How to keep coyotes out of my back yard?

[heathpack]

A coyote is not going to mess with a 60 pound dog. You have zero to be concerned about.

Well not zero. You do have to worry about mountain lions and rattlesnakes. But not a coyote.

 

[TUGBrian]

The pellet gun does work on the neighbors dog because they are not very smart but I really doubt that you will ever see a coyote while you are in your back yard with a pellet gun, lol. I hear them all the time but only have been able to see them occasionally in the last twenty years.

Bill

haha, im sure also as they dont frequent this area...but the OP clearly has that problem.

im not advocating for shooting things that arent on my property or otherwise causing issues that require such action.

 

[VacationForever]

We see coyotes regularly, sometimes alone, but mostly with 2 or even 4 or 5 of them. They cross the roads, hang around on the side of the road, near residential area etc. We do have lots of desert land and mountains around us. We hear howling from them usually between 10pm to about 3am. I don't dare to go walking alone, although many of my neighbors do.

 

[SmithOp]

We have a resident coyote at our local golf course just north of you here in Orange County. Its done wonders to reduce the ground squirrel population. She hunts during daytime, seems unconcerned about us playing golf nearby.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[cp73]

I live in Orange Co. I have seen many in our neighborhood over the years. Our HOA is constantly reminding people to be careful with small dogs and cats. We have had them attack when the owners are walking their small dogs. One of my neighbors recently placed motion lights in his backyard and believes that is keeping them away from his house. Although he says his lights are going on all the time. I do know they are attracted to rabbits which also run freely though our neighbood. Get rid of the rabbits and you might reduce the number of coyotes.

 

[Lydlady]

Also in Orange County. We sometimes hear the coyotes along the flood control channel behind us. We don't have any pets but had neighbors who kept losing their cats.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I live in North County San Diego in a semi-rural area. We have lots of coyotes, an occasional mountain lion and bobcat. Coyotes are wary and can jump tall fences. I would suggest that you get a decent sized fenced (all sides) enclosure for your dog. You probably can't keep coyotes out but you can keep them from getting to your dog when it is in your yard. Larger dogs like Mastifs, German shepherds, pit bulls may be able to hold their own against a coyote or two, but they could get injured in a fight - - especially because coyotes hunt in packs. I've been surrounded at night getting my mail by a half dozen coyotes and it is certainly a scary situation. Coyotes tend to be on the prowl during the evening but the bold ones show up during the day. I think that it would be unusual for coyotes to hunt in packs during the day though.

 

[heathpack]

I had a doxie brought in to me with a head trauma/skull fractures. The owners were walking the dog on a leash on the sidewalk in a crowded suburban area (Glendale) at 10 in the morning. A coyote ran up and grabbed the doxie by the head. Owner held onto the leash and a tug of war ensued. Owner prevailed and regained possession of the dog, who was injured seriously but ultimately ok.

I have personally encountered a coyote in my driveway in broad daylight. I see them all the time when riding my bike around dawn. Once I saw a coyote running down the bike path with a dead Persian cat in its jaws.

It would be very rare (but not unheard of) for a coyote to attack a person. They want to grab a 5-10 pound dog or a cat, something they can run off with. A coyote is only 40-45 pounds itself.

Once I walked into work and looked at the ER board and there was a case listed: Mountain Lion Attack. Good lord, I thought, poor animal. Looked around though and I saw nothing in the treatment area other than a beautiful burly Rhodesian Ridgeback. I went to say hi and she wagged her tail- then I saw the little scratch on her lip. Haha, she was attacked by a mountain lion and attacked the lion right back. Scared the bejeezus out of it and the lion skeedaddled back over the back yard fence. Wrong dog to pick a fight with since Ridgebacks were bred to be lion hunting dogs.

A friend of mine also has funny security video of his infuriated Jack Russell terrier seeing a black bear in his back yard through a window, then tearing out the dog door, yapping away. The bear was tripping over itself, couldn’t get out of the yard fast enough, was totally intimidated by the 15 pound little dog! It was just too funny.

