Coyotes eating neighborhood cats.

[Forgottenone]

I live in Ontario, Canada and we have a healthy population of coyotes here. I have come across them twice so far with my dog which was a 3 year old rottweiler at the time, he is now 4

First Time
We were on a school soccer field simply walking around, the field is was fenced off with the other side of the fence being a small trench then there being a second fence with a large field being there with tall grass. As I was walking around the field with my dog off leash I noticed he stopped right at the fence and was staring across both fences. I walked over looking towards where he was looking and saw nothing, it was only after I nearly reached him that I saw the coyotes eyes then the rest of it staring back at him. Once I said hi to it the thing took off.

Second Time
Was walking my dog on leash and through the neighborhood. Along the main road are houses with no neighbors behind them, only to the sides. As we are walking both of us stopped because between two houses was an empty lot and we saw a coyote about 15 meters away from us. It looked at both of us and we looked at it for a few seconds before it ran towards the field a bit, stopped, looked at us again, then faded into the grass. It looked creepy due to how the light from the light post was shining in its eyes. Like a yellow eyed demon.

Never had an attack but apparently in other areas they have gotten bold to the point of walking on main roads during the day and jumping into yards. I have read that a lady was walking her dog and the coyote tried to get her dog because it was small, only when she picked it up did it go away.

Honestly, unless you have a good strong dog that can defend itself like a rottweiler, pit bull, dobermen, german shepherd, mastiff, or something like those keep a close eye on your pets at all times. Keep them indoors or if you are outdoors with them try to be in a secure place like a fenced off baseball field. I'm personally not worried about one or two when I'm walking my dog, but at night we can hear packs of them howling sometimes and that is the only thing that would worry me.

[Celista]

Hey you're right, ODFW does have jurisdiction. They have the jurisdiction to refer you to a Wildlife Control Operator.

https://www.dfw.state.or.us/wildlife...r_contacts.asp

There's no coyote catchers listed in Portland ... must be a thankless job there. But there's a few in Tualatin and Salem.

I typed out what they told me on the phone. This should be the job of F&W or Animal Control, not sure what we're paying them for. Ignoring a population problem doesn't make it go away. The animal control worker on the phone referred me to the Audobon Society. The Audobon volunteer on the phone laughed and then became angry when I said that I exhausted my local government options and am going to exercise my legal rights to deal with the animal when the city won't. I said too bad.

[Hammerfest]

Better them eating cats than livestock.

[Celista]

You could've been shot by your neighbor. I would never do what you did, someone yelling crazily then knocking on a door in the US could easily be killed. You can even be shot for just knocking on the door if the home owner thought you looked suspicious.

I live in a liberal city where people hate guns and I'm a white young well-dressed female who walks her dog on a regular basis in the neighborhood, most neighbors know me. I was fine. In retrospect I should not have knocked on the door that late at night, if simply due to the late hour.

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Better them eating cats than livestock.

Well they eat those too. I don't know why people keep shitting on cats, outdoor cats are bad for the bird pop but also very good for rodent control, which carry disease. Lots of reasons to keep your cats in but outdoor cats also have benefits, people forget why we kept them around in the first place.

[Ghostpanther]

I typed out what they told me on the phone. This should be the job of F&W or Animal Control, not sure what we're paying them for. Ignoring a population problem doesn't make it go away. The animal control worker on the phone referred me to the Audobon Society. The Audobon volunteer on the phone laughed and then became angry when I said that I exhausted my local government options and am going to exercise my legal rights to deal with the animal when the city won't. I said too bad.

Get a carry conceal license for a handgun and carry it with you on your walks. Several coyotes together are not going to be scared off by your Golden Retriever. Plus you will be ready for the more deadly...humanoid coyote.

[Celista]

Coyote males average 18 to 44 lb (8 to 20 kg) in weight, while females average 15 to 40 lb (7 to 18 kg), though size varies geographically. Northern subspecies, which average 40 lb (18 kg), tend to grow larger than the southern subspecies of Mexico, which average 25 lb (11.5 kg)

Are you sure it was not a small wolf? Or you may have come across a cross breed. Coyotes do cross breed with feral dogs and wolves even. Not unheard of.

