[Lea N]

Maybe Conservation Florida can help? I just googled them other than that I'm not familiar with this organization. I hope they can help. Conservation Florida

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I didn't state that. But actually up north where I'm from (the semi-rural suburbs of New Haven County, Connecticut) if you see a coyote, it's because he's about to try and eat one of the chickens in your back yard, or is running away from a bear. The usual response to the chicken-poaching issue would be either give your really big, protective, scary-looking farm-dog a treat for protecting his farm and killing the coyote, or shoot it yourself with your shotgun. The response to the bear issue would be to bang some metal garbage can lids really loudly to scare the bear off and let the coyote continue running to someone else's neighborhood. I'm guessing neither option would go over very well around here in the Historic Section of The Villages.

Animal Shelter has no interest in wild coyotes unless someone reports that one of them tried to attack a stray dog.

I just checked the Florida Fish and Wildlife website. They refer people to commercial nuisance animal removal services, which you have to pay for.

So I guess the only thing I can do (which I was hoping to avoid) is contact the Lake County Sheriff's office and file a complaint against someone I don't know and can't identify, and give them the address of the house where the coyote den and the multiple pet bowls filled with canned food is located. Feeding coyotes is illegal in Florida.

Feeding coyotes or any animal bigger than a song bird is probably a bad idea. If you could shoot one with a shotgun in Connecticut, then maybe shooting them in the butt with a BB gun would solve the problem (and require some skill and be a little bit fun). Eventually, they would get the hint and leave.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by psoccermom

I disagree that coyotes don't bother people. I had one chase me in Ocala when I was out for a morning walk. I did nothing to provoke it.

A good reason to carry bear spray when walking in the early morning when lots of wildlife are active.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

This isn't my neighborhood. I was just taking a walk in an area I don't live in, enjoying the landscaping and getting some exercise. The house is abandoned. The person living next door to the house came out and questioned me as to why I was stopping and taking pictures, so I told her. She's the one who explained that she's seen a woman walk up the hill (the street is a hill - again - exercise) and put the bowls down with cat food in this abandon house's carport.

I told her she should just take those bowls and throw them away. Every time she sees them. Maybe if it happens enough times, whoever is putting them down will get tired of having to buy new ones, and stop doing it. No confrontation necessary. And why -should- the woman doing this need to be told who's taking the bowls away? The woman knows it's not her property. She is trespassing onto someone else's property to put down objects that don't belong to the homeowner, filled with cat food to feed animals that aren't hers. If she thinks it's important enough, she can put cat food dishes down under her own carport. She has no business walking up someone else's driveway to put the bowls down in the first place, no matter who/what it's supposed to be feeding.

I can't put a camera up because it's not my property. I can't ask the homeowner to do something, because it's abandoned, no one lives in it. It used to be a horrible eye-sore with weeds growing up over a foot covering the grass. Someone's been mowing it, but it's still abandoned and uncared for. Hm - maybe the fact that there's a coyote den (a burrow) under the driveway would be a deed restriction violation. Failure to maintain.

BTW the coyote pup really is adorable. I wish I could've gotten a picture of it before it hunkered down in his den.

Well, if the house is NOT next door, I guess, forget about the BB gun.

[mraines]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I saw a coyote pup and its mama (or dad?) at a house that no one lives in. Someone's been putting canned food in petfood dishes in their carport. The pup crawled into a hole under the driveway, so I'm guessing that's this family's den.

At first I thought it was a fox and cub, and took a photo of mama from a distance after she ran to the side of the house, near the back. Got home and took a better look at the photo and yup - it's a coyote, for sure. Too big to be a fox. Ears too long, neck too long, tail not bushy enough. So positive it's a coyote.

Very cool to see, but not very cool to have in this residential area, especially considering that someone is intentionally feeding them, which makes them grow accustomed to humans and lose their fear of us. That spells danger for humans.

What to do? Is there even an "animal control" like there is up north? It's not a domesticated animal, it's not a bird or gator. They don't need rescuing.

But someone with authority needs to find out who's feeding them and make them stop doing that. And possibly the coyotes should be captured and euthanized or relocated.

Who though? The police? Animal control? Community standards? The local rec center? A wildlife conservation organization? The Lady Lake Town Hall? Who do you even report this stuff to around here?

My opinion only. Whoever is feeding them needs to be fined and stopped. Why would you euthanize them? I lived in CA and we had coyotes in our neighborhood. People need to respect the wildlife. We are tearing down all their places to live so where are they to go? I used to see them on the sidewalk and in front of my house. In 13 years, there was only one problem that I knew of. No one called for them to be killed. We were in their territory. I don't know about coyotes, but gators are killed, not relocated. They generally come out at night, so use due diligence.

[mraines]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Feeding coyotes or any animal bigger than a song bird is probably a bad idea. If you could shoot one with a shotgun in Connecticut, then maybe shooting them in the butt with a BB gun would solve the problem (and require some skill and be a little bit fun). Eventually, they would get the hint and leave.

Always quick with the gun. Shame

[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by John Mayes

The link you posted for Lake County is in Illinois.

Not so. I clicked. It’s in Tavares

[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by mraines

Always quick with the gun. Shame

Heck yeah!! Won’t kill it. Just damage it with a BB in its tissue to cause infection and sepsis!! Oh what fun!!!

[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Feeding coyotes or any animal bigger than a song bird is probably a bad idea. If you could shoot one with a shotgun in Connecticut, then maybe shooting them in the butt with a BB gun would solve the problem (and require some skill and be a little bit fun). Eventually, they would get the hint and leave.

Heck yeah!! Won’t kill it. Just damage it with a BB in its tissue to cause infection and sepsis!! Oh what fun!!!