 

[heathpack]

Btw, coyotes live in packs but do not hunt in packs. They hunt alone or in pairs.

We see dozens of coyote attacks each year on toy breed dogs and cats. But not large breed dogs. I’m not saying it could never happen but it would be rare.

 

[klpca]

Btw, coyotes live in packs but do not hunt in packs. They hunt alone or in pairs.

We see dozens of coyote attacks each year on toy breed dogs and cats. But not large breed dogs. I’m not saying it could never happen but it would be rare.

The post I saw on Nextdoor today was a backyard attack on a 60lb heeler. The owner said that one coyote "lured" her dog over to two other coyotes and that's when the attack happened. So weird on all levels - luring, backyard location, attacking a big dog. I'm not sure what to think. Luckily for us, Kaya only goes outside when it's absolutely necessary. Twice this last year we forgot to unlock the dog door and she was locked inside for 8+ hours - no accidents - so she had a steel bladder. I'm still going to give her outside access and hope that they stay away from us.

 

[RNCollins]

My Aunt lives on Cape Cod and you can hear the coyotes howling at night. Their miniature poodle disappeared while outside and we strongly believe it was a coyote.

We had our visit from the bear this evening, at the bottom of our deck steps, looking to get at our bird feeder again.

 

[WinniWoman]

When we had dogs (our 2 Golden Retrievers) we had the invisible fence installed just around the perimeter of our house- not the whole 10.5 acre property.

One day the two of them were outside and a coyote came onto our property and my female dog went right up to the line where the invisible fence wire was- with the coyote just over the wire line on the other side- just about nose to nose! They both stood there frozen eyeing each other!

My male stayed behind her close to the house- quite a ways away from where they were.

It was so weird- no barking at that point. Then the coyote turned around and left.

Anyway, we also had a huge 6 foot high chain link dog pen installed in cement (so the dogs couldn't dig underneath it) against our garage when we first bought the house with a doggy door that went into the garage (and a human door that went into the house.). That is where they stayed while we were at work all day.

We never had any issues in terms of the dog pen and other animals getting in.

 

[WinniWoman]

My Aunt lives on Cape Cod and you can hear the coyotes howling at night. Their miniature poodle disappeared while outside and we strongly believe it was a coyote.

We had our visit from the bear this evening, at the bottom of our deck steps, looking to get at our bird feeder again.

Funny you should say that, neighbor! The other night I heard the bird feeder move (it is metal)- which I have not filled up in months-(I am getting away from feeding the birds anymore) - I had the windows opened. We were in bed and I said to my husband- "I think a bear is here". We were both too lazy to get up and look.

 

[littlestar]

Our neighborhood watch warned us to keep a close eye on small children and pets a few years ago because of coyote sitings. We went to Florida and when we came back home our front snow covered sidewalk looked like a crime scene. The only thing left of this rabbit was its feet. The white snow and red blood everywhere was startling to say the least. We were surprised to see it in our front yard next to our front porch. We live in a neighborhood housing addition.

 

[presley]

It's not unusual for me to see coyotes. I live fairly close to the OP. There have been several attacks even further away from us in Del Mar and Carlsbad. They are just everywhere.

Just wanted to add to the OP that I saw a coyote do a beautiful ballerina leap over a 6 ft concrete wall with no running start in my neighborhood. Looked like no effort at all. Since we are not allowed to have higher than 6 ft fences/walls, I guess there's nothing we can do but be on the lookout all the time. I feel a little more secure in my yard because I have double fences on every side and I also have neighbors with fences on every side. A coyote would have to put more effort into jumping many fences to get into my yard. Of course, I never leave my dogs outside anyway.

 

[b2bailey]

Brings new meaning to the old adage... "BYOB"

View attachment 8436 We brought our own "bear" on the camping trip last week

 

[b2bailey]

Interesting to me the number of posters from Socal. I will soon be going to dog-sit at my friends house in Lake San Marcos, on a golf course. She has two Yorkshire terriors and always gives me the updated drill about letting them out for last, late night 'wee' (she is British). I have always thought she was a bit over-reactive regarding coyote situation. After reading this, I feel I must be more vigilant. Never imagined the dogs could be in danger while walking on a leash.

