Coyotes

[shaftbass]

Well I wouldn't exactly call this a wake-up call, but a coyote has been spotted in my neighborhood for the first time (that I know of) since I moved here in 97. Now normally it wouldn't be too big of a deal as they are usually scared of people, but my girlfriend recently moved in and she has a small dog, a Pekingese. This dog means the world to her.. I think she loves it more than she loves me Normally when one of us would take the dog out to use the head we would just take her without a leash and let her walk around the yard while we were outside.

This evening as we came back from a movie, The Departed which was very good by the way, my brother whom I share a house with told us to be careful because as he was outside with the dog tonight he saw a coyote come out of the shadows across the street with a cat in its mouth. He made a noise as he picked up the dog and the coyote looked at him and froze before hauling ass up the street.

I don't live in the country by any stretch, but I know lots of people around here in not just this neighborhood but within miles and no one has mentioned seeing a coyote. They are building three neighborhoods within 1/4 mile of here though and I suspect they are being flushed out of the woods.

I don't have much of a point here other than I'll be using a leash from now, and that carrying in your own yard might seem paranoid for some, but really does have a purpose. You never know what reason you might need it.

[towerclimber37]

reef, I didn't even think about that....I also carry in the yard..but when I'm home, I stay at my brothers' house usually...and he's got 44 acres of wooded property here, outside of Kingsport. We don't hunt on the property so there's lots of wildlife. That I know of, there's 1 fox and her kits, 2 flocks of turkey, a herd of deer, raccoons and probably other animals that I haven't seen in my brief stays at home. My sis in law runs hunters off all the time because she enjoys the deer.

I can understand the relevance of carrying around OUR house, but you've got a great point about carrying around YOUR house. It was in a suburban neighborhood outside of atlanta that a 1200 lb "hogzilla" was shot by a fella.

He got pictures of it after he hung it up on the bucket of a backhoe.

take that discovery channel!!

[Guest GlocKingTN]

I as well carry in the yard. Matter of fact, if Im awake, Im carrying! I also live out in the country and you can never tell what may pop up. There are alot of strange dogs around as well. You cant never be to careful with strange dogs, especially big ones!

[Guest jackdog]

I live in the country, and always carry when i'm out. Coyotes are becoming an increasing problem around here. I've shot 3 in the last year. We have for dogs( please don't say anything to them they think there childern). So I don't take chances. Also I kicked up to big rattle snakes last year and have never seen any in the 9 years we have lived here. Most of my neighbors have live stock of one kind or another and if they see coyotes they let me know.

Jackdog

[SkWaShDeM]

My girlfriend's grandfather saw a coyote look both ways before running across the street in front of his house. Apparently, the little buggers are getting smarter. When we go to visit him, I usually have my M4 in the trunk in case one comes along and needs to be taken care of before it gets near the cows.

[Guest Fuel]

Reef - While I never personally saw them, I had neighbors tell me when I lived in Horseshoe Cove that they had seen coyotes out there. Not too far from you.

[Donnie]

At the place I was renting last year, a woman got killed by some dogs just a mile or so up the road. I'm always carrying when outside be it because of dogs, coyotes, snakes, skunks, or whatever might try and harm myself or my family (or make us smell really bad). I don't just let our poodle outside by herself as there are some really large owls and hawks here as well. There was a bear that was hit by a car up in Sewanee last year and a few people have reported some mountain lions up in the mountains a few miles from here. You never know what you might come up on anymore.

Here's a link about the attack.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/20060509-102233-7289r/

[shaftbass]

Reef - While I never personally saw them, I had neighbors tell me when I lived in Horseshoe Cove that they had seen coyotes out there. Not too far from you.

Yea, about half a mile as the crow files.

[Guest KarolinaKid]

Someone spotted a black bear walking up our driveway a couple months ago and on a neighbors porch a few days later. Shines a whole new light on sending the kids outside to play. Coyotes are pretty common in the woods around here, but my Great Pyrenees keeps a pretty good perimeter for the cat and the kids. Needless to say, I carry at home too.

[Guest GlocKingTN]

Someone spotted a black bear walking up our driveway a couple months ago and on a neighbors porch a few days later. Shines a whole new light on sending the kids outside to play. Coyotes are pretty common in the woods around here, but my Great Pyrenees keeps a pretty good perimeter for the cat and the kids. Needless to say, I carry at home too.

I would be carrying a bazooka Karolina.....

[Guest db99wj]

I would be carrying a bazooka Karolina.....

There has been 2 black bear sitings in West Tennessee, just outside of Dyersburg. They pretty much said they were lost, but it shows that with the loss of habitat, these type critters can show up anywhere.

How often does a coyote attack on a human happen?

Ok, I searched myself:

Here are some overall statistics:

Here are some overall statistics:

• Officials with the California Department of Fish and Game estimate that roughly one person gets bitten by a coyote per year in California. The last human to be killed by a coyote was a child in the Los Angeles area around 1980. (SDUT 1/3/95, B1; 5/16/00, B3) For comparison, over 300 people have been killed by domestic dogs in the U.S. between 1979 and the late 1990s. (Humane Society of the U.S., reported in Tracking and the Art of Seeing, Paul Rezendes, second edition, 1999, p. 194)
  
• From 1993 to 1997 there were seven coyote attacks on humans in Arizona, with over half in 1997. (SDUT 12/17/97, A3)
  
• "The best estimates assert that, in recorded history, there have been 20 to 30 coyote attacks on humans that resulted in injuries." (Tracking and the Art of Seeing, Paul Rezendes, second edition, 1999, p. 194) Paul's summary is much lower than the total number derived from the previous estimates; perhaps the definition of injuries is different for his estimate. At one person per year in California, one would estimate ~10 attacks per year in the U.S., giving 500 attacks in the last 50 years alone.
  

[shaftbass]

Coyote attacks on humans are indeed rare, but attacks on livestock, poultry, and pets happens all the time. It's best to shoot them on sight.

[Guest db99wj]

Coyote attacks on humans are indeed rare, but attacks on livestock, poultry, and pets happens all the time. It's best to shoot them on sight.

Yes, I knew that part of the problem. I grew up in the country (Dyersburg/Northwest Tennessee) and use to see them all the time. They also hurt rabbit populations as well. We started seeing less rabbits and more coyotes.

I was in Cullman AL this weekend and saw a bunch on the sides of the road dead and heard one.