Two coyotes attacked my fat border collie tonight. Advice please!

[opie744]

Our border collie has the run of our land and at night sleeps on our front porch. This evening I heard her jump off and started to bark her alarm bark. Then I heard her yipping and fighting w/ something. I got the door open to find two coyotes fighting her and they had her down. She was definely losing. Of course I started yelling at them and her and they started running off(not scared of me, just leaving as they had been interrupted), my brainless dog got up and started running after them. Once they went pass the road she stopped and came back....
She is fat, about 15 lbs over weight but she isn't in bad health or hurt or weak, Why on earth would they attack her? The house light was on and they were fighting almost at my front door. Of course, once again, I'm the only one home, they always visit when the husband is gone. I swear they can smell my fear of being here alone, of course I'm kidding. But on the non-kidding end, I was under the understanding that they were small game hunters. Has anyone encounter this? Of course when my husband is trying to bait them in, they never come. This is the 4th sighting in 2 weeks, why are they moving now?? Any hunters out there w/ advice?? I have small children and I have to say that they have my mommy radar going off BIG time...

[Ranchman]

Coyotes do not just go after rabbits and such - they will attack larger animals. Many a rancher has lost livestock from coyotes. See this link -- Warning - the topic within the link labeled "Photos on Identifing Coyote Predation" are graphic.

Although coyote attacks on humans is extremely rare, it DOES happen occasionally - see example at this link. Small children are more vulnerable than older ones or adults, although that has happened in the past too. Pets? LOTS of pets get taken out by coyotes.

Hunter suggestions? .223 works well, although any rifle of equivalent or greater energy should work fine. (.17 HMR and .22 Mag are not sufficient in my book). A standard distressed rabbit call has worked well for me in the past. Just a piece of advise here - don't let the girls play with the call - it's not a toy. Yea it makes some funny squeaky sounds but those sounds are designed to attract a coyote and that's the last thing you want to do unless you are prepared to "dispatch" them. Not sure about the hunting methods your husband used. Although curious by nature, coyotes are a lot smarter and more cautious than one might think. If they see him or smell him, they will most likely not come in.

Keep your dog in doors if at all possible until the coyote problem is solved or you run the risk of having her get in to another fight (and possibly loose.) Also, might wanna check that she is up on her rabies shot.

[egon]

You have received good advice. Coyotes are very clever and can survive well near humans.

Keep the dog in as the coyotes will be back.

Try not to leave anything edible around that would attract more coyotes.

Egon

[opie744]

Her rabies is up to date, we take care of that every spring. Hadn't thought of that, thanks. It still freaks me out this morning and throat still hurts from yelling.

[Stoneheartfarm]

We notice they start moving around here this time of year, too. Often we can hear the pups yipping while being taught to hunt, and we had one howling under the bedroom window about a week ago. Whether they will bother a dog, sheep, calf, colt, child, etc. depends on opportunity and how hungry they are.

Steve

[opie744]

My husband is going to make big strides to TERMINATION! ( Can you guess what generation we grew up in?) Hopefully sucessful. He said that attacking our fat farm dog is too far. We were glad to see both the cats too. They are all outside animals.

[Pat]

The coyotes are just doing what coyotes do. You can do whatever you think you need to do. Karate lessons and a fitness program for the dog? Unfortunately many folks move to a rural location expecting a Disney theme park with animatronic inhabitants. Your ancestors didn't fight there way to the top of the food chain by taking anything off of coyotes!

When I lived in San Diego lots of coyotes lived inside the city limits, especially in the canyons of which there are many. We had frineds have their dog snatched off the back porch in the middle of the day in a crowded residential area. Soft city dogs are essentially a hot meal for a coyote or two.

Interesting report concerning coyote attacks on humans. I'll have to research that. I was told that contrary to all the fiction ("Call of the Wild" etc.) and scary stories that there was no verifiable case of a human death from wolf attack in either the US or N. America, I forget which. I'll have to check that too.

I beg to differ regarding the .17 mag and .22 mag. They are quite capable of killing a coyote, especially at short to medium range when there is not grass, leaves, twigs, etc. in the way. You need more bullet mass to make it through any obstructions. My 22-250 can explode a coyote but will disintegrate into a puff of dust if it hits more than a spider web enroute.

Good luck solving the coyote problem. They are very crafty. Even if you kill a couple, you never know when another will wander by and possibly injure or kill your pet. There is no real way to be sure a free roaming dog will be safe unless that dog is enough of a fighter to disuade the coyote. If you have much of a coyote population, that dog needs an enclosed area with coyote proof fencing. Otherwise you are just playing Russian roulettee with yoiur pets life.

I wish you the best of luck,

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Wolf and coyote attack update:

Apparently there were lots of wolf attacks on people in 1700's and 1800's in the US. In more modern times wolf attacks have essentialy ceased in the US but continue sporadically in Canada.

A chunk of info from a site specializing in attacks...

Coyote attacks on people are extremely rare. There have been a small number of attacks on people in the U.S. and Canada, with most of the attacks involving small children under 5 years of age. Since 3 million children are bitten by dogs every year, your small child is millions of times more likely to get hurt by the family pet than by a coyote.

Google searches indicate small, weak, or less capable dogs are coyote lunch on the hoof awaiting an encounter.

Wash State Dept of Fish and Wildlife recommendatons:

To lessen the risk of conflict with coyotes, WDFW wildlife managers offer these suggestions:

* Keep pet food and water inside.
* Keep pets inside or confined securely in a kennel or covered exercise yard.
* Do not feed wildlife on the ground; keep wild bird seed in feeders designed for birds, elevated or hanging above ground, and clean up spilled seed from the ground; coyotes can either be drawn directly to the seed, or to the rodents drawn to the seed.
* Keep fruit trees fenced or pick up fruit that falls to the ground.
* Do not feed feral cats; coyotes prey on the cats and feed on cat food left out for them.
* Minimize groundcover vegetation near children's play areas to avoid attracting rodents and small mammals that will in turn attract coyotes; keep clusters of shrubs, trees and other cover and food plants away from buildings and children's play areas.
* Use noise-making devices when coyotes are seen. Check with local authorities regarding noise and weapons ordinances.
* Be assertive in attitude and behavior towards coyotes that are not showing normal fear of humans.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

A .22 long rifle will kill a coyote at 75 yards if properly placed. It's been done more than once.

Egon

[opie744]

We have two girls that are 3 yrs, the girls come in as soon as dusk arrives. We are seeing coyotes during the day, for the girls, of course a mother is always worried. I know the odds are very small for an attack on them, but as a parent we are taking steps make that % smaller.
We are putting the dog in at night(she isn't sick or small, just fat. We think it is an territory thing. There are 5 KNOWN coyotes in our area.) and unfortunely our cats are going to have to play survival of the fittest. Even if we could find the cats, they won't stay in.
My husband isn't going to let our homestead area be a lunch buffet for some coyote, if he comes back for a second helping hes going to get lead poisoning. We realise that we can't control All 98 ac. here but we will keep the 5 ac around the house a safe zone as much as we can.
I don't live in Disney world here and frankly don't want to. I love the hard work my farm causes me and am proud of the fruits we produce.
There are two sides of the coin.....