Coyotes (Caw-Awoo!) Ravens... Voles

[bower]

A neighbor who helped plow out the end of my driveway this winter told me that the watershed area bordering my place has become a home to many coyotes. They're new in the area - I've only seen one here a couple years ago.
Then a couple of weeks ago, a raven flew past on patrol and sang out "Caw A-wwwoooo" - the 'awoo' part was like nothing I've heard from a raven before, and in a whole different register from the usual baritone: really high and shrill with little trills and whistles in it. I wondered what, and then I thought it must be a coyote howl.
Looked it up, and found this very cool site with recordings
https://coyoteyipps.com/coyote-voicings/
I don't think coyotes should be a big problem here, as at the worst they might eat some voles and rabbits. But still I'm happy to see a new couple of ravens that may nest or are nesting here. The young ones tend to be a bit random and noisy, but overall ravens are very helpful to alert what's going on in the area.
With these ravens picking at my uncovered winter compost, I reckon they will also alert if any coyote becomes interested in the compost. They're saying not to compost to avoid attracting coyotes! but, that's not going to happen. Mostly composting weeds and veggies scraps/coffee grounds so there is not that much in it to attract them I don't think - eggshells and a few fish bones not many. I already can't bury fish around here as foxes dig that up. But I don't prevent any animal from taking scraps in the winter. I have compassion for all of them in the cold. They really don't bother when your piles are done and dressed, except for rodents of course which I have to get rid of.
And now I'm thinking it's a good idea to encourage ravens to check around the compost pile in late winter, which is a prime place for voles or other rodents to nest - they will eat small rodents, I read. Otherwise the birds have never bothered my compost piles or anything in the garden, in the past. (I haven't grown corn but I know what to expect if I did). I don't expect these birds will bother any pile once I dress it with straw/fresh leaves and etc, as they have their own lifestyle and food in the woods.
What do you think? Encouraging them a mistake?
I went ahead and threw some more sunflower seeds and a few old raisins today in the snow, and they came for it.
I'm thinking to switch the action, when the snow is gone, to the fall compost pile in the corner, which I baited with destroyed grains for the pesty voles (Yes there were holes afterwards, so the sign they went for it). So I'm thinking to put some goodies there for raven after I dress the winter pile, and, if I can lure them to it, I could also dig at the sign of rodents and make it easy for them to dig.
This is what I'm thinking. IDK, do you think I can move ravens around by moving food they like? Or will they expect it to be forever in one place?
Meanwhile I don't know coyotes at all. Should I be more worried about the attraction to compost? I'm hoping and assuming they are eating better than that....

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[MissS]

I encourage the coyotes, much to my neighbors dismay. We used to have a very large rabbit and rodent problem. Since the coyotes have made a den close by, the rodents are way down and I only saw two rabbits last year. There are a few people in our neighborhood that want the coyotes trapped and relocated, but enough of us are opposed to that so they can stay for now.

There are plenty of crows around. I had never given them much thought other than that they are fun to watch and good to clean up roadkill. Crows are so smart and great scavengers that I would think that it would be very easy to move them to feed from place to place. What a good idea.

[JRinPA]

Are those ravens or crows? I'm never useful looking at photos without scale. Ravens are cool.

If you have dogs or cats off leash, or tied out, you don't want coyotes around. They are survivors.

What's the story on how they got there? The moose aren't native, so are the coyotes?

Supposedly were are getting lousy with coyotes in PA. Personally I don't think there are particularly more than there used to be. Just that now everyone had digital cameras up in the woods, texting pics back, so when someones posts a pic, a thousand people see it and two whispers later there are thousands of coyotes being talked about. When it was just one. Twenty years ago, only the very few people that saw it in person and told a few people about it on the phone, knew about it.

[Paulf]

We hear coyotes howling at the moon but do not see them. We also have a population of bobcats in the area. Since the bobcats, which are native to the area as well as coyotes, moved into the edges of town from the countryside, the rabbit population has dwindled. We see the effects of deer also diminished. Without pets we welcome both preditors. Now if they would hunt down squirrels I could spend less on birdseed.

