Coyotes

I got an interesting email from Tim Nelsen today and I thought it might be of interest to dog owners. Here it is.

I was out for a trail run with Cambree (my 1 year old Pudelpointer). She was off leash about 125 yards away when I heard a lot of high pitch barking. I ran towards her and saw her running full speed back towards me with 3 coyotes right on her ass. Fortunately, she is pretty fast and the coyotes turned immediately when they saw/heard me. Cambree loves other dogs and I’m pretty sure that when she saw the coyotes she probably ran over to play before realizing it was a bad idea. I’ve checked her over good and she was not bitten/injured. I hate to think of what could’ve happened if they caught up to her as it looked like it probably wasn’t a friendly pursuit.

Wow! That sounds like it could have had a bad ending. I’ve personally never had that happen but have heard of similar stories. Just like all canines, coyotes are very territorial and my guess is that they were going to teach that intruder a lesson. The odds were against Cambree.

I was out with a rancher several years back when his Border Collie took off chasing a coyote over the ridge. A few seconds later the dog was heading back towards us with 3 coyotes on his tail. It might have been coincidence but it makes you wonder if they can be that sneaky.

I quite often see coyotes while out hunting chukars and once in a while they seem to be interested in what the dogs are doing. But they have never shown aggression. I have never had to shock a dog for chasing a coyote but that is one of the reasons I always run the boys with my Alpha on them. But that’s kind of tricky. If you stimulate a dog on a coyote, will they start being afraid of domestic dogs also? Maybe someone has had a similar situation and could give an answer.

I do know that coyotes are mating right now. But the pair usually stay alone. Three makes a crowd. 9 weeks from now the bitch will be having pups and if you get close to the den she will let you know. I’ve had coyotes do everything they can to get you to follow them away from the den. She’ll yip and bark at you and will try and get the dogs to pursue her. This girl did exactly that a few years back.

She acted like she had no fear of us staying within 100 yards and taunting the dogs to chase. I figured she must have a den near by and eventually found it. These pups were too young to be out of the den and would have been a prime meal for another predator.

You can tell by this picture that they can’t see well yet.

How can something this cute cause as much damage as they sometimes do. After our encounter, I took the dogs home and took my grandson back to the den so he could see the pups. They were all gone. Mom had taken them to a new den somewhere.

Tim, I hope that was a once in a life time encounter. It’s pretty easy to tell that there are lot’s of coyotes out there in chukar country. Just look at all the tracks after a new snow. Most of the time they are out there just looking for an easy meal and don’t have much of an impact on chukars. But when they turn on the dogs that can’t be a fun thing to hear or see. Hopefully Cambree learned that coyotes aren’t her buddies.