Coyote attack in huntsville! Be aware!!! (Enterprise, Five Points: eat, car, office)

[ghett61]

Originally Posted by writerwife

And yes, they do run in packs although you will see some alone. One ploy that they use also makes it seem as though they are alone. Last spring, my brother in law happened to be outside (they live somewhat secluded in Hazel Green) and saw a coyote luring his golden retriever and just as the dog was drawing closer to the coyote (as the coyote was slowly walking toward the woodline) 3 more coyotes came out of the woods and all ran after the dog.

Wolves do that too when hunting in packs. Works well on young animals that just want to play.

If you watch the documentary Planet Earth, there is a video of a pack of wild dogs in Africa. They send out two dogs to go around and flank while the rest rush in from behind the pack of antelope...or some animal.

[catfishin2000]

Out in Harvest I have a game camera set up in the back 40 for deer, and lately the biggest coyote I've seen has been appearing daily. His hide will soon be stretched.

[pvande55]

They are nationwide. It does not matter if you are in a rural or urban area. One was spotted in downtown Chicago a few years back.

[Ynot]

Let's face it, coyotes are here and have been for a while. We humans keep building homes in their space and then we act so surprised when coyotes are foraging for food in our backyards.

It's very sad that some pets have lost their life or have been severely injured, but the coyotes are doing what coyotes do -- surviving. Follow the advice from OPs to limit food sources and WATCH your pets, don't just put them out, especially the smaller ones. Apparently, according to another post, coyotes are able to climb or jump fences too, so don't rely on your fence to keep them out. Coyotes are very smart and will adapt new skills to hunt prey. I certainly don't advocate open season on coyotes, but I do stress being careful with your children and pets -- we are suppose to be the more intelligent species.

Also, coyotes are subject to rabies. There's no telling how many people have NOT vaccinated their pets during the current economic troubles. So please get your pets vaccinated if you haven't done so already. And don't even get me started on "people" who dump their unwanted pets, especially dogs that haven't been spayed or neutered, that join a pack and can be just as dangerous as coyotes and will continue to multiply. Yeah, we're the smarter ones alright.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by writerwife

A lot of these suburban coyotes are not timid at all. As I posted earlier, my mother was looking right at it and it at her and she was yelling and it just slowly ambled away. Thankfully.
I did a google search 3 days ago and it seems that the coyote population is on the rise all over the US. and there have been many attacks on humans too. A lot of fatalities came up on both humans and pets.
And yes, they do run in packs although you will see some alone. One ploy that they use also makes it seem as though they are alone. Last spring, my brother in law happened to be outside (they live somewhat secluded in Hazel Green) and saw a coyote luring his golden retriever and just as the dog was drawing closer to the coyote (as the coyote was slowly walking toward the woodline) 3 more coyotes came out of the woods and all ran after the dog. Fortunately, she is fairly young, extremely fast, and her owner had a gun. He didn't shoot any coyotes but he did ring out a shot which gave them pause as she ran through her pet door into the man cave. Could have been ugly. But, sneaky they are.

Coming from California, I can confirm the same tactic. My sister lives on a hillside property and coyotes will walk up the hillside along drainage ditches and lure your dog away. If it's a male dog, they will use a female coyote and vice versa.

Her good friend left their pooch in the backyard eventhough they were warned about coyos. They were visiting with friends and did not want to have the dog in the house since it was not their house. But they'd thought it will be fine as they are in the middle of a subdivision. What's worse, they tied him to a post. One morning they came out and found most of the dog has been consumed leaving mostly the head and 2 big eyes stare blankly at them. Two young kids cried their hearts out.

I lived in Thousand Oaks which is in Ventura County just outside of LA on the edge of Santa Monica mountains. It was a small city with population ~ 100K so it was definitely not rural. At night I could hear coyotes howl from my backyard. One year it was the drought season, I came home late at night ~ 2am and saw a pack of coyos on main street looking for food and water. I am sure they do this regularly but they hide well in the dark and we urbanites are not trained to spot them.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Ynot

Let's face it, coyotes are here and have been for a while. We humans keep building homes in their space and then we act so surprised when coyotes are foraging for food in our backyards.

It's very sad that some pets have lost their life or have been severely injured, but the coyotes are doing what coyotes do -- surviving. Follow the advice from OPs to limit food sources and WATCH your pets, don't just put them out, especially the smaller ones. Apparently, according to another post, coyotes are able to climb or jump fences too, so don't rely on your fence to keep them out. Coyotes are very smart and will adapt new skills to hunt prey. I certainly don't advocate open season on coyotes, but I do stress being careful with your children and pets -- we are suppose to be the more intelligent species.

Also, coyotes are subject to rabies. There's no telling how many people have NOT vaccinated their pets during the current economic troubles. So please get your pets vaccinated if you haven't done so already. And don't even get me started on "people" who dump their unwanted pets, especially dogs that haven't been spayed or neutered, that join a pack and can be just as dangerous as coyotes and will continue to multiply. Yeah, we're the smarter ones alright.

Yes coyotes have been roaming these grounds before we humans moved in, but so did the spiders, snakes, roaches, and racoons.

I stomped on them, kill them, spray them just the same...

Speaking of rabies, there was a story back in California that a pack of rabies-infested coyotes attack a Wild Life Ranger on horseback. They speculated these coyotes must be infested with rabies because normal coyos don't do that. Sort of like man on meth will do crazy things.

[MeInHSV]

Our outdoor cat has recently disappeared and my wife is fearing the worst. Is anyone aware if there have been any recent coyote reports in the vicinity of Camelot subdivision?

[writerwife]

I haven't heard of any recently in that area.

[cool_cuttab]

Originally Posted by MeInHSV

Our outdoor cat has recently disappeared and my wife is fearing the worst. Is anyone aware if there have been any recent coyote reports in the vicinity of Camelot subdivision?

Where is the subdivision?

How long has the cat been missing? I used to have two cats and one liked to roam a lot. He could easily go a week without coming home.

Someone could have found him, fed him, and kept him. You tried posting pictures in/around the neighborhood?

May not be a bad idea to check the animal shelter. I had a dog disappear once and that's where she was. She dug under the fence and lost her collar in the process. Good thing we called there before they put her to sleep.

Sorry to hear about your cat, good luck!

[maxpowercheck]

I have schemed many means to control these predators. I only asked the city to help. They refused. So now, we try to think of other methods. Fenced dog cages, etc. The fact is, nature is reclaiming it's territory. We are seeing the evolution. Unfortunately, the city looks the other way. The coyotes here are not pure coyote. They are interbred with canine, you can see it in their size. They lose their fear of man. So they amble around like your neighbor until they eat your pet.

My advice is to get down to Larry's and buy a .22 silencer and use it.