Defending Dog (and myself) again Coyotes

[zac]

I farm, but also have a family. I know Im not adding to they story, but any coyote seen on my place is shot on the spot. Even if they are scared of you, being close enough to you to come within contact is a bad thing in my opinion.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

So I just got back from a walk with my border collie / aussie shepherd.

So a background... I live in Hamilton, Ontario... population of just over 500,000.

Theres a stretch of woods on the east end of the city about 3/4 a Kilometer by about 10 kilometers, and I live in an apartment building across the street from it. Ive heard many a howellings coming from it and what not, but Ive never concerned myself with them.

Well, today I walked up to the CN train tracks (like I do every day) to play fetch, and walk along em to let him run free range a bit. Well i was there maybe 20 minutes playin fetch, (imagine a 15 foot steepish embankment on either side with woods also on either side) I just throw the ball and it bounces just on the edge of the left side of the embankment, all of a sudden I see what I thought was a gloden lab for a second, then realize its a coyote! He ran from the opposite side of the embankment and stops about 8 feet from my dog (my retard dog didnt even notice him! haha) .

I called him quickly and he ran to me and I quickly leashed em up. The coyote was a mouthy little bastard (high pitched barking--but really skiddish) , so I got pissed and started throwin the track ballast (big rocks) at em to scare the sh*t out of em. It did, and I kept advancing the bastard until I couldnt see he come back.

Thing was about the size of my dog (50 lbs) but with a heavier scruffier coat

Hamilton does have a small issue with them, im sure just as much as any city with good amount of woods in it. And heard from my girlfriend (after the walk of course) that there has been incidents of female coyotes luring dogs into ambushes with other coyotes.

So the reason of this thread, my actions were probably pretty stupid now when I think about it. But is there things I can do to defend me and my dog against the bastards? or ways to discourage them from even trying to get close? air horn? or bear bangers?

I hike alot with my dog and I have never experienced this.

Let me know your experiences, I really appreciate all your feedback!

-Ryan

Around here we shoot 'em or trap 'em; we used to poison 'em, maybe some still do, but I don't think poisoned bait for coyotes is still legal. Coyotes make some nice warm hats.
http://www.alaskrafts.com/fl-hats4-coyote.htm

If you're looking for something more immediate, My 1st choice would be to pack a pistol; though you may not have that option being in Canada.

OC spray (bear spray) works well enough out to about 20 feet or so, depending on the size cannister & nozzle type. I'd think you'd be able to get a good cannister of bear spray in Canada.
http://counterassault.com/html/beardeterrent.html
Anything less than pain or death will not dissuade a determined coyote, they are truly wily critters. Regards, GF.

 

[steelcitybrew]

awesome replies, thanks again

Yeah guns are out of the question, bear spray is maybe a better option, but also 50 bucks for a can when I went to check it out, definitely picking some up eventually when I get above the poverty line haha

 

[Kokopuff829]

awesome replies, thanks again

Yeah guns are out of the question, bear spray is maybe a better option, but also 50 bucks for a can when I went to check it out, definitely picking some up eventually when I get above the poverty line haha

You could get castor oil plant seeds and make a homemade poison called ricin that can kill a man with many times the less amountthan cyanide

 

[o4_srt]

You could get castor oil plant seeds and make a homemade poison called ricin that can kill a man with many times the less amountthan cyanide

Blowgun with ricin? Nice.... I'm sure the department of homeland security would appreciate that

If guns are out of the question, how bout a samurai sword? You'd look like a total BA walkin down the tracks with a sword

 

[jmendez29]

Poison would definitely work, but you could possibly get in trouble for that depending on your local laws. And any which way, it wouldn't work in the immediate sense. Guns are out. A sword would definitely be pretty BA. But you might also look like some kind of LARP guy. Which is cool if you're into that kind of thing.

I used to go for walks with family members in the woods when I lived in Michigan's UP when I was a kid. I remembered that we would never go into the woods without a handgun and a rifle amongst the group, for fear of bears that were around that area. When I was still too young to carry a weapon, I was handed a baseball bat. Probably to make me feel a little more important, but I will still carry a bat if I go into the wilderness to this day. Never needed to use it, but better to have and not need...

If you want something for a little more distance, you could always get a slingshot. Being by railroad tracks, you'll always have a surplus of ammunition for it. Probably won't do any kind of permanent damage, but it will likely keep them at a further distance.

