Coyote

[Ron Kruger]

Coyotes are about the toughest animals I've ever tried to photograph. They're notcutrnal and they are extremely sly and cautious. I was very fortunate one day to get extremely close (too close really) to a coyote a few days ago. But the wind was right and he was preoccupied with trailing something.

[OldClicker]

Good shot. Really shows off his camo.

The trick with coyotes seems to be to quit trying to capture them in the wilderness and set up shop in the suburbs where they are half tame. I've seen them in my yard (though never with camera) in the middle of the day. They have really moved in around here (Chicagoland). A result: A few years ago we would see over a dozen rabbits scurrying away every time we drove in the driveway at night. Now, I see maybe one rabbit a month.

TF

[Ron Kruger]

Yes, I know. I did a story last year about "Pet's That Go Missing." Documented cases of them snatching small dogs and cats from back yards are becoming common in suburban areas.
A story I did a couple of years ago about coyotes, foxes and bobcats was titled "A Rabbit Doesn't Have A Chance," and unless the fur trade comes back, it doesn't matter how much habitat we put aside, or how well we manage it for upland species, these predators are going to treat them like fast-food restaurants. Bobcats really devastate the bird populations.

[spiraleyes]

That's a winner of a shot! Thanks for sharing!

[WildlifeNate]

Yes, I know. I did a story last year about "Pet's That Go Missing." Documented cases of them snatching small dogs and cats from back yards are becoming common in suburban areas.
A story I did a couple of years ago about coyotes, foxes and bobcats was titled "A Rabbit Doesn't Have A Chance," and unless the fur trade comes back, it doesn't matter how much habitat we put aside, or how well we manage it for upland species, these predators are going to treat them like fast-food restaurants. Bobcats really devastate the bird populations.

You're getting at a major issue with predator ecology. In many areas, bobcats and coyotes are now the keystone predators, and they typically go for the small prey. We've largely excluded the true keystone predators (wolves and mountain lions), and those predators tend to exclude bobcats and coyotes (and in some cases will just kill them outright).

That's an outstanding picture. I've had a couple of reasonably close encounters with coyotes (even with my camera handy), but they caught wind of me and took off before I could finalize the shot.

[paulnj]

Very nice shot. I know of atleast 8 den sites within miles of me in NJ and have never heard complaints of pets being taken, but people don't report cats missing too often.

[Ron Kruger]

The reports are coming in from all across the nation because people are beginning to actually witness coyotes snatching their pet in their back yards. What my articles ask is how many pets that go missing are actually snatched by coyotes. Many think maybe someone picked up their pet and took it home, or it got hit by a car, etc., but biologists believe from examining coyote scat that domestic pet are making up a larger part of a coyote's diet in areas where they have encroached upon suburban areas.

[Ron Kruger]

I can post a copy of my article here, if you like.

[paulnj]

I believe what you are saying as I have seen a few coyotes take cats in western states, but most of those I see are on a 3200 acres private parcel of land that was kill free for 80+ years. The property has enough "meadow voles" to sustain over 80 wintering owls, 40+ foxes, 100+ wintering hawks / falcons. It's a rare place for sure.

please do post those findings though, knowledge is always appreciated.

[Ron Kruger]

