r/coyote • u/talienaah • 8d ago
A coyote encounter and some questions.
Hi there - I just moved to Nova Scotia, Canada and got lucky to find a rental house with 5 acres of fields and woods, though unfortunately not fenced. I have 3 dogs, 2 of which have amazing recall and can be off leash on the property (though NEVER without me out supervising them, and with GPS tracking collars in case they go behind the hilly parts or into the brush). The other is not allowed off leash.
I work relatively long hours 4 days a week and the daylight is short now, and my dogs are high energy breeds (Duck Tollers and a Border Collie) so I tend to take them out into the fields early in the morning before work and then at night after work to play and run around and sniff and be dogs.
We have lots of wildlife passing through and I had heard some coyotes a few weeks ago, but hadn’t seen any - until two nights ago.
I was playing with the two dogs who have off leash privileges around 10:30 pm in the part of the yard that is well lit from a streetlight on our road, and suddenly the Border Collie froze and stared off into the treeline barking. This isn’t abnormal for him as a false alarm because he’s about 8 months old and starting to feel like a bit of a hotshot, and I was teasing him a little about barking at his own echos. My Toller girl was sniffing around near the edges of where the light was illuminating, probably about 35 feet away from me but still in view. Suddenly I heard her scream (yes Tollers do that), and she started bolting towards me, followed closely by a really large coyote. Three other coyotes were behind the big one. The BC boy stood by me barking and I ran towards the Toller being chased, making a bunch of noise as I had been educated about scaring off coyotes. The coyotes stopped and the 3 that were following the bigger one retreated but the bigger one took some steps towards me. I backed away, the coyote stopped to continue to stare at me from about 10 feet away, and I called the dogs back with me into the well lit area and into the house.
Anyway I know that at least in the dark I’ll probably have to keep the dogs on leashes even on the property now. I’d prefer to still use my 20-30ft training leads so they can still explore and decompress. And I know that the times when I can go out and walk them are exactly the times when the coyotes are most active.
Aside from fencing which isn’t an option since rental, are there other tips to co-exist with these coyotes while avoiding my dogs getting attacked?
I was planning on purchasing a high powered flashlight for both investigation and maybe momentary stun purposes. I can carry a hiking stick with me on the morning perimeter walks. I heard about noisemakers. Is there anything else I can do?
Is the behaviour of the larger one that didn’t really retreat abnormal? Is that a concern?
If you got this far thanks for reading. I was pretty shaken when this happened and my voice was pretty much gone most of the day yesterday from all the yelling, but now I’m trying to plan to reduce the risk as practically as possible.
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u/kidmarginWY 6d ago
It just depends on how large the coyotes are. 20 to 30 lb dog should not be prey for coyote. However it's possible. Coyote population in Nova Scotia varies from year to year. When there's a lot of rabbits and prey... Population is high. Then they eat all the rabbits and population goes down for a few years. So I would keep any dog under close observation until you are comfortable with the situation.
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 8d ago edited 8d ago
In Nova Scotia you probably have coy-wolves with a higher percentage of wolf. I don't know where you moved from.. They are going to challenge larger dogs if they feel they are competing for food sources or near pups. They may even challenge them territorially. You're far enough north that they may not act much like what most people think of when they think of coyotes. Eastern coyotes have wolf DNA and the further north you get and the closer to Algonquin Park the higher the wolf percentage. Yours are likely to be hybrids. These guys are beautiful, very smart, and bold. They pack. They commonly take down deer. And yes, I know they say they don't trick dogs out to ambush them, but I witnessed two trying to do just that to my dog south of you in New England years ago. When that failed they sat pretty much right under my bedroom window later that night and howled/yipped at my dog for a whole half hour.
Unless the house was empty for a while it's unlikely they're used to denning near it for pups.
Biologists will also tell you that peeing around your perimeter doesn't do anything, but if you are a man it does make a statement and marks your territory. Just like any other mammal.. Although it doesn't mean they won't "push" it..
You might try making your perimeter less rodent friendly. Move or burn any brush or accumulated stuff. Compost piles are a huge attractant. Motion detector lights may help - really bright ones. High powered flashlight may or may not help but is definitely worth a try. Should help at least at first. I understand guns are difficult in Canada, but what about pellet guns? Or even a paint gun? I would personally use one if my dog was attacked. I think it might surprise a coy enough that it would run. If not, a sling shot with decent sized rocks - big enough to make some noise.
Best thing to do is ask your neighbors or the people at the town stores about their sizes and behavior. Yes, people will exaggerate, but 50 lb and over hybrids can be a thing. Ask specifics about any incidents with dogs and go from there. There was one woman killed in NS but it's very unusual.
EDIT: and until I had it somewhat sorted out I'd think about keeping the dogs on very long leads. You can let them drag. That way you can collect your dog just in case.
