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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCoyote Pack Chases Puppy into Home, Smashes Door
Last edited Sun Jan 27, 2013, 01:47 AM - Edit history (1)
A pack of coyotes chasing after a puppy broke several panes of glass in the door of a home in a suburb of Chicago Friday as they tried to chase the dog into the house.
"I've never seen anything quite like this," Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said of the attack on South Herbert Road, Riverside, about a mile from the Des Plaines River.
Dog owner Roger Nelson said it was about 4 a.m. when he let his three dogs -- a beagle, a golden retriever and a German shepherd puppy -- out into the yard.
He said his pups barely made it out of the door when the pack of coyotes came charging. The coyotes -- Nelson said there were four of them --came from the bushes and easily cleared a fence.
"That's about a three-and-a-half foot fence. I mean, they jumped it, no issues at all," he said.
Nelson said he hurried the dogs back inside. They made it, but the coyotes didn't let up.
Cont'd at the link: http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Coyote-Pack-Chases-Puppy-into-Home-Smashes-Door-188488401.html
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Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)that is just wrong
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)natural behavior.
Do you support the concept of placing livestock such as pigs on trial if they harm a human just like was done in the Dark Ages????
Nothing immoral or "wrong" whatsoever about a predator hunting prey.
elleng
(130,946 posts)a Chicago suburb!!!
surrealAmerican
(11,361 posts)... or even in the city, itself.
That must have been damn frightening for the owner, and the dogs too.
elleng
(130,946 posts)Glad I left Chicago (40 years ago!)
Ellipsis
(9,124 posts)both time in Milwaukee... just ambling by.
ProgressiveProfessor
(22,144 posts)
Lugnut
(9,791 posts)The woods are just behind our rear property line. A neighbor told my husband that there's a coyote den not very far from our rear property boundary. If we sit out on the porch at night we can hear them howling.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)it's hard to convince my grandkids that the woods are safe when they hear those guys out there at night. You can hear them from far away. Traveling in a pack, howling, getting closer. I know they will kill pets so we have to be real careful on letting them out to do their business at night.
Then I think we have a fox den too. Sometimes I can hear the pups yelping like the mother is leaving to come get my chickens for dinner.
womanofthehills
(8,712 posts)Coyote packs go thru here every night and sometimes in the day. My animals are pretty coyote savvy but I still worry. My chickens are fenced and I lock them in at night. One night a racoon came in my doggie door and was coming up the stairs to my bedroom when my dog went ballistic. Country living ...........
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)We have considered putting in a doggie door and wondered if that would ever happen. We don't have much trouble in the daytime. Our chickens and ducks free range til they go in and roost. We lock them in then. Their pen has chicken wire all the way around including the roof and floor. It has held up so far with nothing getting in the pen.
Mostly raccoons and hawks are the main chicken predators we have to deal with, but sometimes in previous years we have had a fox in the daytime.
Fortunately so far, the coyote have announced when they are out running so we haven't had any problems. But when we hear them running, we pity whatever poor critter they run into.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)
bluedigger
(17,086 posts)
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)who obsessed over killing wolves. When they did, the coyote population exploded.
So then they turned their attention to killing coyotes instead. Not knowing that when coyote populations are under stress, they breed more often and have bigger litters.
So coyotes have massively extended their range, and, I believe, can now be found in all of the Lower 48 states. I'm not sure about Alaska.
2on2u
(1,843 posts)
RudynJack
(1,044 posts)dressed provocatively?
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Good one. 
RandiFan1290
(6,235 posts)Whoda thunk?
Ellipsis
(9,124 posts)
Make7
(8,543 posts)If you want copy this and paste it into your OP...
[div style="margin-left:1em; color:#000066;"]http://media.ksee24.com/images/335%2A264/Coyote%2BPack%2BSmashes%2BDoor.JPG
Cirque du So-What
(25,939 posts)Aside from the issue of air leaks, they're butt-ugly as well.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Bigmack
(8,020 posts).. there are at least 2,000 coyotes in Chicago.
I've been doing naturalist presentations on coyotes for the last few years, and I'm seeing reports of coyotes getting bolder and bolder.
In the northeast, they have crossed with wolves, and sometimes run to 75 lbs!
Only two coyote-caused deaths since record-keeping began in the 1970's.
Much... MUCH.. greater chance of being attacked by dogs, but still... they are getting bolder. Breeding season coming up, so a lot of times you have a female in estrus and some males following her... hence the larger "packs".
Their range has spread to all of North America, and I personally think their numbers have increased to such an extent that competition for food is making them bolder in search of food.