Coyote Capers And House Cat Concerns
By Ron Kruger
Pets that go missing have always been something of a mystery, but as urban sprawl and an unchecked proliferation of coydogs collide, evidence of coyotes killing family pets is mounting.
Last winter, residents of Mesa, AZ reported a rash of missing pets. At first the Mesa residents weren’t sure what was ravaging their cuddly pals, until one of them saw a coyote loping down a well-lighted street with a white cat in its mouth. She said she noticed it because a bell on the dead cat’s color was tinkling as the coyote trotted along.
A lady who lives near the Alvamar golf course in Lawrence, Kansas, regularly let her cat wander the neighborhood at night. One night the cat failed to return, but she did notice a coyote visiting her back yard. After spreading the news, she learned that 10 of her neighbors had also lost pets and seen coyotes.
A Kentucky farmer once told me he kept a lot of free-ranging cats around to cut down on the rodent population in his grain bins. One year he started hearing coyotes howl at night, and over the winter, he went from having 18 to 20 cats (he wasn’t sure of the exact number) to only one survivor.
Coyotes are savvy and elusive predators. You often hear them yipping to celebrate a kill at night, but you seldom see them during the day. Their regular menu includes field rodents, rabbits and various birds, but they’ll eat just about anything they can manage. When their numbers surpass their natural food sources, they become aggressively resourceful.
Obviously, the hunger of overpopulation is causing coyotes to lose some of their fear of human presence too.
A lady in Kitchener, Ontario, had a habit of letting her cat out for an hour or so each morning. One morning she heard a commotion and opened her door to find her cat perched on a window sill, with a coyote below it. The cat made a dash for the open door, but the coyote was faster, and scooped up the lady’s cat right at her feet.
Authorities in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park recently shot two coyotes after they attacked two leashed dogs being walked by their owner.
Residents of the Seattle, Washington neighborhoods report increased sightings of coyotes sleeping in yards, wandering the streets, and howling in reply to every police or fire siren. Along with the increased sightings, reports of missing cats and small dogs have increased accordingly.
It’s not that coyotes are getting bolder. They’re just becoming more desperate to sustain their bulging populations.
All across the nation, coyote populations have swelled to unprecedented numbers mainly because of a politically correct Walt Disney idea of conservation. Animal rights activists have gradually given society the impression that all wild animals are just like good hearted people who can’t talk, except of course, on TV, and they seem to think wild predators are all cuddly critters who just haven’t been petted enough yet.
But these idealists are learning the hard way that real predators are not like any of the anthropomorphized Disney characters. With horrifying naturalism, predators are invading their back yards and snatching their precious pets.
The truth is, these creatures kill without sentimental conscience. They’re not evil, either. They simply make their living by eating smaller animals, which, in a pinch, includes smaller doggie delights and cat snacks.
The real problem is, in the natural scheme of thing coyotes are way out of control. The idea of pragmatic predator control went out the window during the 1970s, when “animal lovers” started throwing buckets of paint on people who wore coats made of animal fur. When fur lost fashion, all incentive to harvest and control coyotes went with it. In an ironic twist, the only thing that can stem the overpopulation of coyotes today is a renewed demand for fur. If more people wore coyote coats, our pitifully small upland game populations would make an amazing rebound as well.
As it stands, however, fur is still unfashionable. And coyotes are becoming so numerous their range is expanding into the backyards of suburban homebodies, where it seems that Wiley Coyote is much better at catching Felix The Cat than he was at catching the Roadrunner.
We might like to fantasize that some other animal lover snatched and adopted our missing pet along a roadway, but it is becoming increasingly clear that our wandering loved ones most likely meet a violent death from a fang-toothed marauder with a taste for pet flesh.

[scott-devon]

Wonderful shot Ron, it really stands out since the coyote isn't aware of you and is acting naturally. Most shots of coyotes feature them with a watchful eye on the photographer, they are extremely hard to catch unaware.

Cats in our neighbourhood are definitely on the menu for the local coyotes and the local vet has warnings posted in his clinic.

[paulnj]

Awesome write up. I asked a friend today about the feral cat issues over on that property I mentioned..... went from 100 captured cats a year easily down to 15-20 last year.

feral cats are a problem with nesting grassland birds in my area, but they now seem under control in my area.

Hunters in NJ kill every coyote they see, or atleast those I know do.

[Ron Kruger]

Hey Paul,
I've talked with biologists about this, and none of them really thinks hunting or hunters can have any real impact upon the out-of-balance coyote population. All of them I talked with say that only the incentive of a renewed fur trade and high prices for coyote pelts would have an impact, an even then, they doubt that would bring them under control.
Because coyotes are the most elusive animal in the wilds, most people don't even know how many are around, except for hearing them yelp at night.
Feral cats have always been a problem, and even housecats that still have their claws kill a lot of song birds on their daily rounds, but the tremendous increase of furbearers (foxes, bobcats, coons and coyotes) are what is really causing the present problem.

[paulnj]

I agree with you as a whole, but the property I speak of is not typical and people drop cats off there alot.

A coworker has trapped every winter for 25+ years and got very few coyotes, but many foxes. He gave up because pelts don't pay for gas some days and his trap line was over a hundred miles long.