[cjrjck]

While I truly believe TV should actively remove alligators from the small neighborhood ponds and retention ponds that are not in close proximity to marshes and other habitats where alligators thrive, I sincerely doubt animal control will want to do anything about a coyote. They wander too far and too often. Coyotes are more of a threat to small mammals, like a small dog or cat. Not humans, typically. I have been around them my entire adult life. I have even hunted them, though not successfully. They are very allusive. I'd be more concerned about pesky raccoons or vermin.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I think some posters don't really get the idea of what a coyote is. They're a type of wolf. They are primarily carnivores. They eat dogs and cats, and when mama and papa work together, can take down a sheep. They usually avoid people, and do most of their hunting at night.

I saw this coyote in the middle of the day, out in front of a person's house, with her pup. This animal, who normally avoids humans, hunts mostly at night, and can ABSOLUTELY cause major injury and even kill a human if provoked, hungry, or sick, appears to be losing her fear of humans.

When a coyote stops avoiding humans, they become aggressive toward humans. So this coyote is already on her way toward not caring that you're bigger than she is. She'll get her mate and the two of them will nom on your leg, and save the toes for Junior's mid-day snack. Coyotes are not small dogs. They're about as big as a border collie (a medium-sized dog), but twice as strong, with a much more viscous bite, much more wiry and quick.

I'm an animal lover. I think coyotes are awesome creatures and I love watching them. In the wild. Away from peoples' houses, or farms. When they come into a residential neighborhood, it's bad news for everyone. When someone FEEDS them in a residential neighborhood, it is cruel - because it helps them breed in those residential neighborhoods, which leads to pups being born in burrows under the driveway - and when the homeowner finds out they're more likely to pay for someone to poison them, than they are to rehome them or shoot them.

As for a bb gun, that'll just anger the coyote and it could end up turning and attacking YOU. These are not passive lovely shy creatures. They are cautious and wily (which is why the Roadrunner's nemesis is named Wyle E. Coyote), clever and unforgiving when protecting themselves, their territory, and their pups.

[John Mayes]

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed

Not so. I clicked. It’s in Tavares

The link was updated. The original link was for Lake County, IL

[Dusty_Star]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I think some posters don't really get the idea of what a coyote is. They're a type of wolf. They are primarily carnivores. They eat dogs and cats, and when mama and papa work together, can take down a sheep. They usually avoid people, and do most of their hunting at night.

I saw this coyote in the middle of the day, out in front of a person's house, with her pup. This animal, who normally avoids humans, hunts mostly at night, and can ABSOLUTELY cause major injury and even kill a human if provoked, hungry, or sick, appears to be losing her fear of humans.

When a coyote stops avoiding humans, they become aggressive toward humans. So this coyote is already on her way toward not caring that you're bigger than she is. She'll get her mate and the two of them will nom on your leg, and save the toes for Junior's mid-day snack. Coyotes are not small dogs. They're about as big as a border collie (a medium-sized dog), but twice as strong, with a much more viscous bite, much more wiry and quick.

I'm an animal lover. I think coyotes are awesome creatures and I love watching them. In the wild. Away from peoples' houses, or farms. When they come into a residential neighborhood, it's bad news for everyone. When someone FEEDS them in a residential neighborhood, it is cruel - because it helps them breed in those residential neighborhoods, which leads to pups being born in burrows under the driveway - and when the homeowner finds out they're more likely to pay for someone to poison them, than they are to rehome them or shoot them.

As for a bb gun, that'll just anger the coyote and it could end up turning and attacking YOU. These are not passive lovely shy creatures. They are cautious and wily (which is why the Roadrunner's nemesis is named Wyle E. Coyote), clever and unforgiving when protecting themselves, their territory, and their pups.

I agree with everything you just posted. That is why the most humane thing is to stop the looney who is feeding them. I feel sorry for the immediate & surrounding neighbors. I wonder if there is a way to get the immediate neighbors to stop the mad feeder? Flyers? Posted signs saying Do Not Feed the Wildlife? Posted signs for camera surveillance? (no camera - just the signs). Maybe the next door neighbor who was concerned enough to ask you why you were taking pictures wouldn't mind getting involved if she is made aware of the risks, which will keep growing if unabated. If the perp is a cat lover, then maybe just explaining that they are feeding cat eaters would stop them. Good luck!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Dusty_Star

I agree with everything you just posted. That is why the most humane thing is to stop the looney who is feeding them. I feel sorry for the immediate & surrounding neighbors. I wonder if there is a way to get the immediate neighbors to stop the mad feeder? Flyers? Posted signs saying Do Not Feed the Wildlife? Posted signs for camera surveillance? (no camera - just the signs). Maybe the next door neighbor who was concerned enough to ask you why you were taking pictures wouldn't mind getting involved if she is made aware of the risks, which will keep growing if unabated. If the perp is a cat lover, then maybe just explaining that they are feeding cat eaters would stop them. Good luck!

Thanks. And yeah I told the lady next to the abandoned house to just take the bowls away - no note, no tracking the offending person down, no nuttin. Just take the bowls away and discard them in the trash. And keep doing it every time the feeder puts new ones down. Eventually the feeder will (hopefully) get tired of buying bowls and give up.

And then the coyote will see that she and her pup no longer have food at -that- house, and will need to roam, and find some other shelter. Hopefully in the woods somewhere, where they should be.

Also as an aside, I think it'd be equally horrible if the feeder thought they were feeding stray cats. You just - don't DO that at someone else's house. It's a violation of the homeowner's privacy and property. I don't care if the bank owns it, or if some dead guy's estate owns it. It's isn't yours, you're not invited, so stay off the property.

[BobnBev]

Originally Posted by mraines

Always quick with the gun. Shame

.22 short. Minimal noise.