Coyotes

Peakbagr said:

Unless rabid or starving for a medical reason or age, highly unlikely anything will happen to you.

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Great quote. Love it.

Unlikely, yes, impossible, no.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/coyotes-kill-toronto-singer-in-cape-breton-1.779304

Mac said:

Unlikely, yes, impossible, no.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/coyotes-kill-toronto-singer-in-cape-breton-1.779304

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7 years ago and millions of miles hiked since then. It's one of those statistics that aren't worth bothering or worrying g about.

egilbe said:

7 years ago and millions of miles hiked since then. It's one of those statistics that aren't worth bothering or worrying g about.

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Chances are pretty slim for being hit by lightning, too, but responsible hikers don't ignore it. Chances of being attacked by a grizzly are slim, too, but ignore it in grizzly country at your own peril. Awareness and preparedness ... expect the unexpected ... let's see, any more cliches on avoiding being the statistic.

Amusing how we'll whistle past the graveyard yet make other plans during black fly season.

Hmm...comparing lightning strikes to attacks by coyotes is a bit disenguous, dontcha think? One is a real risk, and one isn't.

I don't know about not being a real risk. Every animal I've come across in the woods (not acclimated to humans and looking for a handout) has run, except for one: coyotes. Having watched them stare down my dog for several minutes, I don't think there wasn't much of a chance if I wasn't standing there honking the horn they would've gone after her. And, if that had happened...I'd be in the middle of it, too.

Judging my the amount of freshkill bones found in the woods nearby over the last few years, it's worth it to at least not ignore them. Basically, my rule is if it can eat me, I'll be weary.

More recent data (up to 2016)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_attacks_on_humans

Interesting in that many of these attacks involve the western coyote, although there are a number of eastern north american examples. I don't usually refer to wikipedia, but this seems to be a pretty comprehensive list, and provides attribution to government agencies in many of the examples.

There are lessons to be learned from all deaths involving animals.

The bear that killed a young man in NJ a while back, there were 5 people who split up and ran, 2 big mistakes.

The young woman killed by the coyote ran as well, right?

I've never been attacked by a bear, but having read up on it, at least I might have a fighting (or not depending on the species) chance.

dug said:

I don't know about not being a real risk. Every animal I've come across in the woods (not acclimated to humans and looking for a handout) has run, except for one: coyotes. Having watched them stare down my dog for several minutes, I don't think there wasn't much of a chance if I wasn't standing there honking the horn they would've gone after her. And, if that had happened...I'd be in the middle of it, too.

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Meeting a coyote with and without a dog present are likely to be two very different events--the coyote is likely to be more interested in the dog than the human...

Doug

Tom Rankin said:

There are lessons to be learned from all deaths involving animals.

The bear that killed a young man in NJ a while back, there were 5 people who split up and ran, 2 big mistakes.

The young woman killed by the coyote ran as well, right?

I've never been attacked by a bear, but having read up on it, at least I might have a fighting (or not depending on the species) chance.

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Reading up is a good thing actually doing it is another in the heat of the moment. Whatever the animal and what ever the risk any animal has the potential to act aggressively given the right situation. Better playing it safe than sorry. Educating oneself is a step in the right direction. IMO given all the cross breeding that goes on among Wolves, Coyotes, an canines the potential is there for a negative outcome. Denying the inherent risks of the animal population in general is ignorant.

DougPaul said:

Meeting a coyote with and without a dog present are likely to be two very different events--the coyote is likely to be more interested in the dog than the human...

Doug

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Of course. That's the same with any wild animal I would assume. Doesn't mean I shouldn't be wary of the encounter, nor disregard their presence.

dug said:

Of course. That's the same with any wild animal I would assume. Doesn't mean I shouldn't be wary of the encounter, nor disregard their presence.

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Sure, but your experience with a dog may not tell us much about the threat to a human.

In my first on-the-trail experience with a coyote, it simply walked across the trail ~100 ft ahead of me and did not react to my presence in any way that I could see. (It was almost certainly aware of my presence.) I have also read accounts where a wolf simply followed the human at a reasonable distance for a while (probably to the edge of its territory).


Non-canids may react to your dog as if it is a wolf or coyote and may attack the dog and perhaps you as well. (Such has happened with bears.)

Doug

DougPaul said:

Sure, but your experience with a dog may not tell us much about the threat to a human.

In my first on-the-trail experience with a coyote, it simply walked across the trail ~100 ft ahead of me and did not react to my presence in any way that I could see. (It was almost certainly aware of my presence.) I have also read accounts where a wolf simply followed the human at a reasonable distance for a while (probably to the edge of its territory).


Non-canids may react to your dog as if it is a wolf or coyote and may attack the dog and perhaps you as well. (Such has happened with bears.)

Doug

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I agree with both your points. The only exception I have found, was an encounter I had with a mountain Lion, (I did not have a dog at the time). The Lion followed me for quite some time, gaining ground by the minute. I ran into a Bull Moose with my dog here in the White's and the Moose got extremely agitated. He showed signs of what looked like either aggressive traits or defensive traits ( hard to tell) but he did advance towards us. By grabbing my dog and retreating into the woods quickly, I was able to defuse the situation. I ran into a few a Moose, before I owned my dog, not one acted in such a fashion.