 

[clifffaith]

We have lived in four different homes within a 2 mile radius for the last 20 years. From 1999-2002 we were in a "wilderness" area with beach on the south and canyons on the north. 2 cats, 2 small dogs, free access to the outside 24/7. Never a problem. Moved to this house (we are serial movers) in 2011 and had a cat who ran in a panic on day 10, and miraculously showed up skinny and flea ridden, but alive six weeks later (Lucy, my avatar). In 2013, suddenly there were coyote sightings daily and we heard them howling at night. Our Nextdoor.com feed is full of stories of pets that have been attacked or gone missing. One lady let three little dogs outside at 10pm to pee before bedtime, all three were grabbed within minutes. We leave our back door cracked all day so cats can go in yard, but they don't go much further than the porch. And it's only because the canyon and open lands are across a busy street that they are allowed out at all, but never after dusk.

We have a "crazy" neighbor who goes out in camo gear and night vision goggles to take YouTube video of the coyote packs. Got himself stuck on a steep hillside and the fire department used him as a training exercise and called multiple stations in to help pull him up. Most hilarious part of that escapade was that he'd been wanting to ask a sheriff deputy out, and when he called 911 at 4am figuring he was really and truly stuck, she was the first responder and hollered down at him "Tony, is that you?!" They didn't get him pulled up until daybreak and it was quite the spectacle with fire trucks all over the street at the bottom. He comes up with a new gadget monthly -- do-it-yourself rollers for the top of fences that he will install for the homeowner, flashing collars for your pets that he'll order in bulk from China if he gets enough people wanting them. Never a dull moment with Tony around!

 

[Paumavista]

I live in North County San Diego in a semi-rural area. We have lots of coyotes, an occasional mountain lion and bobcat. Coyotes are wary and can jump tall fences. I would suggest that you get a decent sized fenced (all sides) enclosure for your dog. You probably can't keep coyotes out but you can keep them from getting to your dog when it is in your yard. Larger dogs like Mastifs, German shepherds, pit bulls may be able to hold their own against a coyote or two, but they could get injured in a fight - - especially because coyotes hunt in packs. I've been surrounded at night getting my mail by a half dozen coyotes and it is certainly a scary situation. Coyotes tend to be on the prowl during the evening but the bold ones show up during the day. I think that it would be unusual for coyotes to hunt in packs during the day though.

We used to live in N. San Diego...above PaumaValley….beautiful country and lots of coyotes. We even saw a mountain lion and bobcat or two on rare occasions. We had a big fenced yard and two Rottweilers....we never had problems in the fence line & the cats knew to stick with our dogs!!

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We have coyotes, foxes and bobcats as our home backs to open space. None seen in yard or on our street.

So far so good. I believe they are too busy killing deer and rabbits in the fields to go after our pets. We had a big problem with deer and jackrabbit overpopulation which drew them down from the hills.

There is a bike trail close to our house. People and dogs on it all the time. No problems even though the coyotes live in the fields. I have even seen a coyote in the field 100 yards away from joggers on the trail.

We had a problem with a young skunk walking through our yard. Installed a Ring with a light sensor which eliminated that problem because skunks hate light.

 

[moonstone]

We seem to be having coyote issues in our neighbourhood. We are quite rural, although we are in a small 'subdivision'. We have heard coyotes howling in the distance a few times but have never seen one around. In the last 2 months there have been 7 cats and 2 small dogs go missing. All of the cats were let out at night and always returned home by sunrise, except for that last time. One of the small dogs, a pug mix, was in a fenced backyard one evening. It was just beginning to get dark when his owners called for him to come in. He was not in the backyard and there were no signs of him digging out. The backyard backs onto a ravine so is not visible to the street, therefore they don't believe he was stolen. Nobody in the neighbourhood has seen him since.

