Coyotes

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

My friend lives in a very well wooded area on the outskirts of town in southeastern Wisconsin. This area has a few fields with large patches of dense forest that includes buck thorn. And during the day, we commonly hear multiple coyotes howling and stuff. My friends dad goes out with their golden retriever white lab sort of mix, about 75 lbs. He has a steam light stinger than puts out around 180 lumens. And theirs this one big field that he likes to go out with the dog and use a red laser of which the dog chases after super far, never gets bored of it. And the dad said that one time in the field, (at night, like 10 o’clock 12 o’clock is when he goes it with the dog) the dog abruptly stopped chasing the laser and started growling, so the dad ran up and thought it might’ve been a coyote…it was! So he turned the strobe of his flashlight on and said “GET OUTTA HERE” and the coyote ran away. But the weird thing is how close the coyote got, the dad was about 50 feet from the dog when it stopped and he said the coyote was about 10 feet from the dog, and they were having a stare down. The dad has also said he’s had a few coyotes stalk him from the woods that are on the side of the field, he shines the light in their eyes and sees em. Moving onto another story. My friend went out with his cousin. My friend is only 5’ 7” 110 lbs and the girl the same height and weight, they are both 15. And so they were in the middle of the field at night with the dog when they started walking back, and on the trail leading back to the rode. They went around a bend and 5 feet from them, there was a coyote! My friend said the girl and him turned an ran all the way back to their house. I thought was pretty stupid being the coyotes are predators and whenever you run away from even a dog it chases you. He said that the coyotes chased them sort of inquisitively slowly for a couple yards. I myself am 6’ 4” 190 lbs but only 14 still, so I’m not that knowledgeable about this kind of stuff. When I go out there with my friend and the dog, should I worry at all? Of course we bring a flashlight or too. Use them for shining in the woods to reflect off coyotes eyes, it’s cool seeing something wild in their natural habitat:). Also, do any of you have any tactics for scaring off coyotes if they get too close? And I’d love to hear some stories of encounters, very interested in those right now.

I’m going to be getting a Crelant 7g5 v2 for my birthday in july so that might help.

2

My favorite way of dealing with animals at night is a DRY set to turbo. It will send them running or at the very least burn their retinas. :stuck_out_tongue:

3

My favorite way of dealing with nuisance coyotes (if they are just minding their own business, fine) is an AR15 with a 3rd gen night sight and laser on it… coyotes are no match for advanced monkey technology… one shot, one rug…

4

How about some pepper spray ..Most things with eyes and a snout aren't fans of pepper spray .. throw something at him ,maybe carry a whistle too .

5

there are coyotes everywhere around me. They are tiny animals, i doubt they would ever mess with you or the dog, especially a lone coyote. they weigh like 30-40 lbs. but shooting them is still the way to go if you can!

6

Coyote attacks on adult humans are extremely rare. Likewise attacks on big dogs.
If they are on the verge of starvation, you might have an issue if you have a whole pack to deal with.

But single coyotes out on their own usually will pick on cats, small dogs, rabbits, etc.
I’t still carry a big folding knife, or a walking stick, just in case.

But I’d be very surprised if a coyote attack really happened. I’m alot more worried about a neighborhood pit bull than a wild coyote.

7

When i used to live with my parents, id see coyotes coming up to our property from an adjacent propertys field/brush all the time (were taking over their habitat, so i dont blame them. They gotta eat.). One night, one of our dogs were put on a 25ft radius tie-out and some time later, we heard her barking her azz off. I grabbed my Tigerlight and M6 with which i immediately shined through the glass wall. There stood a kaiyote a foot away from my bigger dog as if it was teasing her! The only thing the light did was get its attention. It didnt run away….just stared back. It wasnt until i got to the adjacent glass door did it take off running.

If theyre used to vehicle headlights, then perhaps lights wont do much.

8

You might be surprised… I’ve seen them take on much bigger dogs.

Once I saw one in my back yard (in the middle of Dallas). I tossed a brick at it from my second story balcony to send him on his way and hit him square in the back. It just stood there with a WTF look on its face… not a good sign. Shortly thereafter it didn’t have a face to look with.

9

Dingoes ’et me baby… :wink:

10

Apparently the government made a public statement saying they totally believe what happened. It was just on the news last week.

