Killed by Coyotes? - NGW - spoilers

2810 Views 24 Replies 12 Participants Last post by sieglinde, Jan 7, 2012

BlueMerle

Discussion Starter · Jan 3, 2012

I was blown away by this documentary. It examined the case of the first ever recorded adult killed by coyotes. It happened recently in Cape Breton NP in Canada. (Think Nova Scotia / P.E.I area)

A 19 y/o girl was hiking alone and was severely mauled and died later that day. A couple that had just passed her on the trail actually took pictures of two of the coyotes that went on to attack her creepy.

Authorities killed 7 coyotes in the vicinity and were able to link 3 of them to the attack. One because of human remains in the stomach. also creepy.

I have lived around coyotes for years and have never seen one be anything but timid in the presence of an adult. I've seen a few younger ones even try to be 'playful' I had to chase one off of a tee box once the damn thing was fascinated by the ball. I've walked through isolated woods late at night having heard coyotes baying nearby and never once worried about them. (Of course when I walk through isolated woods at night I'm heavily armed

)

Their best guess was that this population of coyotes, in a National Park that protects them from human predation, had over time lost their fear of humans.

This is really an interesting show. catch it if you can.

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hummingbird_206

· #2 · Jan 3, 2012

Drat, missed it by an hour. Set the TiVo to pick it up next monday morning. I have coyotes in my back yard all the time.

BlueMerle

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 3, 2012

hummingbird_206 said:
Drat, missed it by an hour. Set the TiVo to pick it up next monday morning. I have coyotes in my back yard all the time.

You're on the west coast right? After seeing this show you'll consider yourself lucky, when it comes to the local coyotes.

Interesting little tidbit from the show... you may want to watch first.. or not.

The coyotes in that part of Canada, and the NE US, have cross bred with wolves!

That was another possible reason they offered for this attack... I just didn't want to completely spoil the whole show. I know in Texas there has been some cross breeding also, I just thought it was a local issue.

Bob Coxner

· #4 · Jan 3, 2012

I'm in Texas and I have lots of coyotes living nearby. I hear them frequently at night but I've only seen them in daylight on rare occasions. I don't have the slightest concern about them as a danger. The only change to my lifestyle is it means my cat has to live indoors 100% of the time. He would be a coyote appetizer within hours.

BlueMerle

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 3, 2012

Bob Coxner said:
I'm in Texas and I have lots of coyotes living nearby. I hear them frequently at night but I've only seen them in daylight on rare occasions. I don't have the slightest concern about them as a danger. The only change to my lifestyle is it means my cat has to live indoors 100% of the time. He would be a coyote appetizer within hours.

I'm in Texas also, and I share your feelings about coyotes. That is why this show blew me away. It's behavior I've never heard of from coyotes... and there is some 'expert' from some university in Ohio that was just a blown away by what happened here.

I think that's what makes it such an interesting event.

hummingbird_206

· #6 · Jan 3, 2012

BlueMerle said:
You're on the west coast right? After seeing this show you'll consider yourself lucky, when it comes to the local coyotes.

Interesting little tidbit from the show... you may want to watch first.. or not.

The coyotes in that part of Canada, and the NE US, have cross bred with wolves! That was another possible reason they offered for this attack... I just didn't want to completely spoil the whole show. I know in Texas there has been some cross breeding also, I just thought it was a local issue.

Yep, I'm in the Seattle area. We have lots of coyotes here. Regarding your spoiler info

They are reintroducing wolves in Eastern WA, so probably only a matter of time before that happens here. Did they say if the coyotes that attacked were part wolf?

Sure glad I hadn't heard about this when we were photographing this one on the drive out of Death Valley. I might not have stopped the convertible had I known.

As it was I was a little nervous it would jump in and want to go for a ride.

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BlueMerle

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 3, 2012

hummingbird_206 said:
Yep, I'm in the Seattle area. We have lots of coyotes here. Regarding your spoiler info

They are reintroducing wolves in Eastern WA, so probably only a matter of time before that happens here. Did they say if the coyotes that attacked were part wolf?

Sure glad I hadn't heard about this when we were photographing this one on the drive out of Death Valley. I might not have stopped the convertible had I known. As it was I was a little nervous it would jump in and want to go for a ride.

From what I understand, and I may be wrong, wolves and coyotes won't interbreed as long as there is a breeding population of their own species available. Honestly, I don't think you have to be too worried about coyotes. Don't corner one or something like that, but usually they want nothing to do with people.

The show mentions that all coyotes in eastern Canada and NE US have wolf DNA. Meaning that at some point there was some interbreeding. So, yes the coyotes that attacked her did have wolf DNA.

retrodog

· #8 · Jan 3, 2012

Well at least she was successful at getting back into nature.

Yeah, that's right, I said it.

In any case, glad to see they destroyed them before they could tell anyone else how good we tasted.

Ment

· #9 · Jan 3, 2012

Coyotes are probably the leading cause of non-human pet death here around here especially cats. They don't fear humans at all and if you have kids keeps them close by when walking in open space.

ihatecable

· #10 · Jan 3, 2012

OK, we where talking in the office discussing how many Coyotes you could take on. The general consensus is about 3 Coyotes. Although since I have a bit of martial arts experience I think I could take on four maybe five if I am lucky.