The other dog, a shihtzu, belonged to our neighbours. She was very well behaved and her owner took her on a walk, off the leash, every evening between 10 & 11pm. On Monday night they were walking past an open field right near us and the dog was a few feet behind our neighbour. He heard a quick little yelp and turned around to shine his flashlight on the dog but it was nowhere to be seen. He didn't hear any other noises and couldn't see anything nearby. After spending quite a few minutes calling for the dog he returned home. The next morning he returned to the same area and walked into the bushes that separated the field from the road. He found bits of fur matching the dogs colour and blood stained leaves but nothing else. He called the SPCA in our area and yesterday they came and dropped off a live trap. They said to bait it with some chicken and keep it in the fenced backyard so no other pets would get caught. The SPCA said they'd come and pickup the trap if/when a coyote is caught and re-locate it further away. So we will see if they can catch the coyote(s?) and how long it will take for it to return.

~Diane

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Before I retired, I would walk down to the mailbox at night (winter). Our driveway is about 700 feet long. We are in a semi-rural area. A few times I found that I was surrounded by yipping coyotes. They were all involved in "choir practice". Absolutely surrounded by a choir of them sounding out. Interesting but very scary. The first couple of times, when I clapped my hands they would quickly disburse. Then I found that they had "normalized" to my clapping and wouldn't move. So, while they were silent, they were still within perhaps a few dozen feet. So then I carried a flashlight and a couple of rocks to throw at them. That seemed to work. But subsequently, I also carried a pistol. Luckily, I never had to fire it. I respect the coyotes and really don't want to do them harm. The occurrences of coyotes attacking humans is very low...but not zero.

 

[VacationForever]

Before I retired, I would walk down to the mailbox at night (winter). Our driveway is about 700 feet long. We are in a semi-rural area. A few times I found that I was surrounded by yipping coyotes. They were all involved in "choir practice". Absolutely surrounded by a choir of them sounding out. Interesting but very scary. The first couple of times, when I clapped my hands they would quickly disburse. Then I found that they had "normalized" to my clapping and wouldn't move. So, while they were silent, they were still within perhaps a few dozen feet. So then I carried a flashlight and a couple of rocks to throw at them. That seemed to work. But subsequently, I also carried a pistol. Luckily, I never had to fire it. I respect the coyotes and really don't want to do them harm. The occurrences of coyotes attacking humans is very low...but not zero.

The "choir practice" at night/early morning occurs frequently where we live. A few times when I was out golfing, a coyote would be about 30-50 feet from my ball. I get nervous when they are that near and have my husband on standby with a nine iron when I get ready to hit the ball.

 

[moonstone]

Further information to my post above, another neighbourhood cat went missing over the weekend. Just at dusk this evening a neighbour was driving down the concession road to get to our street. He saw a fairly large Fisher with what appeared to be a cat in its mouth, dart from the subdivision and across the road and into the bush. He posted what he witnessed on our community Facebook page. Nobody replying has ever seen one around here before and many people now think maybe the Fisher, not a coyote, is responsible for all the missing pets. The only thing our next door neighbours have caught in the OSPCA live trap was a racoon which they released the following morning.

I wasn't familiar with a Fisher so I had to google it. This is what I found; https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-fisher - interesting!


~Diane

 

[planada]

We live in Arizona, have 2 dachshunds and coyotes are rampant and unafraid of humans in our area. We back up to a mountain and I was petrified after finding coyote poop on the back lawn and watching a bobcat drink out of our water fall. Here is what we did. We put strips of spikes ( made to detour birds sitting on your fence) on top of the fence, the gate, the whole perimeter. We bought a free standing 3.5 gallon water container that was powered by solar ( made to keep deer, ect out of a garden) that was motion detector sensored. Set 2 up in opposite corners of the yard directed to fence line, it sprays a hard stream of water when sensored "scaring" what ever comes up to the top of the fence. We also have a small CD player set up on the patio that is on repeat. Its a mountain lion roaring at 3 min intervals, over and over. ( Only on in the daytime and our neighbors were told about it) The dogs never go out alone at night. My first choice was something called a coyote roller which was installed on top of fence with brackets, but our HOA wouldn't allow it. They don't know about the strips of spikes as they really aren't noticeable until up close. Both the strips and water sprayer were purchased on Amazon.