Large coyote killed in Southern Maryland (Calvert)

[Bang]

Fellow SOMDers, check this out
http://smnewsnet.com/archives/44302
Large Coyote Shot on Mill Bridge Road

On Saturday, January 5th, Chance Underwood was deer hunting off Mill Bridge Road. Chance encountered and shot a male coyote that weighed 43 pounds.

Coyotes are not considered a threat to humans. There have been a few attacks by coyotes on humans in North America. It is recommended people never feed coyotes, as most of the attacks have been associated with animals that have been fed by humans at a park.

If someone comes across a coyote in the wild, treat it like any other wild animal; Enjoy it, but from a distance. There is only a recent history of coyotes having a presence in Calvert County.

rest of the story at the link.

This was shot about a mile from my house as the crow flies, so watch out for your pets. (edited the distance,, I underestimated)
The thing that impresses me is it's a very healthy strong animal (apart from the slight case of death).. no ribs showing on this guy.
We suddenly have predators around, and big ones.

~Bang

[Predicto]

Cool. The return of coyotes is a good sign for the overall local ecology. They are learning to adapt to us.

As an aside, coyotes have been spotted in the park behind my house. That may not seem like a big deal, unless you know how urban my location really is. I am smack dab in the very middle of a dense city.



Apparently, they came across the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the night a few years back and settled in. Here's a fantastic clip of one about 200 yards from our best friends' house.

[ffxdrummer]

My parents reported seeing a coyote in their cul-de-sac about 2 years ago in Fairfax, right on the Fairfax City border, their house does back up to woods.

[MattFancy]

What in the world? Never heard of any coyotes down that way. Hopefully they stay on your side of the river lol (I'm from Hollywood). People kill all kinds of crazy things in Calvert, wasn't there an Emu on the loose a couple of years ago that someone killed?

[Spaceman Spiff]

That coyote wouldn't be killed if there were a gun ban.

[Stadium-Armory]

We've got coyotes all over the place here. Need to keep your pets behind the fence at dusk and early morning.

[HBnotBlades]

My parents live in the Manassas area and I saw a HUGE coyote or coy-dog when I was home visiting them a few years ago. I was upstairs and happened to see this thing wandering into the yard and it was substantially larger than our 45 lb dog. I ran down stairs, grabbed a golf club, and chased it away. I think it may have been eyeing one of my Moms cats.

I still can't believe how big it was.

[Predicto]

That coyote wouldn't be killed if there were a gun ban.

Who's talking about banning hunting rifles and shotguns? I don't think even Diane Feinstein would support that.

[Bang]

What in the world? Never heard of any coyotes down that way. Hopefully they stay on your side of the river lol (I'm from Hollywood). People kill all kinds of crazy things in Calvert, wasn't there an Emu on the loose a couple of years ago that someone killed?

Too late. Coyotes have been photographed in Medley's Neck.. out near Sotterly Plantation.
A bowhunter then shot one down there (so take that, Spiffy!)
That was a year ago... there was a big forum thread on somdonline.com about one seen walking up route 5 in St. Inigoes..

Here's a picture of one in Ridge


Just keep your trash covered, and watch your small pets. The coyote wants nothing to do with you.

~Bang

[Special K]

Dang, that's a big one!

We have coyotes on our property on a daily basis; there's a den just outside the ranch perimeter. Never seen one running around that big though, good grief. They are annoying as heck every night and drive our dogs crazy and in fact, our dogs have gotten in fights with them because some nights they, even our big German Shepards, have come back some bloody wounds. Kind of scary.

I'm not so sure that they are so afraid of humans as this article states though...I'm probably wrong though All I know is that when I lived in SoCal, a lady in my town was attacked by a coyote in her backyard and there were reports of coyotes becoming more acclimated to and less frightened of humans, which can make some of them dangerous, even to humans. In Colorado, a lady on my tennis team had the same thing happen to her while out in her yard planting bushes; she looked up and was staring a coyote right in the face. The coyote lunged at her and left her with some pretty bad gashes that needed stitches and left visible scars - thank goodness her husband was home because when he heard her screaming, he ran out and beat the thing off his wife with a rake.

So, maybe in certain regions coyotes are more aggressive than in other regions due to various environmental factors. I know I'd be nervous about my smaller dogs and cats if I had coyotes that big in my neighborhood

[Park City Skins]

Ah the ghost of the plains making an appearance. Where there's one,there's usually more. 43lb's is a pretty good sized coyote. I've only seen one bigger than that,but where he was everything was a bit bigger and there were lot's prey. They tend to be nocturnal,but if you're going to see one,this is a good time of the year to do so. Bring the dog and/or cat food in to the house,(along with the dogs and especially cats). As Bang said,they want nothing to do with you. I've had several "encounters" with them over the years and even with more than one,they avoided me. Though they can be a bit cranky if you get a bit too close.

[gortiz]

As Bang said,they want nothing to do with you. I've had several "encounters" with them over the years and even with more than one,they avoided me. Though they can be a bit cranky if you get a bit too close.

safe to say this guy killed purely out of sport ...?

I'll never get that.

He's not going eat any of that animal right? Probably keep the fur and toss the rest?

[Elessar78]

Another Katherine Webb thread? Jeez. Where are the mods??

[Park City Skins]

safe to say this guy killed purely out of sport ...?

I'll never get that.

He's not going eat any of that animal right? Probably keep the fur and toss the rest?

Possibly not. Though the pelt's okay,he may have shot it for the same reason many deer hunters shoot them. They believe,(this is largely wrong btw),the coyotes are thinning the deer population. Competing predators if you will. Of course in many states,there are seasons to hunt Coyote and laws that say one can shoot Coyote any time of year if it's on private property or certain distance from it.

*

Oh. And this isn't a "return" for these guys. They've been around for awhile,but were a Western predator that's adapted quite well to humans. They've been following human population centers for awhile now and of course,they don't have to compete with wolves and such anymore.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Who's talking about banning hunting rifles and shotguns? I don't think even Diane Feinstein would support that.

Take a joke, libby