Coyotes in NC (Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham: safety, to eat, wealthy)

[trese]

I guess they eat whatever they can get hold and don't know what they "should" eat. Which is why they shouldn't have brought them in like they did.

[blessed09]

I am a long time resident of N.C. and never would have thought that there were coyotes. I have seen lots of other little critters: racoon, fox, etc. but no coyote until........

The other morning my son and I left a little earlier for school; he sat in the front since his project took up the back seat. About a mile down the road a "dog"ran out of the woods to my right, darted swiftly across the road in front of me , and re-entered the woods on my right. I said to my son, "I'm sure glad I didn't hit that dog or we probably would have been late for class!" My son replied, " I don't think that was a dog, did you see that tail?" "Dogs don't have tails like that!" As we drove down the road, I realized he was right, it wasn't a dog. The markings were different than anything I'd seen before, the snout was narrow, and it must have been chasing breakfast!!! . We agreed we would check it out on the web. Well, as soon as I pulled up an image of a coyote we both knew that was what we had seen! We live approx. 1 mile from the coast and we have coyotes!!!!!!!!!!! I never would have thought.............. Although, now that I have had time to think about it; maybe that's why we have so many local pets that have gone missing.

[dog1der]

Has anyone spotted coyote near or north of Creedmoor area - (tons of woods)??Thanks

[Raivere]

I have never heard of that...0.o

[NihonKitty]

Originally Posted by McEagle

I live on Bearwallow Mountain in Henderson County NC. We are often in the path of the Asheville Airport. For whatever reason when a plane comes over the Coyotes screetch and howl. It a scary sound and my 3 dogs go nuts and run into the woods after them. I havn't lost one yet and I pray that I wont in the future.

Coyotes can kill cats and maybe small dogs, but depending how big your dog is. Coyotes are "medium sized" canines, in other words if you have 3 lets say german shepherd,labrador,husky etc type dogs i doubt that coyotes would attack them, even a pack of 10 wouldnt attack 3 "large" dogs. Wolves commonly kill coyotes, and "big dogs" like german shepherds are more comparable to wolves. Now a dog like a maltese what is called a "lap dog" would probably be killed by a coyote, not for food like maybe they do with cats but for territorial reasons since dogs still have the same "smell" etc and are canines, and they see them as competition.

In this video you can see a wolf attacking 2 coyotes, and then the 2 coyotes gang up and run the wolf away. But keep in mind how much bigger the wolf is than the coyotes, so if you have a big sized dog i wouldnt worry about coyotes at all. Unless you just have 1 dog and the coyotes are brave enough to try and take it depending on how big their pack is.


YouTube - Wolf vs Two Coyotes

[NihonKitty]

Here is a dog vs a coyote


YouTube - Coyote vs Dog


But if you have cats and small dogs i would keep them inside..

[NihonKitty]

Here is a news video about a small dog attacked in charlotte by a coyote


YouTube - Coyote attacks Charlotte family's dog

[hymnsinger]

And to top it off, we have Red Wolves in Ashe Co. that crossed over from VA and TN Cherokee Nat. Forest and Mt Rogers Recreational Area). I saw one with my own eyes . . . There was NO mistaking THAT big boy!

[NihonKitty]

Originally Posted by hymnsinger

And to top it off, we have Red Wolves in Ashe Co. that crossed over from VA and TN Cherokee Nat. Forest and Mt Rogers Recreational Area). I saw one with my own eyes . . . There was NO mistaking THAT big boy!

Omg really? I love wolves... They are mostly pack animals and bigger. But from what i have just read it said that all red wolf reintroductions to the smokey mountains in the 90s ended in failure. Are you sure it wasnt just a big coyote?

[hymnsinger]

Originally Posted by Maki-Chan

Omg really? I love wolves... They are mostly pack animals and bigger. But from what i have just read it said that all red wolf reintroductions to the smokey mountains in the 90s ended in failure. Are you sure it wasnt just a big coyote?

No, there's no mistaking a wolf from a coyote, especially when it floats effortlessly in front of your car! There is no doubt, it was a wolf.

http://www.canids.org/species/Red_wolf.pdf

You'll read that it's the wolves that were released in eastern NC that have re-populated the entire SE United states.

Not only that, we have eastern mountain lions too, descended from released or escaped "pets." It's a well known secret among the Ashe County natives and the Johnson County, TN residents. When the exotic animal laws were passed in Tennessee in 1991, a mountain lion owner turned his cats loose rather than face fines and possibly jail for non-compliance. The number of cats that it was believed he owned at the time was from 4 to 9. I believe that the number released was 4 to 6 cats. His cats were probably rescues or were being rehabilitated and some wouldn't have survived in the wild and so were transferred to other rescue facilities.

They are breeding and have crossed into Ashe County. These cats are seen rarely, but seen nonetheless. No one has ever managed to shoot one, photograph one, nor has one ever been hit by a car. Since there is no "concrete" evidence, according to the "Bass & Deer Police," they don't exist. I beg to differ! A bold young male was seen casually walking down Bald Fork Rd. in Todd in 1999 by my landlord, not far from where I saw the wolf. There is a NC Gamelands on Three Top Mountain in Todd. I suspect that would be good habitat for them and the bears too!

Interesting place, the Appalachian mountains! Good thing there are plenty of deer!!

Tracey