SANTA FE – At least two hikers’ dogs were attacked by coyotes this past weekend at the Santa Fe ski basin, and their owners want to warn the many other area residents and their pets who seek those cool mountain meadows for exercise to beware.
The coyotes apparently weren’t limiting themselves to easy prey. One dog that was chased down and emerged with puncture wounds to each thigh was an 85-pound Anatolian shepherd.
Sandra Mendel said she and her 25-pound, 10-month-old dog Bree were surrounded and harried by a pack of about four coyotes. She said she was walking down the Sunset ski trail when she felt her dog slam into her from behind, yelping. She turned around to see four coyotes, one of them only five feet away.
As she crouched down to check on her dog, “they started closing in,” Mendel said. “I jumped up and started swinging my trekking poles.”
Her dog was bruised, but didn’t have any puncture wounds, Mendel said.
Dogs Attacked by Coyotes Near Santa Fe
I've never carried a gun while hiking with or without my big dog. But if they are that aggressive and attack, they will be shot, not withstanding what the Forest Service says about protecting their habitat.
We’ve got bears, coyotes and wildcats up here.
I won’t go walking alone in the woods nor without a larger caliber sidearm.
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Like my governor Rick Perry, I always pack when walking my dog. My lil’ mini dachshund would not stand a change against coyotes, but coyotes would not stand a chance against me and my side-arm friend.
Shoot...
Shovel...
....&
Shutup!
...very effective...
B safe...
Here in ETX I see a coyote about once a week on my property. I tried for 15 years until I gave up on free range ducks and geese as I was providing regular meals for these critters.
At least my horses aren’t at risk and I have one little fireball of a donkey who would take them on in a NY minute.
I don’t have a politically correct answer to this...I am old enough to remember when coyote trappers were popular and the government had a coyote elimination program and actually paid people to hunt and poison coyotes. From my observations coyotes in small numbers are much better behaved.
“County ordinance, any dog or other domestic animal within a county park, trail or open space area shall be restrained by a leash.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a CAT on a leash...
Coyotes run in packs. They send out the weakest member of the pack to intimidate and distract the prey. The others circle around the intended victim to catch it if it runs. If the prey runs, it's edible. If it puts up a good fight, and wins against the weakest member, it's not edible.
We have them around here, and they have no natural predators to control them. We can hear them yipping in the woods at night.
ALL animals get locked up at night, and people don't walk alone past sundown unless they're armed.
Putting carnivorous animals at the top of the food chain is a very, very bad idea.
My neighbors have a huge Anatolian shepherd that lives at my house most of the time. He is a big baby that wouldn’t do well in a fight with coyotes. I would have to shoot the coyotes.
The landowner whose property I used to hunt deer on made it very clear that if he ever found out that I had passed up a chance to shoot a coyote (ie. in order not to scare any deer which may be close by) he would never let me hunt on his property again. He called them ‘varmits” and was very serious that killing every one I saw was a condition of setting up a stand on his land. I was happy to oblige.
Our Eastern coyotes have cross-bred with wolves, can go up to 60lbs, and hunt humans. “Canadian woman killed by coyotes
A Canadian woman has died from injuries sustained when she was attacked by two coyotes while hiking in eastern Canada.”
Now...ask me again why I carry a gun.
I know that the Acme Corporation manufactures a number of items that can be used to keep the coyote population in check, such as dynamite that explodes prematurely, atomic powered roller skates (which cause coyotes to zoom over the side of a cliff), and giant slingshots designed to slam them into a nearby tree.
“...cool mountain meadows for exercise...”
My ass! People take their dogs out to “exercise” to pee and crap in places other than their own property. Dog owners should be fined or prohibited from bringing their mutts into any park or on any hiking trails where humans walk, unless they have a pooch poop bag over their head.
Traditionally, coyotes are underground creatures. Before the white man came, coyotes lived underground. Early trappers and mountain men wrote about seeing coyotes sleeping underground. It’s our mandate that we put as many sleepy coyotes under ground as possible!
Doggie PING!
Eventually, they'll be going after children, winos, the elderly, any target of opportunity.
All la-la-land aside, humans are made of meat, and that looks like lunch to carnivores.