[bower]

Coyotes have found their way here, over the ice presumably. Since our wolves are extinct, they are filling an empty niche. They're being considered as native now.
https://www.gov.nl.ca/ffa/wildlife/all-species/coyotes/

I had forgotten about the conflict with neighbor cat.. that's too bad. Ravens don't like the cat either and will make a ruckus. But coyote may do a better job with the out of control rabbit scene. Voles and other rodents too.

[rxkeith]

we have coyotes here. i see them too. as long as they behave themselves i don't mind.
BUT, its breeding season for them now, and they are not adverse to grabbing a quick easy meal.
i have chickens, and the goose i rescued. they will go after chickens, domestic animals, and they
also will devour fawns. i agree that coyotes will help keep the rabbit, and rodent population down.
we have plenty of them any way. not sure if they keep raccoons in check too or not. i usually have to
run them out of the immediate area a few times during the year before they get the message that my
chickens are off limits to them. i have lost a few chickens over the years to coyotes, raccoons, and hawks.
coyotes should leave the compost pile alone unless you have meat scraps in there. fish would be a big
turn on to them i bet. bottom line is i don't mind them for the most part. eliminate all of them, then you
create other problems.


keith

[karstopography]

Coyotes can be hard on pets and poultry and are very brazen. Our neighbors on the other side of the lake had their king charles spaniel dog attacked and killed by four coyotes mere feet away from the neighbor who had let the dog out to potty, all during daylight hours. The neighbor tried to drive the coyotes away, but they were too little and too late to be effective. But, pets go missing in our neighborhood and the nature of our long driveways means some animal or animals are taking off with the pets and not people stealing them.

One thing is to make sure the coyotes don’t lose their fear of mankind. They are opportunistic and will push every limit if they lose all respect and fear of people. People have been walking dogs on leashes and had coyotes attacking the dog on a leash.

I leave our foxes alone and don’t try to drive them off as those pretty effective rodent killers, but I would not hesitate for a second if I had a clear shot at a coyote to take that shot, at least anywhere near my house.

Out in the woods, not around subdivision and homes, I leave the coyotes alone. There’s thousands of acres of suitable coyote habitat within a mile or two of my home and there they can thrive and do their coyote thing, but coyotes are unwelcome on my lot.

[Moth1992]

I have a big population nearby and love hearing them sing their coyote songs at night. But my cats are indoors only.

[zeuspaul]

We have a pack of five or so. During the day it's not unusual to see one or two and sometimes three wandering down the street. In the evening we usually hear a bunch howling for a minute or two. At night my security cameras tell me they usually wander around alone.

I rarely hear about attacks on pets. However most pet owners keep their pets safe. One neighbor feeds a feral black cat and it has survived coyotes for years.

They don't bother me in any way so I just leave them alone.

[bower]

It is really helpful to hear about your personal experiences with coyotes! And the seasonal perspective which I haven't read about anywhere.
I also found this link that rates the threat level for coyotes losing their fear/respect and how to interact if you meet one.
https://urbancoyoteresearch.com/coyote- ... ts-coyotes
The one coyote that I've seen here walked past my window early morning just after dawn. I had no lights on and wasn't moving, so I wasn't noticed. It was not very large, smaller than an adult german shepherd, maybe a young one.
It had such an intelligent, confident face. Truly a beautiful animal. This was several years ago.

The barking sounds a lot like dogs, and it's possible I've heard them in the summer evenings but didn't realize it.

[karstopography]

A lot of small time ranchers around here keep a donkey or two around with the horses and cows as donkeys hate coyotes and will chase and kill, stomp, kick and bite to death, any they happen to catch. Coyotes will attempt to kill newborn calves so the ranchers feel like it’s a good deal to waste a little grass on the donkey.

Don’t get me wrong, I think coyotes are cool, in the right place. My folks right next door had a mangy coyote show up about a year ago on their front porch. The Coyote actually left its calling card, feces, about three feet from the front door. Coyote scat is all hair and bone as opposed to dog feces. I’m sure the coyote was after Tom Sawyer, my folk’s orange tabby, or Grayson Goodkitty, the gray one. Both were wily survivors so the coyote struck out, but that mangy coyote was later that day tracked down by our animal control department out in the main road under a culvert.

