About a month ago, my daughter and I were in a doctor's office that had a large picture window. We all watched a coyote run along the road (a major one) and into the brush that runs around a large industrial complex. This coyote was out in mid-day, but he/she didn't look all that well fed or handsome. We live in a pretty developed area.

Terrene,

Wild, rural coyotes are normally nocturnal hunters of rodents. The suburban ones are adapting to new conditions; the urban ones are a benefit to the locals (although they don't know it!) And would be appalled if they did!

Coyotes have adapted to us, as have raccoons/opossums. Coyote's rarely attack healthy deer, but diseased or very young deer are targets that coyotes will attempt. They also go after mice/voles/moles/rats - they are not the bad guys - unless Felix Salten rules your mindset!
Dad

Who's Felix Salten??

I live in a suburb of Boston, and the area I live in has some farmland and woods around it. When I take walks in the neighborhood I like to go off the beaten path and have seen animal carcasses that are being eaten by coyotes.

I've heard packs of them yapping and howling in the evening or middle of the night, and saw one driving about 9 PM one time. But I had never seen one in the immediate vicinity during the day.

There have also been stories in the local paper about coyotes attacking people's pets in town (mostly cats). Yikes, I felt safe letting my cat out for a few hours during the day, now I'm not so sure! She is a smart cat though, and very wary of her surroundings. My other cat, who is tiny and not so smart, I don't let out at all.

They must be intelligent, adaptable creatures to live successfully in rural, suburban and urban areas.

Terrene -- They DRIVE??

Hey - reminds me of Toonces! But that's a whole other story.
Saw a coyote in my yard VERY close to the house at 8am this morning. He was just sitting under the bird feeder....waiting for the squirrels and chipmunks I guess. Then he walked over and drank out of the birdbath. I ran outside yelling and waving my arms at which point he ambled off into the woods behind our house. He didn't seem particularly scared of me and didn't actually run away, just sort of a light trot. I have a 14 1/2 year old Cocker Spaniel who can not hear but who is the love of my life, (next to my husband of course...most of the time :) ), and I'm worried about the coyote detecting Billy's age/weakness and going after him. There are about 80 acres of woods behind the house so I'm pretty sure it lives back there most of the time. I've seen it back there before. Billy rarely goes into the woods anymore but every once in a while he gets a wild hair in the middle of the night no less and makes me take him out. He has been known to walk out into the woods during these mysterious little forays and that's what I'm worried about. Thinking of getting a bb gun. I have nothing against these animals in general and actually sympathize with them, but I have to protect my baby right? I don't want to mortally injure it, just want it to seek other hunting grounds and to associate my "territory" with an unpleasant experience. Anyone out there every heard of a coyote going after a dog as big as 32 lbs? Or any other suggestions for keeping them away? Do you think it would help to have my husband "mark" the territory? Guys seem to like to pee in the woods! :-D

Do what was suggested earlier. Go out and have a stern talking with him. Be sure to say 'git' so that he understands what you're talking about, that you mean in no uncertain terms that he is not welcome. Have your husband mark the place just for good measure, all 80 acres, and then there will absolutely nothing that you have to worry about while letting your 141/2 year old deaf dog out for one of his rare forays into the woods in the middle of the night.

LOL! Am I supposed to be offended by this? Nah, I don't think a horticultural hobbyist and bird breeder from New Hampshire would be such a smart-ass! :-) Of course I didn't mean all 80 acres!! Think of how much beer that would require.

Think again. It's my nature to be sarcastic when the answer seems so obvious to me, however, a better answer would have been to please just keep your old dog under your watchful eye at all times or consider a fenced area to let him into at night. There are just so many things that could happen to a dog in his condition if left to wander in the woods alone at night, coyotes or no coyotes, no matter how seldom it's done.

Your hope to discourage the coyote is at best hopelessly optimistic. There's little that you can do to prevent him from coming back, short of lethal methods. Even if you go
that route, there will always be more ready to move in and take his place. In fact they're there now.

I did actually think about the beer, but I'm sarcastic to get a point across, not intentionally hurtful.