BlueMerle

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 3, 2012

ihatecable said:
OK, we where talking in the office discussing how many Coyotes you could take on. The general consensus is about 3 Coyotes. Although since I have a bit of martial arts experience I think I could take on four maybe five if I am lucky.

Ok... LOL!

Sorry, but if even one coyote attacked you you'd be in a serious sh*t storm. Not saying that you couldn't inflict enough damage to change his mind... but if you didn't you're the loser. 2 coyotes... you need a gun... or a steel cage.

ihatecable

· #12 · Jan 3, 2012

Coyotes are only about the size of a border collie and they dont have that much of a bite. Now if we are talking a wolf that's another question,lol

BlueMerle

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 3, 2012

I hope for your sake you never have to find out the truth. Comparing a wild coyote to a domestic dog is apples and oranges. And I'd wager that if you were attacked by a Border Collie you'd be injured severely.

A coyote is not that much smaller or less fierce than a wolf. The difference is coyotes usually hunt alone or with one other coyote. Wolves hunt in packs.

One thing you can do though is buy some coyote urine, sprinkle a bit in your lawn then let the dogs out and see how they respond. A single coyote will rip any dog to shreds.

Thankfully both usually have a fear of humans. I for one would like to keep it that way.

Howie

· #14 · Jan 3, 2012

I haven't really seen them around San Antonio much, but where I lived before, in Marin County, CA, you didn't dare let your cat outside.

ihatecable

· #15 · Jan 4, 2012

BlueMerle said:
I hope for your sake you never have to find out the truth. Comparing a wild coyote to a domestic dog is apples and oranges. And I'd wager that if you were attacked by a Border Collie you'd be injured severely.

A coyote is not that much smaller or less fierce than a wolf. The difference is coyotes usually hunt alone or with one other coyote. Wolves hunt in packs.

One thing you can do though is buy some coyote urine, sprinkle a bit in your lawn then let the dogs out and see how they respond. A single coyote will rip any dog to shreds.

Thankfully both usually have a fear of humans. I for one would like to keep it that way.

I was using the comparison for size purposes not tenacity. If I was going for that I would have compared the aggression somewhere between a German Shepherd and an Akita. As far as a dog against a Coyote, Id put my money on my 120lb Akita that I use to own, lets just say she didnt work and play well with other dogs & animals.

Gary McCoy

· #16 · Jan 4, 2012

Wolves, Coyotes, and the 5,000 or so varieties of dogs are basicly capable of interbreeding, meaning that they bear a subspecies relationship.

This was brought home to me when I spent a year in the Western Arctic area of Alaska in my early 20's. Our USCG LORAN-C transmitting station shared a long peninsula that thrust out into the Arctic Ocean with a group of nomadic Inuits (aka Eskimos). They spent the Summer camped around us, returning to the ice each Fall.

The Inuit dogs interbred freely with the wolves. You could not tell from looking at an animal whether it was a dog or a wolf. The dogs hung around the Inuit camp all Summer and willingly became sled dogs each Fall when the ice froze. The wolves hunted everything including humans in packs.

I believe the Inuits sorted them out by behavior. I believe we were witnessing how the dog species originated. But there absolutely were smaller animals that looked like dogs and behaved like wolves, and there were larger animals that looked like wolves that behaved like dogs. The larger dogs were more prized as sled dogs.

To the one confirmed incident of coyotes attacking a human, you could add thousands of incidents where feral dogs have attacked humans. I absolutely do think that this aspect of canine behavior is genetic, but I do not believe it is linked to the animal's appearance as the dog or coyote or wolf subspecies. The dog instincts to cooperate with humans are weaker in some animals. Truly savage dogs are put to death by owners or animal control officers on a daily basis. Feral dogs arise occasionally in most dog breeds.

By the way, coyotes share the hill above my house, which area is a county park. But these coyotes are shy - all you ever see when hiking is one rapidly disappearing over the next hilltop. But I would not let my kids play on that hill if they were small.

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ihatecable

· #17 · Jan 4, 2012

Now these guys I would 'nt want to mess with... it seems like they can peer into my soul,lol

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Chris Gerhard

· #18 · Jan 4, 2012

Humans often kill coyotes but this is the first time I have ever heard of the opposite happening. I have seen hundreds of coyotes in the wild, sometimes within a few hundred yards of my home but never seen one that wanted anything to do with me. There have been a lot of stories about Coyotes getting much bolder as their habitat shrinks and they must hunt closer to human populations.

A few years ago when I was camping with our two little Yorkshire Terriers, a couple of people related stories of coyotes boldly taking small pets from campsites and told me to be careful. I assumed they heard the stories from someone who heard the stories from someone that had made the stories up but I kept the dogs on a short leash anyway.

sieglinde

· #19 · Jan 4, 2012

I had heard about the wolf-coyote hybrids on another show about invasive species that covered coyotes in general and then touched on the coyotes that had bred with wolves. They are larger than the ones you find in the SouthWest and are more aggressive towards humans.

allan

· #20 · Jan 4, 2012

A friend of my mom used to live out in the boondocks, and he said that it was common for cats to "disappear" from yards, and the coyotes were licking their chops.

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