Michigan legislative action thread
We have them here in my town in North Georgia. They get cats and small dogs here all the time (the ones that are let out to roam free). If I see one, I’ll shoot it and ask questions later. Got a nice 10/22 with scope and silencer for it.
Where the heck does this guy live? In Texas I've seen packs of as many as 15-20 running together. And they will take down ANYTHING they think they can pull down.
Funny story - they are also NOT afraid of man. We had a pack of them moving up and down a creek that ran near our house (we lived in the city but in the middle of about 80 acres of open land near the airport. Every night this pack of 10-15 would sit just outside our fence and ‘celebrate’ their recent kill. Considering myself to be part of the dominant creatures on this turd-hill, I decided to teach them a lesson. Loading my snub nose SW 38 with blanks, I silently crept to the other side of the fence (the fence was covered with overgrowth so they couldn't see me.) I waited till they were all howling like crazy, pointed the gun across the top of them, and pulled the trigger. Let me tell you - that gun is loud with blanks. I could hear them tearing out of there like scared rabbits! Once again, man has asserted his dominance!
Of course the next night they were right back in the same place doing the same thing.
They are mixing with wolves around here, and becoming more aggressive.
“”They primarily eat mice or maybe an occasional rabbit,” he said, while from time to time attacking a small dog, cat or scavenging on larger, dead animals such as deer. “It’s very unusual they would take down an animal that big.”
That is BS. Coyotes in MI kill a ton of deer. The Coyotes here are way bigger than those tiny mutts out west, and they run in packs just like wolves do.
I hear them a night killing deer all the time.
Wow. Talk about freaky timing!
When I walked my Basset Hound this morning in the freshly fallen snow, it was obvious that we had Coyote all over the place last night! That’s not uncommon, but what WAS uncommon was that it looked like two twin tracks, and they went into, and out of, my pole barn and machine shed - which I have never seen them do before. They did not come up to the house.
Good thing we’re not out roaming the fields at night!
It’s not been unusual, when there’s good tracking snow, to see the prints of a half-dozen or more different critters. I need a trail camera - that would be fun to see just what they’re doing, out there.
Dancing In The Moonlight? ;)
Do not underestimate coyotes. They are very dangerous animals. Likewise, they are unpredictable. Small children, especially, are at risk for attack, in unexpected ways.
There are at least two cases in California where coyotes entered fenced front yards to attack small children playing there. And for years, in pursuit of small animals, coyotes will vault a 6-8’ fence into a backyard, grab the cat or dog, and vault back over the fence.
Importantly, coyotes will also scheme, and are natural tacticians. They learned that when a person is walking a small dog, they can sneak up behind them and “purse snatch” the small dog.
Coy-wolves were originally seen East of the Mississippi, and because of the threat of the coyote’s cunning mixed with the raw intelligence of the wolf, which is around that of a 5 year old child, coy-wolves were described as being as dangerous as “the canine equivalent of a leopard”.
So the US Interior Department issued “shoot on sight” orders for coy-wolves.
Typically, when walking a dog, pepper spray is adequate for fending off aggressive stray dogs. But for coyotes, I would strongly recommend a sidearm.
“Scientists already knew that some coyotes, which have been gradually expanding their range eastward, mated with wolves in the Great Lakes (map) region. The pairings created viable hybrid offspring—identified by their DNA and skulls—that have been found in mid-Atlantic states such as New York and Pennsylvania.”
“But other East Coast hybrids seen alive or identified by their remains are noticeably larger, with more wolf-like skulls, jaws, and teeth, Bozarth noted. (See pictures of new hybrid species appearing in the warming Arctic.)
Given this, coyote-wolf hybrids “should be able to do things like take down deer, which a little, scrappy Great Plains wily coyote would not be able to do on its own,” Bozarth said.”
Last night as I was going to close up the chickens, the coyotes to the South put up a fierce howl and “Yip Yip Yip”.
Then coyotes to the west and north started in. Then my dogs started in.
We got too many coyotes around here but we are now in the city limits so are limited as to what we can do about them.
If I could see them I could Shoot, Shovel, Shutup. but they are never out in the open.
The DNR says that we have no wolves down here.
On a lighter note, on the morning before deer season I shot a
coyote in my pajamas. (why he was wearing my pajamas - I don't know. Thank you Groucho Marx)
Coyotes only have fear of humans when humans hunt them regularly in an area. Coyotes used to being shot at will indeed run at the slightest motion on the part of a human. In areas where they are seldom or never hunted they have no fear of humans and will stop and glare at you. It actually takes a lot of effort to chase away a coyote that has no fear of humans.
They are all over up here. They can accelerate from a stopped position to full speed, when spooked, so quickly it is almost hard to believe. Electronic callers and motion decoys work fine to bring ‘em in.
Only needs to be one if it's you.
we use a 20 gauge slug gun with rifled slugs.
They are embedded into urban areas. I was driving down a four lane highway in Oak Ridge one night and had one in front of me. He cleared a 5' concrete median wall with little effort.
I tell the guys I allow to hunt my place too shoot them on sight. They aren't doing anything any good being there.
The Game Officer in the article must be naive. Even dogs have been known to bring down cattle. When the Yotes are hungry and smaller game is scarce what do they think they Yotes will do? Order carry out? I take my Ratty's outside for doing their business and I now do so well armed.