Here, we just shoot them if they are seen out in the daylight. Which is rare.

Yeah, I think it's a hyrbrid or a very large male. I thought it was a dog initially and is much larger than other coyotes I've seen in Portland so leaning towards hybrid.

[Celista]

Get a carry conceal license for a handgun and carry it with you on your walks. Several coyotes together are not going to be scared off by your Golden Retriever. Plus you will be ready for the more deadly...humanoid coyote.

I'm not adverse, a couple of female friends want to get together and take shooting lessons. Probably this summer. Unfortunately though it is illegal to shoot a gun within city limits so someone suggested bait + bow and arrow. I might try that. Also thinking about a live trap but I'm sure the fine for catch and release is not insignificant. Also numerous problems with that.

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Well it seems in your case it's not a big risk as I imagined. Here in Louisiana I would never do that even during the day (but I'm a guy, maybe a nice girl can knock on doors as much as she wants).

Haha. I agree I should have thought twice, though!

[Ghostpanther]

I'm not adverse, a couple of female friends want to get together and take shooting lessons. Probably this summer. Unfortunately though it is illegal to shoot a gun within city limits so someone suggested bait + bow and arrow. I might try that. Also thinking about a live trap but I'm sure the fine for catch and release is not insignificant. Also numerous problems with that.

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Haha. I agree I should have thought twice, though!

I am sure with a permit, you could shoot it if you tell them you feared for the safety of yourself and dog. I would not try a bow and arrow. You are going to miss more often than you will hit it and if there are several of them, you may as well forget it. I would as a min carry some type of self defense weapon. Not sure of your local laws. Here in Ohio, we have open carry of knives and firearms. Even a long blade knife is better than your fists. :P

[Hekazi]

Bows can be fun, you go chase and hunt some coyotes.
In case of non resistance, they will come down in packs to the city, and you don't want to walk past a pack of coyotes, union makes them attack anything and they become a deadly nuisance.

[truckboattruck]

People who have issues with huskies escaping, aren’t properly exercising them. Many people get them simply because they are beautiful dogs. They don't understand that they are a working breed and require daily mental and physical stimulation. This is not a breed that you can be lazy with and throw in a backyard. They MUST be walked/worked, else they develop behavioral issues and look for ways to escape so they can run.

yea thats stupid, you dont know what youre talking about.

[Halyon]

People should keep their pets indoors and talk to an exterminator or whatever animal services you have.

[Celista]

yea thats stupid, you dont know what youre talking about.

I mean, she's right but also it is almost impossible to wear out many (maybe most) huskies, they will run a sled for 100+ miles and be ready to go for more. They are also notorious escape artists and love to roam. Exercise can help but it is not 100% effective and like I said good luck managing to wear one out.

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Bows can be fun, you go chase and hunt some coyotes.
In case of non resistance, they will come down in packs to the city, and you don't want to walk past a pack of coyotes, union makes them attack anything and they become a deadly nuisance.

Yeah, this one is young so I'm worried there's more than one in the immediate area.

[Celista]

I’ve known quite a few husky owners that have had success with weights. They buy these vests and put weights in them, then take the dogs on runs, usually with a bike, so they’re actually running. But it’s true, wearing them out is difficult, which is why they often need to be walked 2-3 times a day (morning and night).

Weights are a good idea. A friend from HS who has a team runs them with ATVs/snowmachines.

[Mask]

Domestic cats are an ecological nightmare

Anywhere that humans have introduced mice/rats or give mice and rats a steady food source (this is almost everywhere, btw) better also be introducing cats. Islands where cats have been eliminated to help the local bird populations have ended up disasters as rat and rabbit populations explode. Our cities would be the same way if somehow every outdoor cat were deleted.

