Coyotes prowl for pets in rural area

TampaBay.com ^ | June 25, 2008 | Rodney Thrash

[Daffynition]

I like this quote: ""If they want to live out here and leave everybody else alone, more power to 'em. But they're not going to come over here and start killing all the stuff that we like. Somebody's going to have to pay."

[Politically Correct]

My dogs routinely corner and kill coyotes (and stray cats).
These people just have the wrong kind of pets.

[cherry]

"she initially thought were two big German shepherds."

oh please lady.....coyotes are not that big, not even close....

[ClearCase_guy]

She seems to have realized that they weren't German Shepherds when she saw that they were unshaven.

Huh?

[Daffynition]

Pound for pound, this Lab is valiantly protecting his territory.

[envisio]

Dang, do the coyotes come around your place that often?

[Coffee200am]

[Eva]

We have coyotes that were bred to Alaskan Huskies and then let loose in the wild when the humane society tried to seize them.

You would swear that you had seen a wolf.

[Joe 6-pack]

"But they're smart," said Peterson, whose encounters with coyotes in Keystone dates back six or seven years.

[Tallguy]

The so-called Eastern Coyote that has been moving in from the mid-west is a larger varient. Yes, still (much) smaller than your average German Shephard, but seen briefly in low-light conditions & from a distance, I could see how your initial reaction might be “German Shep”.

I read some speculation that these larger Coyotes might be some sort of hybrid, but I rather doubt it. I just figure the coyotes are bigger her in PA because they are taking down deer. Out west I suspect they live mostly on smaller game.

[CaspersGh0sts]

“She seems to have realized that they weren’t German Shepherds when she saw that they were unshaven....huh?”

Something tells me Rodney Thrash owns a Maltese or something of that variety...

[GBA]

How do the coyotes get into these people’s homes and kill their cats?

[Coffee200am]

"Our gorgeous coydogs are part coyote and part dog. They are coyote like in some ways, while also exhibiting many dog like traits. Coydogs are extremely intelligent, aware, curious, headstrong, and sometimes mischievious. They bond strongly with their owner, but are wary with strangers. Though happy at home, coydogs are shy with unfamiliar people, fearful in new surroundings, and may unexpectedly act skittish. Living with a coyote hybrid is quite different from owning a regular domestic dog, requires an understanding of their uniqueness, and a serious commitment for the lifetime of the animal."

Coydogs

[boogerbear]

That’s what happens when you live close to nature, you wind up close to nature. Nature can be a little annoying sometimes, even dangerous.

[AppyPappy]

The cats are outdoors.

[Daffynition]

Eastern coyotes are larger than their Western counterparts -- no one is quite sure why. One idea is that the Eastern coyote has cross-bred with wolves and farm dogs, but this is really unproven. What is clear, is that the so-called "Red Wolf" that once existed in the Eastern U.S. is really nothing more than a hybrid wolf-coyote cross. This has been proven with DNA tests of old "Red Wolf" skins kept at the Smithsonian, and also with DNA tests of the wild Red Wolves loose in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina.

The coyote, pictured above, was shot in the Adirondack's of New York and weighed 59 pounds -- a very, very large coyote. Most adult Eastern Coyotes weigh in at around 40 pounds.

[Doohickey]

...big German shepherds.

Anyone who has seen a coyote as big as a Shepherd please raise your hand.

[LongElegantLegs]

Check out the slideshow in the post above;

[envisio]

[Flycatcher]

Darn! I thought this was a Teri Hatcher thread!