Musicmystery
Posts: 30259
Joined: 3/14/2005 Status: offline
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Hello holly, I also live in a rural area, lots of forest, farms, cows, horses, sheep--and coyotes. For the most part, they are no trouble at all. Since yours came up suddenly, they may have a den there this year. They move around though--the sounds change location all the time. They go where the food is, and with lots of forest, there's lots of food. No problem. They will go after a roaming cat or small dog. I've never seen them coming around the homes, though. The closest I've ever seen is when I was walking far into the woods with my then husky puppy (six months or so) who apparently ran into a den--and got her ass chased back hard, unharmed. The coyote was right on her tail, but took off the minute it saw me. I have heard of coyotes going into yards in suburbia, but this all tends to be where the forest has been sharply reduced. Be reasonably cautious. Don't leave food/garbage accessible outside. Don't let your cat or chihuahua roam around. Don't leave your kid outside at night (heh). But don't worry about it other than that. Chances are, you'll only see one or two ever, and then only briefly and at a distance. Plenty of rodents and small game around for dinner. (You don't keep chickens, ducks or geese do you? Keep 'em well fenced.) They aren't going to attack you without provocation unless rabid, but even here, I wouldn't worry. We don't know why, but rabies is not common among coyotes (according to my vet). And no, a pack isn't going to come swarming into your yard. The main risk is the cat. They are mosly nocturnal, but can be seen in the day. They live in pairs (plus pups), rather than hunting in packs. Even the rare pack is around six coyotes. In short, in the 22 years I've lived here, other than keeping the cats inside, I haven't seen any problems. Here's a page with several encyclopedia articles on coyotes. Rurally yours, Tim
< Message edited by Musicmystery -- 7/20/2009 8:15:31 AM >
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