I've lived out in the courtry here in NE Texas for 9 years. I hear the coyotes nearly every night, but have only seen them on my property 3 times. Once about 3 years ago and twice in the past 3 days. Sunday, I was mowing with the small tractor and one trotted in front of me about 30 feet away. This happened in full daylight about 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Last night we heard them yelp so close to the house that we put the dogs up. A few minutes later we saw a big one (the size of a German Shepherd) running along the property line. I bought a BB gun today, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to bring out the big guns.
Pretty congested here, but still rural. Lots of pets- everyone has at least 2 dogs, usually more. Tons of feral cats and the rabbit population has exploded lately. Brush is so thick we have to hunt deer with dogs because you can't get thru the woods. On the other hand- everyone has lots of guns!