 

[Randar]

A big coyote is usually 35 pounds at its biggest, not 50 pounds although I'm sure that weighing it was the least thing on your mind!

A coyote will almost always run from a human or dog, but it's not a bad idea to keep your dog closer to you in that area.

I don't know how familiar Bob is with suburban coyotes (at least around Chicagoland) but they have been traveling in small groups much more frequently than in rural areas or would be expected due to past wild observation and have been attacking even large dog breeds.

As proof, my friend's 100+# male weimaraner was attacked by 3 coyotes in his back yard and needed close to 50 stitches after my friend ran out after he heard the rucus and he is over 6' tall and ~300 pounds... the coyotes snarled and growled and bared teeth towards him before he finally was able to ward them off. I know they have been known to attack smaller breeds, but this is not a unique occurrence around here recently.

 

[prrriiide]

We've seen coyotes in our neighborhood in West Knoxville several times. VERY populated area. It seems they're getting used to trash as food. It was really bad during our severe drought a couple of years ago. We have a fenced yard for the dog (who, like some other's) is basically a tongue and a tail with no brain in the equation, so we haven't actually seen them in the yard. And they don't come out in the light - strictly nocturnal activity.

I'd say that the folks that said that steel's coyote is probably diseased are right. I've never seen one that didn't disappear like Houdini as soon as they realize that they have company.

EDIT: I've also seen several that unsuccessfully fought a car laying beside the road.

 

[blizzard]

The instructor of my puppy class told us that when coyotes get really hungry the pack sends out a scout who will act playful to dogs. The scout then lures the dog back to the pack, where they kill the dog together. Just FYI, make sure your dog will come when you call, even in distracting situations.

 

[Weizenwerks]

Buy a gun. Carry it with you. Keep your dog on a leash.

 

[bh10]

The instructor of my puppy class told us that when coyotes get really hungry the pack sends out a scout who will act playful to dogs. The scout then lures the dog back to the pack, where they kill the dog together. Just FYI, make sure your dog will come when you call, even in distracting situations.

Id find a new instructor.

 

[blizzard]

Id find a new instructor.

^shrug^ I looked it up and found some others stories to substantiate her claims. Plus, she works in a vet hospital and I can't really think of why she would make up seeing the injuries and talking to the owners. Regardless, coyotes may be afraid of humans, but they are not afraid of dogs.

 

[smizak]

I have to tell this coyote attack story...

We were doing a deer drive once and I heard a shot from my father's direction after hearing something running hard. After about a minute, I heard him calling me, so I headed towards him.

I see him standing over a dead dog. Here we mostly see coyote/feral mixes, we call them coy dogs. It was torn apart from the middle back. He said it ran directly at him and he just held his .30-06 at his hip and fired. He hit it in the left shoulder and the bullet exited out its ass, blowing apart the whole backside.

We never found out if it was rabid or not, but I just wanted to point out that they will attack, so be careful.

Wow.

My old landlord told me a similar story. He was out with a buddy in the middle of nowhere at their deer camp hunting. His friend was a couple hundred yards away and suddenly out from the brush appears this giant, black pit-bull. It was stalking him and snarling and growling. He started yelling for someone to call the dog off but no answers came. It started to rush him and he had no choice but to shoot. Later that day they came across a couple of guys on a road looking for the dog and he had to break the news to him. I guess he apologized profusely and swore to them that he was about to be attacked, they were upset but understood. I've always heard that even the best trained dogs can snap sometimes when they're out running in the wild and those instincts take over.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

I see coyotes all the time here in El Paso, but they have always been alone.

This past summer I went boar hunting to the south east of Texas, and was completely surrounded by coyotes! It was pitch black and I could not see them but they were howling all around me, some as close as maybe 10 yards. I didn’t think much of it, being that the solitary ones always run away, but now I see what danger I was in. Scary stuff, I had my hand gun in my hands the whole time they were howling around me. But there must have been 15 or so out there.

 

[ChillWill]

Arm yourself with one of these:

On a serious note, in the UK most urban areas have foxes and recently there have been reports of them attacking kids and domestic animals and they're usually a very timid animal. They're much smaller than a Coyote as well but as they've been living round humans, I guess they're not so shy anymore. Probably why people will deal with a Coyote as soon as they even spot it.