I had a wild Colorado coyote come to within ten feet of me while elk hunting after a good dump of snow. One of the neatest experiences I’ve gotten to enjoy while hunting. I was sitting in a folding chair in the brush and the coyote was coming to a dead yearling elk to feed on the carcass. That coyote never knew I was there until it hit my tracksin the foot of snow, ten feet away from me. Seeing that coyote pick up my scent and then deciding what to do next was priceless.

[ddsack]

Can't comment on the coyotes, I know we have some around but I personally have never seen one. My husband has, and claims he has heard them yowling at night, but I have not. We have someone who used to keep sled dogs down the road a piece, and I would sometimes hear them carry on. I think the ravens will find whatever you set out for them in another spot pretty fast. They are really smart, and they watch what you do when you are not even aware they are around. One year we were going on vacation, and I cobbled together a wooden shelter on our 2nd floor deck to leave extra dry cat food and water out in case the cats got stuck outside. The cats would sometimes climb up the support posts to get on the deck and be safe from dogs or other cats. When we got back, the ravens were busy helping themselves to the cat food. How they thought to come that close to the house which they normally avoid and look under a board shelter, and how did they did know the cat pellets were edible when they had never been there before and the ravens had no experience eating them? Smell? Did they see the cats eating?

The raven flock in our woods can be annoyingly vocal at times when they get incensed about something. Usually very noisy when the young are leaving the nests and the rest of the family is there for encouragement and protection. If a bald eagle perches near our yard, I hear about it quickly! When we clean fish, we usually dump the guts in a spot in the woods for animals to clean up, and the ravens have learned to watch when a boat comes in to the dock. Our fish cleaning stand is out in the open, so they can see from a long distance if there will be anything for them. They are very stealthy and never perch nearby, but a few minutes after dumping the fish carcasses, they will appear for the meal.

[Labradors]

We used to hear the coyotes during summer time when the windows were open, but then they seemed to disappear. Now they are back, as we spotted SIX of them a month ago, over at the farm next door. I've only ever seen lone ones in the past.
I really hope they will feast on some of the rabbits around here. They have become a huge problem for me, dining on all my greens, as well as bean sprouting in my veggie garden. Everything has to be fenced in chicken wire if I want to have a successful crop. One of my dogs chases them, but still they hang out here......

[JRinPA]

They will kill off some of the foxes too, so...personally I prefer foxes to coyotes. Coyotes could threaten a small kid, pretty tough to imagine a red fox to doing that. I would not feel bad about killing a coyote, quite the opposite.

[bower]

@Labradors in a fox year I noticed that the mother rabbits send their baby bunnies to hang around the house - they get as close as they can for safety. They seem to like grass better than anything else, but yeah, veggie fencing.

[rxkeith]

having chickens, i would rather deal with coyotes than foxes.
coyotes, i will usually see them ahead of time approaching the chickens or
i will hear the chickens giving the alarm sound that when you hear it, you better
check it out quickly. foxes on the other hand, will often lay in ambush waiting for a chicken
to come close enough and then BAM! they grab the chicken and go before any one knows what
happened. i had one bad year with foxes where i lost several chickens. i really don't want foxes
in my area. we have them around. its the wild kingdom up here.


keith

[MissS]

We used to hear the coyotes during summer time when the windows were open, but then they seemed to disappear. Now they are back, as we spotted SIX of them a month ago, over at the farm next door. I've only ever seen lone ones in the past.
I really hope they will feast on some of the rabbits around here. They have become a huge problem for me, dining on all my greens, as well as bean sprouting in my veggie garden. Everything has to be fenced in chicken wire if I want to have a successful crop. One of my dogs chases them, but still they hang out here......

The coyotes are nomads and travel to where the food is plentiful. They will come around and stay a few years until the rabbits are all but gone and move on to better territory. Once the food supply is back, then so will be the coyotes.

Coyotes are not known to be pack animals. Their breeding season is in February, so they will come together then. You will usually see a lone parent out providing for it's family. If you see a pack of them later in the summer, it would be the parents with their pups out teaching them the ropes.