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My wife had a large black bear (300 to 350 pounds approximately) running in her direction. She did not see it and I hollered at her to look behind her. Fortunately she was not too far from our house and the bear was more interested in the apple orchard on the other side of us. But it was still scary and maybe the bear wasn't that interested in the apples?
Our coyotes on the East Coast are larger than the ones on the West Coast. At our hunting camp we had one member that was building a tree stand when he found out that he was surrounded by six coyotes. He stayed up the tree until they left and it did scare him; he had no weapon on him at the time. He felt as if he was prey.
My wife had a large black bear (300 to 350 pounds approximately) running in her direction. She did not see it and I hollered at her to look behind her. Fortunately she was not too far from our house and the bear was more interested in the apple orchard on the other side of us. But it was still scary and maybe the bear wasn't that interested in the apples?
Our coyotes on the East Coast are larger than the ones on the West Coast. At our hunting camp we had one member that was building a tree stand when he found out that he was surrounded by six coyotes. He stayed up the tree until they left and it did scare him; he had no weapon on him at the time. He felt as if he was prey.
OMG! He was one lucky guy - 6 coyotes - thank goodness they can't climb trees. That is the one thing that worries me about my daughter living up in the mountains - if she and her fiance run into a mountain lion or bobcat (are they different?) than they are pretty much screwed. He is park ranger and is not allowed to carry a weapon.
I live in a suburb, and we have lots of coyotes here. I hear them yipping at night, and several neighbors have captured pics of them on their security cameras. I've see remnants of their dinners in my yard.
But I'm talking about when you're in the city, amongst civilization/residential homes, etc. My SO & I live in the city & go walking pretty regularly. One of the places we go to is the college grounds of one of my alma maters. It's a tad going up towards the mtns. There's still homes above/around, but I'm sure there's the rare times when certain wildlife can wander down. For ex, during the summertime, they'll post signs that say watch out for snakes.
Yesterday, my SO and I were there. Off in the distance, for the 1st time there, I spot a coyote walking around & I've walked there about 10-15 Sun mornings before. It was pretty far away & walked behind a building out of sight, but I still walked at a good pace back to the car & my SO, of course, went along w/ me. He says they're only maybe aggressive & actually try to bite if they're hungry and/or in a pack.
It was a funny feeling being out in the open & vulnerable with a wild animal in my vicinity. That's never happened to me before...only when I'm at the zoo in which they're in cages!
I'm a little wary of walking on that campus now. But I like walking there & I'm quite shocked no one else walks there on Sundays because it's nice landscaping w/ inclines & it feels like you're kind of out in nature (even though there are bldgs all around), but my SO & I are the only ones really.
That's the first time we've seen a coyote there, so I guess from now on, we'll have a stick &/or mace.
Trust me it HAS happened to you many times before but this is the first time you spotted one.
As long as you are with someone you should be safe from animals, even alone you should be too.
Maybe you could get a walking stick? That would give you something "just in case" and in reality just give you peace of mind.
There are definite rules when encountering coyotes. Some are rather aggressive. They pack up and are overbred in this area and I'd love to kill every one. No one will do anything about it until a person is attacked/killed.
Anyway, don't turn your back. Make yourself big and make noise. Don't turn away until it's gone.
Coyotes rarely attack humans. There are coyotes everywhere here (Phoenix) and as long as you don't feed them, they'll want nothing to do with you. Of course some idiot gets bit almost every year feeding a coyote in a park. Some little kid got bit when her parents fed the coyote so she could pet it.
The only thing I worry about is mountain lions. I run in the mountains, usually alone, and I'm relatively small. If I ever encounter a mountain lion on one of my runs, I'm dead.
I'd rather encounter a 4-legged predator than a 2-legged one
Lately there have been increased reports of aggressive bears in my area, not just the usual "mother with cubs", but also starving young males out on their own. Like the coyotes, humans have eliminated all their natural predators and so we end up with hungry predators willing to take risks.
A good walking stick and bear spray would definitely be a start.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hunterseat
There are definite rules when encountering coyotes. Some are rather aggressive. They pack up and are overbred in this area and I'd love to kill every one. No one will do anything about it until a person is attacked/killed. .
This varies greatly by state -- around here, Fish and Game strongly encourage residents to kill coyotes on sight. We like our wildlife, even our predators, but consider the coyote an invasive species at best.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fisheye
Our coyotes on the East Coast are larger than the ones on the West Coast. At our hunting camp we had one member that was building a tree stand when he found out that he was surrounded by six coyotes. He stayed up the tree until they left and it did scare him; he had no weapon on him at the time. He felt as if he was prey.
Our eastern coyotes like to hunt in packs; I carry a handgun loaded with "Buffalo Bore" even when on my own property, but overall I am more concerned by the risk of 2-legged predators.
This may sound ridiculous but years ago I was working for a surveying company holding the jake, which is a rod with a reflector for the laser to measure distance to. We were measuring 50 yard points and I was about 150 yds from the laser just beyond some brush when I heard something heavy moving very near by. Well, I carefully edged around the brush and standing directly in front of me and nearly eye level was the largest dear I had ever seen. He had a full rack and I froze in an instant when I realized he had tilted his head down and thought he might charge me. Instead he bolted and nearly jumped over my shoulder bounding away into the field. Of all the animals to be threatened by I never would have thought a deer!
Live in a Twin Cities, MN, eastern suburb and coyotes are occasional. When we lived in a southern 'burb that was more developed, more densely populated and established decades longer, coyote sightings were more frequent along with some wolves and once a black bear with cub sighting in the park a block from our home.
Coyotes, unless ill, will work pretty hard to avoid people. Small family pets, however, are prey.
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I'd rather encounter a 4-legged predator than a 2-legged one