DougPaul said:

Sure, but your experience with a dog may not tell us much about the threat to a human.

In my first on-the-trail experience with a coyote, it simply walked across the trail ~100 ft ahead of me and did not react to my presence in any way that I could see. (It was almost certainly aware of my presence.) I have also read accounts where a wolf simply followed the human at a reasonable distance for a while (probably to the edge of its territory).


Non-canids may react to your dog as if it is a wolf or coyote and may attack the dog and perhaps you as well. (Such has happened with bears.)

Doug

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Since I'm not that concerned about the threat to a human without a dog, I only reference myself. They were constantly in my yard and not really interested in leaving without a racket. I always have a dog with me, I will be wary of them.x

sierra said:

The only exception I have found, was an encounter I had with a mountain Lion, (I did not have a dog at the time). The Lion followed me for quite some time, gaining ground by the minute.

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That sounds scary! I would to hear more about this. Did the mountain lion stop following you on its own?

sierra said:

I agree with both your points. The only exception I have found, was an encounter I had with a mountain Lion, (I did not have a dog at the time). The Lion followed me for quite some time, gaining ground by the minute. I ran into a Bull Moose with my dog here in the White's and the Moose got extremely agitated. He showed signs of what looked like either aggressive traits or defensive traits ( hard to tell) but he did advance towards us. By grabbing my dog and retreating into the woods quickly, I was able to defuse the situation. I ran into a few a Moose, before I owned my dog, not one acted in such a fashion.

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Years ago I did Gale River Trail with my dog and we saw three separate moose on the way up. The first two we came over a rise and it was right in trail close. My dog starting freaking out and barking and it bolted into the woods. The third time I had my dog tied to a tree while I was urinating and realized there was an enormous moose on the other side of the rock I was using for cover. That got me freaked out but he slowly walked off. The only time I've ever had moose encounters where they showed no interest in running away was at Baxter this year. I had one encounter on that little nature discovery trail near Roaring Pond Campground where I literally almost ran into the ass end of a huge moose (the biggest I'd ever seen) as I was rounding a corner. I stopped cold, he looked at me and made it clear he wasn't scampering off anywhere. I very slowly backed away to about 75' or so behind a nearby tree and then I spotted a calf coming out of nearby swamp. I just stood there and waited (and took a few pictures and videos ) for probably 15-20 minutes before they finally decided I wasn't a threat and slowly walked away.

All of my wildlife encounters in NH (deer, moose and bear) have generally involved the animals running off as fast as they can. I've only seen a few coyotes up there and they just generally continued cruising around and ignoring me. I would wager that a lot of the actual animal attacks we read about were precipitated by the victim doing something stupid. I believe in the case of the NJ guy mentioned above he actually went up and approached the bear to try and get a picture when he was attacked and then his friends all bolted. People do dumb stuff trying to get selfies for Facebook. Not to say you couldn't stumble into the right circumstances and get attacked (rabid animal, between mother and young, etc) but I think in general there isn't huge cause for concern. Coyotes would be the only animal that would give me pause when I'm out hiking.

iAmKrzys said:

That sounds scary! I would to hear more about this. Did the mountain lion stop following you on its own?

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Actually no, he was in full stalking mode and it was very scary. The cat was pretty big. I was high above treeline on the Crags route to the summit of Pikes peak. I was solo, which didn't help and it was pure luck, I saw him. While he was following me, I wasn't sure what to do, ( this was pre-carry day's for me). I had a good knife but, that was a joke as they will basically jump you going for the neck, from what I understand. After careful deliberation, I decided that he thought of me as prey and that's what I was acting like. I stopped, raised my trekking poles over my head, then charged him, banging my poles together and yelling like a madman. He rose up, perked his ear's and turned on a dime, bounding off as fast as he could. He was gone in seconds, they are so fast. I took a breath and summited. On my way down, I was singing my way through the woods, like a choir boy.

Sierra, that's solid work in a scary situation. Nice. I do the same with dogs. When I encounter a dog, I am friendly, and get down to the dog's level. 95% of dogs come running over to be my friend. The other 5% that stand back snarling, blocking my path, I treat the same way you treated the lion. I charge them, growling loudly. Almost all of them flee when I do that. Once or twice, I have met a dog that stands its ground when I charge. That's a problem dog, and I back off and select a different route.

Great advice. I live where there are always a bunch of coyotes, see one on a run about once a week, more often this time of year as food is getting scarcer. I ignore them except to keep an eye out, and once in a while they follow me. When that happens I look as big and ugly as I can and charge briefly (10 steps) with lots of noise. They take off and are >1/4 mile away within a few seconds, and I feel superior. If I'm ever solo in lion country I try to keep up constant noise and have poles ready to go, but I almost never hike solo anymore. Never saw a lion.

I went hiking in Sterling State Forest today, and for about half a mile I was following paw prints that I think might be of a coyote:

As I was doing a loop hike I later saw more prints crossing the trail on the other side of the loop.