11

Babies ’et me dingo… :wink:

12

It you don’t want to shoot the coyote, or your friend, or his dog, then carry pepper spray or carry one of those small compressed air boat horns. Shooting at night, unless you are used to shooting at night, could end up being disastrous. Is pepper spray legal in your area? Boat horns are and they are very loud. Most coyotes (wildlife) aren’t used to the sound… There’s always the cattle prod idea as well.

I think a coyote would have to be rabid or trying to defend it’s young, to attack two humans. It would attack a dog first, if it were starving. It would fight with a dog if it felt like the dog was in it’s territory, or the dog would fight with the coyote over territory. Most wildlife and even domestic animals work off territorial guidelines. That causes lots of fights. Dogs and coyotes are in the Canidae family (Canids). I would be more worried that the dog would start the fight to protect it’s territory and protect it’s owner.

If you’re 6’4” and 190#, maybe just carry a good aluminum baseball bat.

13

A voice of reason! Humans always want to kill anything that is inconvenient to them.

I hope the OP finds a non-lethal way to ensure his own safety, while respecting the other creatures right to exist.

(we don’t have coyotes where I am, so I can’t really help… Paintball gun, maybe? )

Pete

14

When we used to go out hunting. We sometime would have a pack come up on us.
98% of the time we were stalked because they were curious at wth we were.

And if one gets close enuf and get startled it will snap/bite.
I always carry a small shotgun just for that.

15

Lol, I would never shoot the coyote, I’m invading their territory! That’s like going to someone else’s house for the night and clogging the toilet and just leaving it. Though I did get a lot of info from people with tactics such as Boaz and Old-Lumens. They’re knowledge was very helpful.

16

A guy once said the only good coyote is a dead coyote. They have their purpose just like other animals, but there is way too many of them.

17

Untold millions of species have gone extinct over the ages long before man ever came around. We are animals too, when you look at it honestly and I rather prefer being at the top of the food chain.

18

Untold millions of species have gone extinct over the ages long before man ever came around. We are animals too, when you look at it honestly and I rather prefer being at the top of the food chain.

19

When the roles are reversed and you can’t defend yourself, a coyote or wild dog will eat you before you’re even dead. They’re not going to use light or a cattle prod or anything less if they can take you down, especially as a pack. Don’t underestimate the element of being wild.

Dogs are always hungry - even after being fed. Sometimes they will eat till they are beyond full, only to throw up later. It is instinct for them to do so. I love my little pug and there is no canine who is more loyal or who has taught me as much about love; still, she needs limits for her own good.

20

Sintro, as a young person, you may not have the life experience that some of us older folks have. I’m going to throw my two cents in here and you can do with it as you will.

In answer to your first question, “Should I worry?”, I’ll say that you should always be aware of your surroundings, but not worried. It is pretty rare, statistically, that humans are attacked by other large wild animals. I spend a lot of time outdoors, often at night, and run into black bear, coyotes, rattle snakes, etc. It’s been my experience that 99.99% of the time the animal is much more afraid of you than the other way around. It will usually flee if given the opportunity. Your best defense is to allow it to withdraw. If it doesn’t, then it is a threat and you need to find a way to deal with it. Frankly, this advice applies to four legged, two legged, and no legged predators.

I’ve ridden thousands and thousands of miles on a bike. Both on road and off. I’ve been chased, bitten, snapped at, and defended myself against many, many dogs. A rabid groundhog or two The occasional person/motorist. But never a bear or coyote. When you ponder these topics, try to focus on the likely and not the possible.

With regard to your assertion that “you are invading it’s territory”, well I’d like to know why you think the land belongs to the coyote and not you? Where do you think humans would be if they we not taking territory from mother nature? Seriously, when the fur traders first got to Milwaukee, it was wilderness right? And today it’s a city. So humans took territory from nature. As human beings, it is our very nature to conquer the obstacles in our way. And whether it is a fox in the hen house, a boar in the corn field, or an unwanted guest coming through a window, sometimes force is required.

I look at it like this, black bear were completely gone from my home state throughout most of my life. In the last ten or fifteen years, they have made a dramatic come back to the point where the state allows them to be hunted. So I have to ask, who is encroaching on who’s territory?

Listen, I hope you never have too, but if it ever comes down to you or the predator, I hope you understand that where you are is your territory. Violence is never the answer until it is the only answer. Don’t be too quick to dismiss violence an a means of self preservation. Sometime violence is a moral ought.

That said, I’ll repeat what I said at the outset, it is highly unlikely a coyote is going to attack you.