Coyote Attack

[wulf42]

Sad news to out of Cape Breton a woman was attacked by two Coyotes and she died

early this morning in Halifax, maybe it's time the Federal Government makes mandatory

to carry personal protection such as Bear spray while in National Parks! Seems wildlife

attacks are on the rise these days.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1149776.html

[wulf42]

posted twice for some reason............sorry!

[fellowtraveller]

I do not ever recall hearing of coyotes attacking a person, much less killing one.

[wulf42]

I do not ever recall hearing of coyotes attacking a person, much less killing one.

Until i read the story (which is in my link) i have never heard of it either....but not only

did these two Coyotes attack this woman they did it as a team unusual for coyotes

they normally hunt alone.

[ToadBrother]

Until i read the story (which is in my link) i have never heard of it either....but not only

did these two Coyotes attack this woman they did it as a team unusual for coyotes

they normally hunt alone.

It's rare but not unheard of.

[madmax]

Until i read the story (which is in my link) i have never heard of it either....but not only

did these two Coyotes attack this woman they did it as a team unusual for coyotes

they normally hunt alone.

I have not heard of Coyotes attacking people unless rabid. However, as I have many packs of Coyotes in and around my property, I can assure you they travel and hunt in packs. This is a wakeup call for certain. The poor woman.. tragic Edited October 28, 2009 by madmax

[fellowtraveller]

Until i read the story (which is in my link) i have never heard of it either....but not only

did these two Coyotes attack this woman they did it as a team unusual for coyotes

they normally hunt alone.

Not in Alberta, coyotes often hunt in pairs here. I've observed them efficiently dispatching much larger farm dogs using this style, and groups hunting mice in fields. But not people.......

[wulf42]

It's rare but not unheard of.

I used to deer hunt alot and only saw a Coyote once...he turned tailed and booted it out of there

they are normally skittish but this attack makes you wonder, wildlife are getting to comfortable around

man! not a healthy situation.

[wulf42]

Not in Alberta, coyotes often hunt in pairs here. I've observed them efficiently dispatching much larger farm dogs using this style, and groups hunting mice in fields. But not people.......

The only thing i can figure is maybe they are mating with domestic dogs breeding a different

species more wolf like.

[Keepitsimple]

Ironically, my wife came home from the horsefarm last night and said that one of fellow horse people - a lady - was out walking her dog along with a puppy in the back fields and she was "surrounded" by 5 coyotes. She apparently scared them off. Though stories are prone to exaggeration, multiple coyotes are common on the property. The concern is that coyotes do not have a "pack" mentality - they are reclusive - but it's known that some coyotes interbreed with dogs and the genetic transfer could very well breed a pack mentality - and a more aggressive coyote.

[wulf42]

Ironically, my wife came home from the horsefarm last night and said that one of fellow horse people - a lady - was out walking her dog along with a puppy in the back fields and she was "surrounded" by 5 coyotes. She apparently scared them off. Though stories are prone to exaggeration, multiple coyotes are common on the property. The concern is that coyotes do not have a "pack" mentality - they are reclusive - but it's known that some coyotes interbreed with dogs and the genetic transfer could very well breed a pack mentality - and a more aggressive coyote.

And a bigger one too! i seen in the news Coyotes are much larger than normal

in the east for some reason, Dog or bear spray might be a good idea walking in the woods

Edited October 28, 2009 by wulf42

[madmax]

The concern is that coyotes do not have a "pack" mentality - they are reclusive - but it's known that some coyotes interbreed with dogs and the genetic transfer could very well breed a pack mentality - and a more aggressive coyote.

Ok, that makes the circle. We also have a number of wild dog packs in the region. But I am in Ontario. I have no idea if this is hte case on Cape Breton.

[ToadBrother]

I have not heard of Coyotes attacking people unless rabid. However, as I have many packs of Coyotes in and around my property, I can assure you they travel and hunt in packs. This is a wakeup call for certain. The poor woman.. tragic

My understanding (and it isn't much) is that where coyotes are forced to live in more dense populations, you will see pack behavior more reminiscent of dogs and wolves, but generally, where wide ranges are available, coyotes will tend to be solitary hunters, feeding mainly off of small prey.

[Moonbox]

I was going to make a bankruptcy joke but then I thought it would be inappropriate. Oops.

[wulf42]

I was going to make a bankruptcy joke but then I thought it would be inappropriate. Oops.

Some idiot on the radio this morning said we should introduce road runners to Cape Breton

i guess in reference to bugs bunny...it might have been funny if someone hadn t died.