You have to think more than one step ahead when dealing with food chains and ecosystems. Cats eat birds, so to protect birds just remove the cats could easily have unanticipated consequences that very well may end up worse for the birds or worse for something else.

[Deleted]

Cats are invasive, Coyotes are native, I'm on the Coyote's side. We keep our cats indoors.

Coyotes are highly adaptable and filling a predatory niche we opened up for them by eliminating other predators. Nothing to complain about, we just need to adapt too.

Agree, cats has led to the extinction of some wild species...
Keep your pets indoor as I do, and end of the problem.

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I live in a major urban area, a mile from downtown. They can live in most of Oregon that is not an urban area.

Just for you Zardu I am going to kill this coyote.

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Why don't you try kill the coyote without weapons, since you're so brave...?

[Celista]

Anywhere that humans have introduced mice/rats or give mice and rats a steady food source (this is almost everywhere, btw) better also be introducing cats. Islands where cats have been eliminated to help the local bird populations have ended up disasters as rat and rabbit populations explode. Our cities would be the same way if somehow every outdoor cat were deleted.

You have to think more than one step ahead when dealing with food chains and ecosystems. Cats eat birds, so to protect birds just remove the cats could easily have unanticipated consequences that very well may end up worse for the birds or worse for something else.

Yeah. My current cat is 10 months old and he brought in a rat that had a tail that was a foot long. People don't realize how much of a rat problem they have in their area until their population has exploded and they start coming in the house, and then good luck getting rid of them once they start living inside.

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Why don't you try kill the coyote without weapons, since you're so brave...?

So much butthurt about an animal that has probably killed at least 30 cats in this neighborhood. If you want to save it, come live trap it, I'll give you my address and you can try to find some habitat for it to live in + pay the trap and release fine.

[Independent voter]

Rub the cats in grizzly bear urine.

[Deleted]

Yeah. My current cat is 10 months old and he brought in a rat that had a tail that was a foot long. People don't realize how much of a rat problem they have in their area until their population has exploded and they start coming in the house, and then good luck getting rid of them once they start living inside.

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So much butthurt about an animal that has probably killed at least 30 cats in this neighborhood. If you want to save it, come live trap it, I'll give you my address and you can try to find some habitat for it to live in + pay the trap and release fine.

Pay me the travel expenses then.

[Stormspark]

Yeah, we get it, you hate cats. Fortunately, in the real world where we live in, killing someone's pet isn't acceptable. And not in terms of being looked down upon, but being against the law. If a cat is really bothering you, the humane (and correct) solution is to rent a trap, trap the cat, and dump it far away. Cat problem is gone.

Coyotes and other predators are actually a threat to people, or even their livelihood. If someone owns a pet chicken or other caged, cooped, etc outdoor animals, they can't just 'bring them inside'. All of this said, a lot of the things people are saying is true; killing them normally isn't a perfectly viable solution.

If this coyote is in fact a hybrid though, it's justified to put it down, especially if this one in particular is that brazen. Culling a population won't work, killing the ones that are causing problems and threatening a neighborhood might, though.

BY FAR the best (and most humane) way to deal with feral cats is with TNR programs. The kittens can be fostered and adopted out, the adults who can be socialized are also fostered and adopted out, and the very few who are too feral are sterilized and kept in colonies where people feed them and give them any necessary medical care, but otherwise leave them alone. The colony then vanishes really quickly because no new kittens are being born. This is the ONLY method of dealing with high feral cat populations that I approve of.

Even the "too feral" thing is mostly an urban legend. Almost any cat can be socialized and adapt to an indoor life if you are patient enough with them and give them their space. Two of my cats were from the shelter, where they were trapped in feral colonies as kittens. http://www.lovemeow.com/stray-cat-wa...196119130.html

[Celista]

Pay me the travel expenses then.

Why, you're the one who is so concerned about it. Pay for them yourself. Not sure why you think I'm some monster who revels at the thought of killing a living being, it's a legitimate problem that from what I could tell today is being compounded by the fact that the city is taking zero responsibility for managing these animals.