They will take pets. If you let your cat out... it's only a matter of time. Small dogs better be on a leash... at least you have a chance in a tug-of-war. Big dogs are somewhat safer, but the coyotes will gang up on them.
If you think your dog is tough.... well, he is. He's the toughest kid on the chess team. Coyotes are the rugby team.
Ultimately, there is nothing we can do but adapt to them. Sounds terrible, but they are damned smart and damned adaptable. If you shoot, trap or poison them, they just learn to avoid the traps, hunters, and poison and kick their reproduction up to make up the losses.
When I walk, I carry a stick and an attitude.... mostly for dogs, but ready for coyotes, too.
Mosby
(16,317 posts)My experience is that coyotes are very cautious, though they don't mind being around humans; that is where these problems stem from.
Bigmack
(8,020 posts)UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)They do it very quickly. Coyotes are like gang bangers. They sre tough in a pack of buddies but not so much when alone
Bigmack
(8,020 posts)... cuz coyotes can run 42 mph.
I gotta point out that those suckers learn. I've had neighbors that lost a German Shepherd who followed that one coyote ... to be met by 5 more.
Lotta meat on a big dog.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)My dogs are german imports bred for boar and bear as well as blood trailing. They are large but not huge. Coyotes are a
Fast but have poor endurance. Jagtterriers are the most fearless coyote dogs I have seen but they aretoo small
Larkspur
(12,804 posts)Wolves are coyotes natural enemy. I live in CT and the last known wolf in the state was killed by Revolutionary warn hero Israel Putnam in the Pomfret area by in the 18th century years before that war. No wolf has been officially spotted in CT that I know of.
Prior to the white man's settlement of the West, wolves ate coyotes and kept the latter's territory in the Southwest USA. After ranchers and farmers decimated the wolf population, the natural check on coyote roaming and breeding was removed and the coyotes have been expanding their territory since.
If coyotes are cross breeding, it's most likely with feral dogs than wolves.
And the pack of coyotes in this news story was in the midst of prime hunting time. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if they were starving or at least one had rabies.
Bigmack
(8,020 posts).... of crossbreeding. Lots of evidence with wolves and dogs... both.
Scientists are now calling the whole wild canid gene pool as "canis soupus"... a soup of dog, coyote, and wolf genes.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32976657/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/coyote-wolf-new-breed-predator/
http://www.earthtimes.org/conservation/coyote-crossbreeding-threatens-wolf-survival/1524/
How do wolves and coyotes interbreed..? Think Romeo and Juliet. Seldom, but if this reeeeealy horny boy wolf falls in love with this reeeeely horny girl coyote in heat......
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts).... And has a large chain of forest preserves near by. Also the Desplaines River and Salt Creek provide even more wooded banks to travel by.
My buddy has a place in Michigan and he says the coyotes are getting bolder. He had a pack waiting for him and his dog at the end of the driveway. He thinks they want his dog. He has a big tough Tree Walking Coon Hound who is, in her own way, a killer. But he knows they would wear her down.
He thinks things have gotten worse since the neighbor farmer but out poison. My buddy now has to keep his dog on leash all day due to the poison as she is a hound and would find it.
My buddy recently adopted a sickly stray cat that he nursed back to health. He can't have the cat in the house because he is deathly allergic. The garage has a small cat door and a heated cat house that is supposedly predator proof - but I still worry about her.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)
tavernier
(12,389 posts)I never heard anyone mention the word coyote outside of a western tv show. Now my friends tell me that the whole state is full of them, as well as the surrounding states.
What is going on?? I think I agree with the Super Coyote theory.
virgogal
(10,178 posts)first one I saw was 10 years ago.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)My favorite breeds. I hope they are ok.
nc4bo
(17,651 posts)Careful eye on pets, livestock and people. Their populations and ranges are increasing and fear of humans decreasing.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6149488/
DJ13
(23,671 posts)Cleita
(75,480 posts)Sunset and early morning are prime time for predators. Keep your pets inside until the sun is well up in the sky. I have seen them during the day but mostly they hunt in the dark.
Bigmack
(8,020 posts)... surrounded by a HUGE state park.
The coyotes haven't been hunted in generations... and generations...
Bold as hell.
Hunt when they want. Howl when they want.
No attacks on humans... except that the dumbshits who feed them sometimes get bit on the hands.
Luckily, they are the small, non-wolf hybrid type.
Dogs are a bigger problem here.
dballance
(5,756 posts)It has been reported in several places for some time that wild animals, including big ones like bear, are coming into the suburbs more to forage because we're ruining their historical habitats and food sources. I doubt this is or will be an isolated incident as climate change continues and as we build more XL pipelines and fracking operations.
Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)Also, if coyote hunt deer, that population is exploding as well, especially in the suburbs. It would be no surprise if coyote then exploded right along with them.
Saw coyote only once where I live. At first thought they were strays, then whey they came close and passed it was clear they weren't dogs. Nose to the ground, and they seemed to glide over the ground, which in the woods where I saw them are filled with rocks, downed branches, holes, you name it, but they just went over all of it like it wasn't there. Resembled skinny German shepherds, but you knew they weren't dogs. Very distinct.
dballance
(5,756 posts)Our ecosystem has evolved over millennia. The predators like the coyotes have their place in it just as much as those cute prancing white-tailed deer and us. We tend to find when we mess with it we muck it up if we're realistic about evaluating our impacts.
mile18blister
(507 posts)And I never heard of a single coyote there, let alone a pack. 
JRLeft
(7,010 posts)kimtjj195_tx
(23 posts)That must have been scary. Hope the puppies were all right.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)Domesticated dogs and cats are easy prey for them. Coyotes are spreading into many suburban areas, areas that have woods mixed in with houses. BTW, welcome to DU.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)They're very determined!
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)
flvegan
(64,408 posts)
DreamGypsy
(2,252 posts)the old coyote or me. A whiskey bottle costs 13 buck, the old prairie moon is free.
A song about one of my favorite old time heroes:
OldDem2012
(3,526 posts)QUOTE:
Chris Banks of Tennessee Valley Wildlife Control, which sells wildlife/pest removal services in North Alabama and Southern Tennessee, said he's probably killed "a couple hundred" coyotes in the last four or five years.
"They are eating a lot of cats," he said. "They are getting braver."
Near a horse ranch in Madison, he used foot traps and caught a male and a female the first night. "If you see their tracks, I can peg 'em."
He figures coyotes live 10 or 12 years with a good food source.
"They are going to keep multiplying and die of old age," he said.
"I caught one that looked like a wolf, and one that was as big as I was," he said. When he held the animal up by its legs, "its head was hanging past my feet." That was near Elk River.
Something else to think about: Banks figures he's killed 40 or 50 bobcats, too.
NBachers
(17,117 posts)They're moving into the city.
Coyotes are no different from rats, mice, raccoons, possums, or whatever--when humans move in they don’t just move out, they adapt. Coyotes are predators--they’re not evil, cruel, or mean. They’re just hungry and doing what nature programmed them to do. Once you understand their motivations, behavior, and techniques they’re not that difficult to deal with if you’re willing to do what’s necessary.
These days I actually like to listen to the coyotes at night, and not having pets anymore I don’t have any reason to bother with them. But, back when I had barn cats that the coyotes thought might be easy meals I found that a 12ga. loaded with #4 buckshot works like magic. Within about 45 yards, if you center up the pattern on them, they drop like they’ve been stuck by lightning. You see the fur fly off the far side as the pattern passes through and they collapse like you turned off a light switch. No crying, no suffering, normally not even a twitch of the tail.
Coyotes aren’t stupid and they have good memories, so the survivors are unlikely to bother you again. Generally, you won’t need to repeat the process for 2 or 3 years until a younger generation decides that the rules don’t apply to them.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 27, 2013, 04:53 PM - Edit history (1)
They aren't just in Roadrunner Country, anymore.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)or be overrun with rodents.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)
ileus
(15,396 posts)
LWolf
(46,179 posts)it doesn't surprise me.
Coyotes are survivors, thriving in a wide variety of environments. I HAVE experienced coyotes stalking dogs before. I've seen coyotes comfortable and confident in towns.
I've also experienced some coyotes that are bolder and more aggressive than the average. I think it's possible that living in close proximity to humans who don't chase them off with buckshot encourages them to get bolder. I know that, where I've lived, you could tell the difference by the difference in their behavior when they encounter humans.
Attacking the door, though; were they starving, or rabid?
sikofit3
(145 posts)This is my first thought also.... here in upstate NY they are everywhere. I hear them at night and have seen some passing through at dusk mostly. We do have a large deer population so they are eating pretty good around here. However, we have a lot of NYC transplants or some with summer homes and they are clearing all the wooded areas and then they are surprised and horrified when wild animals run through their property. This leads to killing them and erecting large deer fences around properties. It breaks my heart because we are invading their territory and fencing them out of their feeding grounds and people wonder why they expand their territory to include residential neighborhoods. In this case however since it was very extreme and peculiar behavior it seems to be, as LWolf pointed out, more related to starving or rabid. I am not familiar with that area and who knows what is going on out there but the animals will keep telling us something is wrong through their uncharacteristic actions. It is a hard thing to think about from both angles.