The bichon got dislodged from the shaking and no injuries to either party. A coyote is not going to get dislodged easily...

I will admit I do not know anything/am uneducated about different strains of rabies so thankful that @Tagrenine put that information out there.

It was far bigger and more majestic looking than I expected. The people with small dogs scooped them all up (some foolish ones started to run - I told them to calm down and not give it a reason to chase them ) and we kept walking in the opposite direction. The coyote paid the yelling guy not one bit of attention - he just kept right on coming in and went down into the off-leash area and woods (we were on our way out of the park by then). It was about 2pm. I would have thought it was a dog - from my distance, it appeared well-fed, its fur was nice, etc. and it was just trotting along.

I don't know about the foolish ones you saw - but city people like myself can be plenty foolish and act irrationally too 😂 I will put myself in that category first until I have demonstrated the ability to act in such a situation.. That's the problem when you live in all these cities and don't always understand/interact with other environments. Also reminds me that I need to watch carefully because I could have definitely thought it was a dog. With the exception that most people here don't leave their dogs off leash at such great distances and disappear - so that would have been my only indicator...

 

[hotel4dogs]

Unfortunately, a lot of what people think are coyotes are actually "coy-dogs" where intact male dogs have bred with coyotes. This is unfortunate because they tend to be much larger than true wild coyotes, and significantly less fearful.

 

[SRW]

Unfortunately, a lot of what people think are coyotes are actually "coy-dogs" where intact male dogs have bred with coyotes.

That happens but I don't believe it is all that common. I think color variations would be observed much more often. Many avid coyote hunters and trappers around here and I don't recall ever hearing about them getting one that appeared to be half Labrador, Hound or whatever. Occasionally I hear about a wolf hybrid.
In Iowa and much of the Midwest coyotes that are tested often have some dog and wolf DNA in them.