Coyotes?
 

We have had several sightings of coyotes in our village, both adult and young.

The only way to get rid of the "nest" is to call a trapper.

My question is having a dog that we take out to do her business in the evenings.

While research states not to run away and make noise to scare them or it away......what if they approach or attack?

Shoot to kill.

Yeah, just what we need around here...shooting at animals. :oops:


Here are some better ideas.

Urban Coyotes - Keeping Your Pets Safe

As I have posted before, most Villagers who carry their handguns while walking their dog or going to Dunkin' Donuts have not fired in a stressful situation in over 40 years. Going to the firing range and shooting at a wild animal that may be running to confront your dog in darkness are two completely opposite situations.

You may very well shoot your dog, maybe the coyote, possibly a house, or even your leg. In addition, it probably is illegal to fire a gun in The Villages but the safety issues are more pressing than semantics of legality.

Let the coyotes be. The odds of your dog being attacked while on a short leash are minuscule. I have also previously said if I see a wild animal trap, I will spring it.

Consider doing your walks and hikes with a can of pepper spray or a water pistol with vinegar-water in it. You can use either to stop a coyote that gets too close.
That's close enough for a double tap with a 40 S&W, Or even a 22LR hollow point...

I would just like to point out that coyotes eat rabbits and RATS. Your dog is supposed to be on a leash at all times anyway. A wild animal will not usually bother you, if you don't bother them. Make lots of noise, and it will go the other way.

Coyotes
 

Well, 10 minutes ago, a coyote past 5 feet from my patio slab. Walking it’s way towards St Andrews and E Schwartz. Not freaked out by it’s presence but respectful. I keep my 2 mutts close and always under supervision.
I appreciate all the level headed responses to this post. Keep your guns holstered, cowboys. We need to be wiser and understand how valuable our wildlife is to our area.

You made me spit my iced tea out. :1rotfl: :1rotfl:

:coolsmiley:

I carry a five iron at night and a bright flashlight when out with the dog at night. And use a short leash.

Scream at the coyote if it comes close, throw golf balls from pockets, or use the five iron while keeping control of your dog.

If you car is near by and its remote control has a panic button, push it.

Jon Snow-- a sweet chihuahua/miniature pinscher-- got taken by a coyote when let out to pee at about 4 AM near the villages just south of Lake Miona. This was a few months ago.

I have lived around coyotes most of my life (still do in NM and CA). Friends of mine lost several of their cats which liked to roam free to coyotes. Best to stay with your (leashed) dog when it is out. Coyotes are very smart wild animals. They are stealthy, quick to react, can move fast and I can verify are very difficult to hit with a scoped .243 rifle out on a ranch in broad daylight! Please, do not try to shoot one in an urban environment with a handgun! Use pepper spray or the like.

If you know of a nearby coyote den, find a trapper to take care of it.

Rumor is there is a pack around Lake Miona but I do not know where.

Hiring a trapper would certainly be against rules of The Villages. All the properties are PRIVATE. Yes, even the golf courses, wooded areas, marsh land, and pond areas are PRIVATE and trapping is not allowed - without the owner's permission.

As stated before, I would spring any trap I would see.

Even if it was on private property?

Predators increase when prey increases. There has been a lot of talk about the teeming rat and squirrel population here. Keep your dogs on a leash and cats enclosed. Coyotes aren't going away; they are very adaptive. Other parts of the country have gone through this and found out that a few basic rules mitigate any downside.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

Depends on the situation, location, and other factors.

Trespassing is against the law and trespassers are prosecuted in accordance therewith, no matter their "feelings". In some situations they can legally be shot on sight.

Bridgeport at Lake Miona....it is not a rumor.
There have been several sightings over recent months and at least one "nest" located between Lake Miona Drive and the lake.

They have been sighted all throughout the village. Day light sightings as well as evening.

I hope you are not hearing packs of them howl at night.

On occasion they mate with dogs as do wolves.

Coyote - Wikipedia

it is also illegal to bother another person's traps. How would you know which was legal

:agree:Yes, coyotes eat rats.
I've never heard of a dog on a leash being taken by a coyote, only unleashed dogs.
It is VERY IMPORTANT to always keep your dog on a leash for many reasons.
If you are walking at night in a secluded area, I suggest you carry a noisemaker.

Thank you, Cold, for making sense, as you usually do.
The gun-toting cowboys who think it's a great idea to shoot when they see a coyote should go live in rough-rider country.

Common sense tells me that if coyotes could possibly be a threat in a given area, it's very simple . . . just don't walk them at night!
When you take them out to "go," stay on your own property with them.
Also, when walking your dog at any time, get rid of those ridiculous, retractable leashes; you cannot control a dog when using one and they are dangerous.

My last comment, Cold . . . I hope you weren't laughing so hard that the tea came out your nose. :girlneener:

Excellent advice. Here's a video outlining your points:

Safety and Prevention Tips on Living with Urban Coyotes - YouTube


Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

What’s up with the coyote love. They are a non-native to Florida and are a pest. The state is too cheap and lazy to slow their growth down.

