Coyote encounters

H

Handlebars

Well-Known Member
Region
Canada
So we went out for a winter picnic at dusk at picnic tables beside a parking lot for a community centre in Toronto. No cooking at that point, but we did eat a couple of ready chicken wings. We heard someone yell twice "Coming up the hill" so I went to look and the pack of coyotes had circled to one side. I yelled at them and the leader jumped back about ten feet only to come forward again. Not as calm and bold as some racoons, but pretty darn big coyotes! Packed up quick and left. Forgot I had my gopro, would have liked to capture that. I record them at night sometimes and the screaming they do is blood curdling until suddenly all silent.
I never knew they were so plentiful in the parks until this year and had never seen one in the city, forget come face to face with them. I've never seen any at the garbage cans or dumpsters so they must be getting enough live kills. Or something. These were tall animals. Feel sorry for the homeless sleeping out there in parks with so many very bold coyotes. I suppose the coyotes are very distant second as a threat compared with other humans, though.
 
Last edited:
It probably wasn't coyotes if they're as big as you're saying because Coyotes are about the size of a smallish/medium sized dog.
 
I know dogs very well. The leader was 25" at the shoulder but skinny and blending in with the brush.
They were not dogs and we don't have dogs running in packs here at all, never ever. People don't walk their dogs free much any more, just short jaunts off leash sometimes and they get to play in the fenced dog parks...there's no free dogs running in neighbourhoods ever any more. Haven't seen a dog running free in many years, forget nightly pack hunts. The guy who yelled the warning to us watches them hunt at the edge of the woods all the time. He came out as we left and we talked to him.
The scary part was that just half an hour earlier there was a man with his little girl and she was running about right in the spot where they came up, and dad wasn't close to her.
 
Coyotes are interbreeding with dogs in the rural part of northeastern PA where I live. We call them coydogs and their looks can vary greatly. there is no doubt they are part coyote though. They run in packs but we occasionally catch a single animal on our security camera. We do hear howling from a nearby pack from time to time and it is indeed blood chilling. Most are wary and tend to avoid the scent of humans. Food is plentiful in the wild here so there is no pressure for the animals to encroach on cities. This isn't the case in other parts of the country though. In the last 10 years, there has been only one reported incident of a coyote attacking a human in this area. It happened at a school bus stop when a rabid coydog attacked a young girl waiting for her bus. She wasn't seriously injured but had to undergo treatment for rabies exposure. The animal was caught and put down that same day.
 
We've always had plenty of coyotes / deer / mountain lions in the SF Bay Area but they're taking a lot of spaces back due to shelter in place and work from home scenarios. San Francisco has pockets of wild spaces and there are much more reports and pictures of coyotes out and about in parks and even streets. When my wife (then GF) lived in a space called Mount Davidson, I'd often see coyotes in the neighborhood when walking to my car at night. And now, I often take our kids to a wild space where we have seen coyotes during daylight. They're braver and more active. I think it's fantastic but will always have my kids within arms reach if they're not in the Burley trailer.

Here's some cool footage of coyotes just walking around like they own the place:
 
There is an article about how Coyotes and even wolves live in downtown Chicago, how their sleeping places are literally a foot away from heavy pedestrian traffic and no one even is aware they are there. They are out at night so empty downtowns is the perfect place to be. We have them here in the mountains that separates Los Angeles into distinct areas (and creates the valley that holds in the smog). People fear them when, really, they are important features of a healthy system. We are also seeing owls more than before (and they are dying because of rat poisoning) but when they are here, we have less rodent problems.

They say that the coyotes avoid humans and when they take out a dog/baby it is not for food but alpha responses. Interesting stuff!
 
We do have a feral cats due to cat ladies getting evicted or ill/dying while the cats are out and about...maybe that's what's for dinner for these guys, but they are gutsy and in a pack the get perrrrtty brave it seems.
This guy seems more sturdy, than ours last night - not just because of the nice fur. This is real "footage"
Foul language warning:
 
I get coyotes out at my summer camp. Some years are worse, huge howl offs every night. 2019 there was nothing, perhaps the hunters killed them all off. 2020 I heard a few howls, but way off. 2017 I saw a pack crossing my lower field, the one where I frequently see 3 or more deer at a time. 2014 I saw a turkey feather explosion where some predator knocked off a game bird the state F&W had stocked.
I'm glad the hunters are getting aggressive with coyotes. When I bought the summer camp in 2000 there was no mammal between moles mice and deer. The last couple of years I have seen a rabbit or two, squirrels in the trees, and a chipmunk that makes a lunchroom under the covers of my bed every winter.
I'm thinking of buying a 22 rifle. Not just coyotes, but packs of crows settle in the trees about 11 every day. My neighbors lose garden corn to crows. I hate the sound crows make. More woodthrush or pretty singers, less crows. Trouble is I'll have to wear glasses. I'm 20/50 without. We also get packs of dogs hunting on my property. Saw some dogs executing the quail pullets a couple years ago. Don't respect packs of dogs more than coyotes. Had to pepper spray 2 dogs to get through the stop sign near my property last summer. Dogs think they own the road. Lost a FM radio last spring digging out the 6' cable to beat off a dog. Kept going for my heel as I tried to ride away. No pepper spray yet. I was loaded with 100 lb of supplies including a 20x40 tarp & a TV antenna, couldn't outrun him up the hill.
 
No coyotes here but Gators...and people who come to Florida who think the lakes/waterways are all fun and games are very mislead.

There was a news story about a little boy who got ate by a Gator at Disney when their family was playing by the lake, tragic stuff.
 
