[Mike 75]

Saw one in my yard last week. And a group of them attacked my neighbors dogs. I'm all for hunting them, but discharging .22's in a suburban environment is a recipe for disaster.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Saw one in my yard last week. And a group of them attacked my neighbors dogs. I'm all for hunting them, but discharging .22's in a suburban environment is a recipe for disaster.

Definitely need to meet the minimum hunting safety regulations. 500 feet from dwellings, no shooting over roads etc....

Coyotes don't live in McMansions and eat Dunkin' Donuts. If they are around that often and you don't live in a rural area, you probably live near a state forest or part of town that is rural or farms etc. if you don't own enoug land, ask that farmer or get permit to hunt on the state land. It sounds like a community problem and hopefully enough are willing to help. Maybe you don't know how to hunt, but you are friends with the farmer and can get the hunter land access, or vice versa.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by LINative

Thank you for mentioning that. There seems to be a lot of ignorance on the subject and some people think that coyotes are native to the Northeast.

For me, coyotes in the Northeast are vermin and should not be protected.

They basically are not protected. Look at the hunting schedule and there is no limit. The weeks that are closed off to coyote hunting are probably the bare minimum necessary to consider the act state sanctioned "conservation" rather than "extermination" lol. Seriously though, they are a problem, a foreign species and the hunting laws accommodate that.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by LINative

Thank you for mentioning that. There seems to be a lot of ignorance on the subject and some people think that coyotes are native to the Northeast.

For me, coyotes in the Northeast are vermin and should not be protected.

My timeline was actually far too generalized. CT specifically only had its first coyote reports in the 1950s! Ignorance is indeed the root of most problems, this one no different.

DEEP: Coyote Fact Sheet

One very surprising fact about CT is there are actually (no joke) laws PROTECTING hunters from harassment. If you legally pursue this option (always contact DEEP if unsure as they are the enforcement arm for people walking around with loaded guns murdering woodland critters). So if your liberal and/or misinformed neighbor is making your life hell for it, THEY are actually the one who will be brought up on charges.

Trapping is a whole different skill and subset of regulations, so don't look up firearm or bow regs and then go lay bear traps. Big no no. I am very unfamiliar with trapping please speak with expert(s) if that is route you prefer to take. But please....please realize that with trapping your specificity goes down. If you trap someone's dog or cat you will be haunted forever as an animal lover. Do your homework. Come to terms with the fact that you and your community need to deal with the problem because the state can't just go around killing packs of coyote. They can't with good reason too, if they accidentally kill a dog, that liability is now going to financially burden the municipality (and tax payers of it) rather than be isolated to an individual.

[beer belly]

Bar 9 Sharpshooter, if I aim and squeeze the trigger........but being illegal to do so, guess we have to live with the occasional sighting.....I start to see a pack....all bets are off

[Lalalally]

I think you can hunt coyotes all throughout the year except on Sundays. Obviously there are restrictions in residential neighborhoods, but in the more rural parts of the state and where permitted, I say go for it. They're not native to CT and in fact when I moved here 20+ years ago, they were almost unheard of in my area. Now they're everywhere and they are no joke -- running in packs and with some of them being really big suckers. For giggles, Google the words: Wallingford Coywolf.... Definitely not something I'd ever want to see in my backyard.

[MrGompers]

I'm fairly certain I hit a coyote a few years ago on I-91 south in the Windsor/Bloomfield area. It was night time so I can't be sure, but what I hit was the size of a dog.

The sucker ripped off the plastic shroud under my car (attached to the radiator) and tented my oil pan. Luckily the pan didn't come off since that could have led to an engine fail/seizure and thousands dollars of repairs.

Maybe a coincidence but I have noticed a rise of missing cats/dogs posters in my area. Perhaps coyotes are taking out these family pets.

A couple weeks ago I also found 3 dead rabbits in my driveway. Not sure if a coyote would go for rabbits, but my cat stays in the house so it wasn't her.

[parentologist]

I've noticed that their population in my area is cyclical. As is the population of deer, turkeys, foxes, bobcats, bears, and even the rare stray moose. Coyotes are essentially harmless to humans. They will get outdoor pets - but of course no one would EVER let their pet cat roam outside to kill birds, now, would they? And no one would EVER leave their dog tied up outside, day and night, stress barking, and disturbing the neighbors, would they?

My point is, your cats and dogs shouldn't be outside without you, anyway. If you live in an area with coyotes, know that you just can't leave your pets outside, if you want to keep them. And if you start discharging firearms in an area where it is restricted, know that your neighbors will hear it, and report it.

[hunterseat]

Originally Posted by parentologist

I've noticed that their population in my area is cyclical. As is the population of deer, turkeys, foxes, bobcats, bears, and even the rare stray moose. Coyotes are essentially harmless to humans. They will get outdoor pets - but of course no one would EVER let their pet cat roam outside to kill birds, now, would they? And no one would EVER leave their dog tied up outside, day and night, stress barking, and disturbing the neighbors, would they?

My point is, your cats and dogs shouldn't be outside without you, anyway. If you live in an area with coyotes, know that you just can't leave your pets outside, if you want to keep them. And if you start discharging firearms in an area where it is restricted, know that your neighbors will hear it, and report it.

Don't fool yourself, parent. A pack of hungry coyotes will take down anything.

About the dead rabbits. No, coyotes don't leave their prey laying around. They consume it.

[denimflyz]

First, my heart goes out to you for your loss. I'm so very sorry.
Second, I'm in West Central Nebraska, and we are inundated with them. I live right at the edge of a small city limits, we have them and do eradicate them, 22 with a silencer. I have pets, cats and an old, blind dog and I'm out with her and the 22 at night when I let her out. We do have a fenced yard, but yotes will scale fences. I don't let any of my animals roam, too many two and four legged trash roaming around. We also deal with large owls. We also have cougar in the river.
The government has let a lot of this go. Our Game and Parks is worthless. Here, we had bounty, but the green activists got their way, and no more bounty, now the coyote are out of control all over and for you folks where you're at really have issues, urban/rural mix. Coyote are wiley, smart, and go where there is easy pickings. Like Sig mentioned, we used to go out at night on a major two lane road and shoot coyote right along the road as they knew that deer and antelope get killed along this road. We did our share of eradication. But not enough.
Not sure if you can take this up with city council, or go as far as your State officials. You guys are not used to dealing with varmints, like we are. We eradicate them, not protect them.