States/counties/cities won't do anything about them since it costs money and the coyote are saving them the money of proper animal control (rats, over population of deer, etc). Since coyote have very few predators in some areas of the country, and we prefer our food from the grocery store, one day this lack of taking ownership of the population problem will come back to bite us.

Literally.

Sent from my SM-N920R4 using Tapatalk

They are in all 67 Florida counties.
 

The state has declared open season on coyote. They can be shot or trapped. They can be taken at night with light and gun, which is not true of most game animals.

Removing coyotes is an inefficient and ineffective method to control populations. New coyotes move into areas where others have been removed. When there is pressure (such as trapping) placed on coyote populations, the species can actually produce more pups per litter in response and populations can quickly return to original size.

Can you name any place that had a "coyote problem" that addressed the problem and is now coyote free?

I agree with everything except for one thing--I would not wrap the entire can of pennies in duct tape, as that would dull the noise quite a bit. Just tape the top shut.

so how far can you drive a coyote with your 5 iron :0000000000luvmyhors:0000000000luvmyhors

The only times I have seen coyotes in full here in the Village of Lynnhaven they have been trotting away from us. This has always been in the morning and early afternoon. They have had to wind their way through the golfers on Belmont GC.

I do see their eyes once in a while out at night on the Belmont GC near the ponds.

I never walk near the ponds with my dog and try to stay near houses.

I never said you can eliminate them. Unfortunately we are stuck with them but their population can be controlled.

Being realistic.
 

No, but you said, "The state is too cheap and lazy to slow their growth down."

And I pointed out that the state has declared year around open season on shooting or trapping coyotes, either day or night, which is rather extreme.

Your post implied that spending more money or making a greater effort would be effective in "slowing their growth down."

The state cites studies that show that efforts to remove coyotes from a particular area results in coyotes having larger litters of pups to fill the void.

So, I suggest that the state is not being "cheap" or "lazy" in the matter of coyotes; just realistic.

When the coyote population in the area of The Villages gets to the point that available prey diminishes, so will the coyote population.

In the meantime, free roaming pets are at risk.

it appears one of those critters had a feast of rabbit on the 9th hole on Becall

Is garbage handling an issue?
 

In considering the problem of the growth of the coyote population in The Villages a question occurred to me. Note that this is only a question, not a suggestion that this is a solution.

I'm wondering how many plastic bags of garbage are being torn open by animals prior to pick up by the garbage trucks. If this is becoming a wide spread problem, perhaps it is related to the coyote problem.

There are three possible scenarios:

1. Coyotes are omnivorous. They may be tearing open the plastic garbage bags lying at the street awaiting pickup either for meat or for vegetable contents. The large quantity of food available from this source could eventually lead to a very large coyote population in The Villages.

2. Other smaller animals, such as rats, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, and others, may be getting into the garbage, which allows their numbers to grow, providing more prey for the growing coyote population in The Villages.

3. Both 1 and 2, above, are true.

It would be interesting if data could be gathered to determine if there is a widespread problem with garbage bags being torn open prior to pickup. If this is a problem, it may provide a clue to the increase in the local coyote population.

IF this were to be determined to be a factor in the rise of the coyote population, a possible solution would be to require all garbage to be in closed, hard plastic trash cans. This is the practice in Tampa, where these cans are designed to be picked up and dumped into a trash truck with an automated system which is a part of the truck. In Tampa, the cans are provided by the local government, and separate cans are provided for trash and for recyclable items.

.

Ordinarily, I do not put food waste into the trash. Most of it goes into the sink disposal. Ordinarily, I simmer bones for stock and then they are also soft enough to go in the disposal.

In nine years, the only time one of our bags was torn open was when broken grates from the barbecue grill were put in the garbage bag. The grease/meat smell must have been particularly appetizing.

The pack of coyotes live right behind my house on Lake Miona, they were here earlier in the year then left somewhere but I can hear them almost every night at dusk just a few yards behind my house. A week ago I spotted a pack of four in the middle of the day catching mice or rats in the long grass between the house and the lake and was able to take a picture but rushed to the lanai to bring my cats in.

I never hear the coyotes at night. There is a quite sizable one that I have seen here in Lynnhaven in the day time. I thought it was a loose German Shepherd and was going to try to catch it but then saw that it was a very large coyote from the way it moved and looked around. I was crossing Alcott Avenue going west toward Belmont GC. It was around 1:30 PM as well. That's why I thought was a loose dog.

This video shows how they adapt to their surroundings in busy areas.

Coyotes in Chicago Habitat | Meet The Coywolf | Nature on PBS - YouTube

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

most only spend money on bringing awareness on how to live with coyote in their urban area. I have done quite a bit of reading up on this (we have an abundance of them in MI so this is an area of interest for me) and haven't run across any recent successful attempts taken on to reduce the population of urban coyote population. Most admit they can't get the funding or the studies are stopped by concerned citizens.