[Moonbox]

Yeah I don't know why that got into my head

[wyly]

coyotes have attacked before but usually kids, this the first time I've heard of a death, it's obviously a rare occurance...

they do hunt in pairs, male and female...and packs as well but these are likely a mating pair plus offspring...

normally timid you can chase them away easily enough but I always kept an eye on them when my kids were around...

[Guest TrueMetis]

Around here it's fairly common to see coyote packs but they run if you get anywere near them. No one is stupid enough to feed them and more than a couple of people will shoot them. It's very odd that they would attack a person let alone kill. This might piss off a couple of people but the best Idea is probably to kill some. Even if you don't get the ones that attacked, it will create a larger range for the remaining ones makeing an attack much less likely.

As for breeding with dogs it's entirely possible one of my dogs look quite a lot like a coyote. Although she very timid and I can't imagine her harming anyone.

Edited October 28, 2009 by TrueMetis

[wulf42]

Around here it's fairly common to see coyote packs but they run if you get anywere near them. No one is stupid enough to feed them and more than a couple of people will shoot them. It's very odd that they would attack a person let alone kill. This might piss off a couple of people but the best Idea is probably to kill some. Even if you don't get the ones that attacked, it will create a larger range for the remaining ones makeing an attack much less likely.

As for breeding with dogs it's entirely possible one of my dogs look quite a lot like a coyote. Although she very timid and I can't imagine her harming anyone.

This may only be a one time occurence...the Police shot one of the animals and they are

checking for Rabies although i doubt two would have it...i think they saw her as easy prey

and attacked....very sad !!

[Wilber]

Sad story but in reality one is probably hundreds of times more likely to be killed by a domestic dog than a coyote.

[Molly]

Two cents worth: Some naturalist pointed out that as coyotes repopulated east, there was some element of cross-breeding with wolves, so the eastern coyotes are larger and (possibly) more aggressive than the ones most of us are familiar with. That sounds credible to me.

The additional suggestion was that these were likely very young ones, and it was a product of incompetent hunting/survival/judgement skills more than anything else.

[fellowtraveller]

Two cents worth: Some naturalist pointed out that as coyotes repopulated east, there was some element of cross-breeding with wolves, so the eastern coyotes are larger and (possibly) more aggressive than the ones most of us are familiar with. That sounds credible to me.

The additional suggestion was that these were likely very young ones, and it was a product of incompetent hunting/survival/judgement skills more than anything else.

You must have missed the part that points put there are no wolves in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, so recent cross breeding is extremely unlikely.

[Molly]

No one said 'recent'.

Read the intro pages to this:

http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/publ...coyotenews2.pdf

It speaks of the migration of coyotes, and mentions the possible/likely interbreeding during the migration, as well as adaption. The coyotes of Eastern Canada are a substantially different creature from those of the plains.

[fellowtraveller]

No one said 'recent'.

Read the intro pages to this:

http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/publ...coyotenews2.pdf

It speaks of the migration of coyotes, and mentions the possible/likely interbreeding during the migration, as well as adaption. The coyotes of Eastern Canada are a substantially different creature from those of the plains.

The migration/possible wolf crossbreeding took place long ago, why haven't there been many instances of coyote atacks on humans in Eastern Canada?

I have my doubts that there is much crossbreeding between dogs and coyotes in the wild, the normal reaction of coyotes to domestic dogs is sudden death for the dogs.

There are 16 subspecies of coyotes , and the differences are not 'substantial'. The size difference is considerable between say, Mexican coytotes and Eastern coyotes, but the differences between Canadian subspecies are not dramatic.

What is 'adaption'?

[Molly]

The migration/possible wolf crossbreeding took place long ago, why haven't there been many instances of coyote atacks on humans in Eastern Canada?

Probably because coyotes are disinclined to hunt in packs all that much, are basically pretty skittish, and prefer tiny game to large game... but that's been covered. It's an odd event. We are talking minute shades of inclination, not hyenas vs. kitty-cats.

I have my doubts that there is much crossbreeding between dogs and coyotes in the wild, the normal reaction of coyotes to domestic dogs is sudden death for the dogs.

There are 16 subspecies of coyotes , and the differences are not 'substantial'. The size difference is considerable between say, Mexican coytotes and Eastern coyotes, but the differences between Canadian subspecies are not dramatic.

Fine googling there. I can tell you, though, that the coyotes that live here (Georgian Bay area) are noticeably larger than the coyotes of southern Saskatchewan.

What is 'adaption'?

A two-letter typo.... but you knew that. (Or at least I hope you did.)