Doggiemom said "Billy rarely goes into the woods anymore but every once in a while he gets a wild hair in the middle of the night no less and makes me take him out. He has been known to walk out into the woods during these mysterious little forays and that's what I'm worried about. Thinking of getting a bb gun."
Why not just get a leash?
Old dogs like that often get senile and sometimes get lost. They also seek out places away from people when they are not feeling well or the end is near. At 14 1/2, it is time to attach a leash for the dogs own safety against getting confused and thus lost. I am dog warden in my town and can't tell you how many old dogs wander away from their homes because they are just getting old and senile. The coyote is one of many worries, including cars, starvation, getting shot, etc.. loose dogs have to worry about.
Human urine marking 80 acres? Better plan a BIG beer blast! :0) Human urine isn't going to discourage coyotes, and even if it did, one would have to have a big beer blast and lots of drinking buddies to scent mark 80 acres on the weekly basis that would be needed to keep the scent fresh and viable. Gives new meaning to the term "Wild Life"
The outdoors belongs to wildife, if we protect our domestic animals with leashes, good fences and ecologically sound practices (which do not include lethal methods) there will be no problems.

By the way, I think I would rather have coyotes than 80 human urine soaked acres!
:)
Elise Able

Patrick in NH - your post had me LOL!!

I don't think an old deaf 32-pound dog outside at night unsupervised is at all safe from coyotes.

I remember hearing about coyotes attacking a Labrador somewhere in Massachusetts and dug up this article in the Boston Globe about a "Bark Park" they are building in Marshfield:

"Haskins came up with the idea for the Bark Park in October, after a pack of coyotes attacked two dogs, each weighing more than 60 pounds, 20 to 30 pounds more than the average adult coyote.

"The dogs had been frolicking in the woods near the home of their owner, Thomas Martin. The coyotes nearly eviscerated Lucky, a Labrador mix with chocolate brown eyes. The sharp-toothed coyotes ripped the hide from one leg of Martin's other dog, Lady, before the two dogs managed to escape."

Here is a link that might be useful: Marshfield plans fenced park to keep dogs safe from coyotes

Nice article, but $100,000 for a dog park that will require taxpayer upkeep and maintenance, all because some dog owners can't or won't be responsible for their animals??

I agree that a dog should be supervised particularly at night. I do not think that pets should be allowed to roam for their own safety, but also because I shouldn't impose my pets on neighbors. Just my two cents.

I heard a bunch of coyotes the other night at about 9. I also live in Massachusetts. I know they are around and have heard of them taking down deer although there has been some disagreement here in the past as to whether they will hunt in a pack. I have heard of coyote/dog mixes and I know that dogs will hunt in a pack. I also wonder if the coyote's hunting skills (being the only really large predator left in this part of the country) has evolved out of necessity.

They usually have rather narrow paws and are no bigger than 20-40 lbs in our area.
Coyotes around here are a common site day and night around here where I live in Eastern Wa, but mostly around dusk and dawn. Coyotes are alot braver than they used to be. They commonly raid garbage cans and have been known (especially in winter) to take off with small dogs and cats. In Nebraksa and Las Vegas where they become serious nuisances (places where I used to live) there have been bounties put in place to keep the pop in check. Sad but true :(

Here is a link that might be useful: Coyote

It would be interesting to know how every contributer here pronounces the word coyote. In Canada we pronounce it as ki-yote'. I suppose most of you would pronounce it ki-yote-tee'

I'm not sure if it is correct, but I pronounce it ki-oh-tee.

English is an evolving language. Correct is whatever you have been taught and choose to continue to use. I am pretty sure I have heard Americans keep the "y" sound in coyote. There are probably regional differences all over the US.

More to the point of this post. It interesting to note that the coyotes in Yellowstone park are being kept in check by the wolves that have been introduced there.

The city of Vancouver, British Columbia has a thriving resident population of coyotes. While playing golf there a month ago I saw signs that warned people about them. They have never had any problems with them. I think it is a good thing. They keep the population of feral cats in check. Feral cats kill thousands of song birds every year. Probably more songbirds are killed by cats every year than by collisions with buildings during migration.

My elderly neighbor-lady and I were talking over the fence the other day, discussing the fact that we hadn't seen "our" coyotes lately. Last spring there were 4 or 5 who hung out at the back of her property (ours is fenced)
and we'd see them sunning in the middle of the day. She told me she'd call me next time she saw them. Well, she called at 7:30 this morning and I was sleeping in on this nice cold Sunday morning, but my hubby answered the phone and went out to look. Said it was a nice big healthy one.

Now we're worried because they're going to put a huge water pipeline across the back where the coyotes live in the treeline. I'm sure they'll take down trees, and the coyotes will be displaced. With all the development going on around here, where are they going to go ?