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I was originally asked the question "What is the best way
to protect my dogs against coyotes while I am out walking my
dogs in the morning". I posted this question to
two other lists and two groups on Facebook to which I belong.
I received over 150 ideas in just two days, so I did a bit of
research. The one best answer I received sent me in search
of experts and helped me to add the information below. I
will add more as I find out more. Right now this is
centralized in the high desert area of Northern Nevada, but I
feel this would be good ideas for almost all areas that coyotes
have become problems in human occupied areas.
BEST BET WOULD BE TO CALL LOCAL WILDLIFE OR RANGER OFFICERS +
EVEN SEVERAL VETS?
This was the very best suggestion I had.
I talked to the Nevada Division of wildlife and did some
searching on their web site. The web site gave very good ideas
on how to deter coyotes, but not how to protect yourself. This
is their link:
http://www.ndow.org/wild/concerns/safety/coyote/
When I called the department I talked both to the coyote problem
dispatcher and a wildlife ranger. Both were very helpful and
these are some of the things I found out:
Coyotes are much more common in congested areas that are close
to the desert. They are brazen and feel very comfortable coming
into a housing development since they have found food there.
They do not stick to their early morning or late night
wandering. They enter occupied areas at any time. In fact, this
morning we left the ranch at 10:00am and headed to town. After
we crossed the hill into the heavier occupied areas we spotted a
large, healthy coyote crossing the road in front of us headed
back to the open area.
The most prevalent suggestions were to use mace, or pepper
spray. This was also said by the ranger. Carrying a big stick,
golf club or anything else you can wave over your head while you
scream should scare the coyote away. Although they are happy
coming into human areas, they do not like to be confronted. They
also suggested you call them if you have a consistent coyote
problem. As for the tazer, it was suggested many times, but the
ranger felt by the time you saw the coyote then got the dogs
under control that it might be too late for the tazer to make a
difference. Now for the gun, that was a favorite suggestion.
Many of us live on ranches and can use a gun to rid themselves
of bothersome coyotes. This was supported by the ranger, but NOT
in the city. In Nevada you can not fire a gun in a congested
area, or in the city limits, so that puts you out there.
One more question I asked was how to tell if the coyote was sick
or possibly had rabies. First lets attack the rabies. It is
quite rare that coyotes in this area get rabies and you would be
able to tell if you had a sick coyote in front of you. A healthy
coyote would be very intent on getting a job done, kind of like
your herding dog while herding. The ears will be up, the tail
raised and not down towards the ground and the coyote will be
concentrating intently on what it is going to do, it will be
aware of its surroundings.
A sick coyote will look sick, be confused and be having a hard
time with concentration. Lets say the coyote has rabies. The
coyote will go through about 4 steps before he becomes very
dangerous. When he does he will have a very confused look about
and his gait will be wobbly. In the last stage the brain swells
and the coyote will be in a very painful situation. The ears
will more than likely be droopy, the tail down and the coyote
will not really be looking to attack you, but you may have just
gotten into its way. The head will be swollen, the eyes bulging,
the mouth will be foaming and the coyote will look very sick.
These coyotes will be slow and you should head for home or
shelter ASAP, then call the rangers.
Unfortunately it seems like coyotes adapted too well to humans
encroaching into their territory. They find that people leave
food out for them to get. They especially find a great snack in
cats and small dogs, they get chickens, ducks and most other
fowl that they can find. Once adapted to these areas the best
thing you can do it to make the coyote afraid of humans and try
to scare them out of your area.
So .. don't be too afraid of coyotes as they have learned to
glean from us. Scare them with a large stick or spray them with
a pepper spray. A gun is OK if you are in a country environment,
but not in the city. There is no limit on the number of coyotes
you can kill in Nevada, but just don't fire that gun in the
city. If you have any problems with coyotes in your area, call
the Wildlife department. They will not control the coyote
population, but will try to remove persistent coyotes that are
actually bothering you. The best thing you can do is make it
uncomfortable for the coyote to want to come into your area.
I could not find any scent or spray that can be put on the dogs
to help protect them, but I did find a lot of suggestions for
sprays that are used to keep dogs out of the garden or away from
a certain area, but I would not put those sprays ON your dogs.
Hope this helps. I will also post it on my "links & information"
page on my web site. |
