The simple solution is keep the cat indoors (you should do this anyway). Domestic cats are notorious bird hunters and little killing machines. Your neighborhood birds will thank you and you will help keep the coyotes away. The free ranging domestic cats released by people have become popular prey for the coyotes. Coyotes being smart and adaptive omnivores, have developed a nice appetite for cats. Nothing is going to change that.
You can also add a bell and cat collar for when kitty goes outside. The bell makes it impossible for the cat to sneak up on birds, and hopefully, the bell being a human noise, may keep coyote away. (but it sounds like the coyotes hunting during daylight in a human area means they are already quite bold.) They are probably a mated pair and may have to feed pups which accounts for the aggressive daylight hunt.
The only other actionable advice is to call town pest control like another poster suggested. You pay real estate taxes and think of it as a nice way to claw some of that back to your own benefit.
Thanks for the tips guys. I think I like the M 80 idea along with peeing around my property line. Neither will do anything, I'm sure, and I'm ok with it. I like wildlife and we seem to have a pretty healthy ecosystem around here. I like seeing foxes, turkey, bobcats etc. Not thrilled that coyotes feel brave enough to approach out house, but we'll just have to chase them off if they show up again. It is surprising given the smorgasbord of turkey and young deer around here that they would bother hunting down a cat. We understand having pets that go outdoors carries risk. Both cats and dogs go missing all the time around here. I'll be surprised if my cat ever wants to go outside again. Anyway, here's our cat convalescing in a sea of blankets provided by the kids. She is a tough little cookie. She was a stray kitten from the (mean) streets of Bridgeport. She can now add coyote fighter to her resume. The vet was astounded she survived. She's got stitches in her mouth and all over her body, but she should be ok.
Anyway, here's our cat convalescing in a sea of blankets provided by the kids. She is a tough little cookie. She was a stray kitten from the (mean) streets of Bridgeport. She can now add coyote fighter to her resume. The vet was astounded she survived. She's got stitches in her mouth and all over her body, but she should be ok.
In my experience cats are super tough (way tougher than humans) and they heal incredibly quickly. Looks like kitty is well on her way to recovery. :)
I was going to let this run a few pages for laughs - thanks!
I ran a trap line & varmint called the whole time I grew up, in the winter (fur is worthless in summer)
I don't do it or condone it anymore but that's how we grew up.
That waxy smell of pelts drying on streachers is something I'll never forget.
There would be 100's in our garage - we had to drive to Cortez, CO to sell them at a a fur grader from our house in Tuba City, AZ.
.22 will take them down, or really injure them......
.22 Mag hollw point will take down most anything (including a 300lb mule deer, if placed behind the ear)
.223 really carries - 500yrs easy - if you wanna go out to 1000yrds you need a .22-250. My dad would do this regularly, in the dark......bringing them in with red light rabbit calling in the dark......
It's hard to trap a 'yote, and if there is a pair, you'll only get one.
You have to burn the traps in a fire, and then let them cool, and picking them up with a long fresh stick dip them in a pot with sage brush in it boiling, and with a big stick of parrafin wax melted in it to coat the trap, and lube it (the parts that hold the spring are called "dogs")
You want a #4.
Then there is the art of setting them..........
Don't y'all have Game & Fish officers out there?
Tell them the coyotes were threatening, and not scared of humans.
Osa must be reading my mind - she's at least 1/4 'yote and here staring at me...........
Let me know if you do want trapping notes - gotta know what soil you have.
- Garro.
It's hard to trap a 'yote, and if there is a pair, you'll only get one.
My experience in suburban Westchester tells me that nearly all the resident coyotes here are male/female pairs or family groups. The two biggest family groups I've seen are in Glazier Arboretum in Chappaqua (6) and on the North County Trailway (5) behind the State Police Barracks in Hawthorne. The ones in Hawthorne used to run in front of my bike when I would commute in early in the am in winter. They lope along easy, for sure.
I was going to let this run a few pages for laughs - thanks!
I ran a trap line & varmint called the whole time I grew up, in the winter (fur is worthless in summer)
- Garro.
Ditto, Garro. I ran a line while growing up in Pa. Set them at night, cleared them in the mornings before school. No coyote, though. Rabbit and Muskrat..and even some squirrel, for furriers across the river in Trenton, NJ. who made/sold clothes in the black community. We little white boys would ride our bikes across the bridge and sell the pelts. Any Carp we could catch in the Delaware river were also welcome and we'd get a few cents for them from some old women who were always pole-fishing down by the Calhoun St. bridge. That is all a whole world that I suspect is gone forever.
17HMR absolute minimum i'd go for shooting a song dog and that's for sub-100 yards and for experienced marksmen.
problem remains that if you shoot two, then so long as conditions are favorable, more will take their place. Pets (food), wooded areas devoid of hunters will allow them to thrive.
It's illegal to hunt with firearms within 500 ft of an occupied building in CT, so I think preferred calibres for coyote are probably far from Shoney's mind, but I don't think I'd hunt coyote with 17HMR. I'd use .223 (minimum), .243, or 6.5x55. That said, as you say, eliminate two and another pair/family group will take their place. Waging a local war on coyotes is unlikely to be successful.
Originally Posted by Chad
Call game and parks, or whatever they're called in your state, they can give you some assistance. If they're coming after your "livestock" I believe you may legally shoot them.
I think that CT DEEP is likely to say, "Yup, coyotes, learn to live with them and keep Garfield inside." Connecticut uses contracted Nuisance Wildlife Control Officers, who can be contracted to solve nuisance pests. However, coyotes are not on the list of usual nuisance pests that can be trapped or shot, so the Control Officer has to request a special permit for coyotes. All in, this sounds expensive and time-consuming...
The free ranging domestic cats released by people have become popular prey for the coyotes. Coyotes being smart and adaptive omnivores, have developed a nice appetite for cats. Nothing is going to change that.
Likes: 
Re: Callin' all varmint hunters!!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by rowdyhillrambler
Bookmarks