Handlebars said:
We do have a feral cats due to cat ladies getting evicted or ill/dying while the cats are out and about...maybe that's what's for dinner for these guys, but they are gutsy and in a pack the get perrrrtty brave it seems.
This guy seems more sturdy, than ours last night - not just because of the nice fur. This is real "footage"
Foul language warning:
Click to expand...
I'm confused just like the coyote is......."Hey, come here!" "Hey, git!"
 
indianajo said:
I get coyotes out at my summer camp. Some years are worse, huge howl offs every night. 2019 there was nothing, perhaps the hunters killed them all off. 2020 I heard a few howls, but way off. 2017 I saw a pack crossing my lower field, the one where I frequently see 3 or more deer at a time. 2014 I saw a turkey feather explosion where some predator knocked off a game bird the state F&W had stocked.
I'm glad the hunters are getting aggressive with coyotes. When I bought the summer camp in 2000 there was no mammal between moles mice and deer. The last couple of years I have seen a rabbit or two, squirrels in the trees, and a chipmunk that makes a lunchroom under the covers of my bed every winter.
I'm thinking of buying a 22 rifle. Not just coyotes, but packs of crows settle in the trees about 11 every day. My neighbors lose garden corn to crows. I hate the sound crows make. More woodthrush or pretty singers, less crows. Trouble is I'll have to wear glasses. I'm 20/50 without. We also get packs of dogs hunting on my property. Saw some dogs executing the quail pullets a couple years ago. Don't respect packs of dogs more than coyotes. Had to pepper spray 2 dogs to get through the stop sign near my property last summer. Dogs think they own the road. Lost a FM radio last spring digging out the 6' cable to beat off a dog. Kept going for my heel as I tried to ride away. No pepper spray yet. I was loaded with 100 lb of supplies including a 20x40 tarp & a TV antenna, couldn't outrun him up the hill.
Click to expand...
I get tired just thinking about the amount of work you do :)
 
ki11a said:
No coyotes here but Gators...and people who come to Florida who think the lakes/waterways are all fun and games are very mislead.

There was a news story about a little boy who got ate by a Gator at Disney when their family was playing by the lake, tragic stuff.
Click to expand...
I live in the northeast and we don't have these problems in nature..... But, I have to think, anyone with a rational mind has to be aware to stay away from any waterway, any ditch, any body of water in FL.

Especially if you are walking with a young child or a dog.

Coyotes in San Fran, Gators in FL and stuff in between.....alot is a byproduct of our continued destruction of wild habitat in order to create more housing, more McMansions. We push these animals out, where do they have to go?

When those wildfires inundated the western states, where does anyone think the animals not caught in the infernos, ran off to?

Here in New Jersey, the raping of farmland and forest for more housing and Bezos Tax Free-Warehouses has forced deer out with the result being meeting up with cars and trucks on our local and state highways. Anywhere I go anymore, it's one dead deer after another on our local roads...
 
Handlebars said:
It makes me wonder if he has a "piece" ready or if he's just that confident out there with these guys. I've seen video of how high they can spring up over a wall without scaling it. Incredible.
Click to expand...
I get the impression that the Wile E there is playing games, having fun. But being wild, things can turn in a second. He was foolish for encouraging the animal, cause this animal will think the next person, maybe a child, to come along, will want to "play", too.
 
Mike TowpathTraveler said:
I get the impression that the Wile E there is playing games, having fun. But being wild, things can turn in a second. He was foolish for encouraging the animal, cause this animal will think the next person, maybe a child, to come along, will want to "play", too.
Click to expand...
Wile E smiles for sure! And you're so right - that familiarity training is a really bad practice to indulge in.
 
Kinda like the weekend warriors on our lake that think nothing of feeding geese and especially swans, not realizing/having a clue about what they're setting in motion.

I don't give a damn how big you are. Geese can be bad news, but a swan in "attack mode" is something you want to avoid, and exactly what happens when you get near one while it's protecting it's babies, or even one with a bad attitude..... no babies in sight.

When we see them swimming in our direction, it's time to move, especially if sitting on a dock soaking your feet. They can be really rotten if you don't have something for them to eat....

Nothing funnier (thought i was going to pee my pants) than the day a giant swan chased one of the 16-17 year old neighbor kids off the lake while on his jet ski! That's a memory that won't go away! The kid bailed on the jet ski, leaving it floating in front of the break wall, while making a mad dash for the house with the swan hot on his butt..... And no, he was not terrorizing the swan or other swans previously - but clearly somebody was.... another no-no.

Florida gators are not fond of clear water. If the water is murky or still, you have to assume they're there. Not much swimming available around inland lakes for that reason.
 
Angry birds are no joke. I see redwing blackbirds chasing hawks relentlessly for a half mile and have seen one take a large red tail hawk down to the ground by getting in on the back behind the head and grabbing on and pecking away. The hawks' only defence when flying in escape mode is to wait until the blackbird is just about to land and start pecking and then the hawk flaps it's wings up together to hit the blackbird.
I've also been attacked by them little birds for walking too close to a nest. Or something.
 
Last edited:
When I was in Yellowstone back in 2008, I saw a mom & dad and their young boy hand feeding potato chips to a coyote. The coyote never took his eyes off the boy and I couldn't help thinking the coyote thought the chips were just hors d'oeuvres, with the boy being the main course!
I was about to say something but a National Park Ranger beat me to it. He really read them the riot act!
 
When it comes to feeding wild animals, ANY wild animal, people just don't get it! Bison, Elk, Black Bears, whatever. Ain't that cute......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ETAF
Just Joined
Replies
7
Views
342
ETAF
ETAF
V
Turbo Vado 5: too unstable on the kickstand
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
Lee F
Lee F
JRA
Friday Funnies
Replies
1
Views
909
BEC111
BEC111
S
Review of my Lectric ONE.
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
sc00ter
S
S
Passed on a Dragster!
Replies
18
Views
1K
PDoz
P
Back