EDIT again, I think the record was 90 lbs for a hybrid and IIRC it was taken in a hunt in upstate NY. Yours most likely aren't close to that size.
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u/rjh2000 8d ago
Coywolf is just an outdated term for a wild canid that has very degrees of both coyote and wolf, it’s kit a species. There are only two seperate species in Canada that have both sets of dna, the eastern coyote which is the only species (subspecies really) found from Ontario to The Atlantic provinces (and north eastern US), it’s the only medium/large sized wild canid in Nova Scotia, there are no wolves there. the larges eastern coyote on recored is 62lbs not 90. Their average weight is 35-40 lbs. And then there’s the eastern wolf (aka Algonquin wolf), only found in a few areas in Ontario and Quebec.
The coywolf term was largely used by the media when referring to eastern coyotes, that term has a lot of false information attached to it.
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u/talienaah 7d ago
thank you for the info, that’s really interesting! (Not sarcasm, I did graduate research on domestic dog genomics so it’s fascinating to me)
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 7d ago
It's political. Some biologists stopped using the term as they didn't want too much publicity and the animals to get over hunted. The fact, by DNA evidence, is these are a hybrid and the wolf content is greater further north and closer to Algonquin park.
The differentiation with some of these hybrids (wolf or coyote) is weight only and I don't think the weight is agreed on. IIRC the 90 lb animal was called a coyote as the locality didn't want to position themselves as having wolves. It opens a whole other can of worms politically.
EDIT; also, in general, biology is extremely uncomfortable with the idea of hybridization. Which personally, I think is silly. Animals don't always fit neat little boxes.
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u/HyperShinchan 7d ago
I fully agree with you on the fact that biologists who are extremely opposed to hybridization are silly, but strictly speaking I think that "coywolf" should be only used for a confirmed F1 hybrid between a "full" wolf and a "full" coyote, otherwise it's better, even just because of political opportunity indeed, to call them eastern coyote. No point in giving them too much attention, coyotes are already subjected to enough hatred without being considered even "dangerous" almost like a wolf proper. And yeah, I did read that further north they seem to act more like wolves often enough, hunting even fairly large prey in packs.
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 7d ago
It's all opinion. Mine differs from yours. Check out the very enjoyable video on taxonomy and politics below. Or above. I can't tell here.
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u/rjh2000 7d ago
Do you have link to this 90lb canid? I know there was a 90lbs wolf that was shot in Nova Scotia a few years ago and the hunter said it was a “coywolf” but dna said other wise.
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 7d ago
Nope. Here's an excellent breakdown of the present state of wolf taxonomy and the politics around that. It's made for older kids but is very well done and enjoyable. There aren't any eastern wolves without coyote DNA.. Has some gore.
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u/rjh2000 7d ago
Yes I know there’s no eastern wolves with coyote dna as the coyote admixture was introduced in to their genetics around 37,000 years ago. The 90ish lbs wolf that the hunter tried to pass for an Easter coyote in Nova Scotia turned out to be a gray wolf, the first found in the province in over a decade.
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 7d ago
What are we arguing about? They are genetic hybrids. The present controversy is described in that video which really is enjoyable. You'd probably like it. Check it out.
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u/talienaah 7d ago edited 7d ago
Thank you! I moved from Ottawa, ON most recently and was urban enough with a small yard and large fence that I never saw or heard coyotes there, though I know that there were some in the vicinity. The coyotes I have the most experience with are in California (both northern and southern) as I lived there for a large portion of my life. Those ones were so small compared to the ones I saw here the other night. My Toller that they were chasing is 36 lbs and 19” tall at the shoulders and the larger one was definitely bigger than her. I know that in California they could scuffle with medium/large dogs but mostly were a concern for small dogs and cats. I’m also a veterinarian who has worked in ER/specialty so I’ve seen their handiwork on those smaller pets.
I considered a pellet gun (then had a little bit of a laugh about my “American” showing) and may get one if I see them lurking too close again. My fields are pretty clear of any man made things to attract rodents but unfortunately my closest neighbours up the hill have chickens which is I suspect what is attracting these guys. I was going to go over there and let them know about the situation and see what they’ve seen.
The dogs will definitely be on the long lines at night and in the early morning from now on.
Again thanks for the reply!
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 7d ago
They weigh less than they look. They're a lot of fluff. Good luck and in spite of it all I hope you enjoy them to some extent. They're really beautiful.
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u/talienaah 7d ago
oh yes if I didn’t have dogs that need off leash activity to not lose their minds, or had a fence and some roller bars, or didn’t feel just a little extra caution because of my background in vet med, i would be thrilled to bits about hearing and seeing them. they are really cool creatures!
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 7d ago
Hah ha. Yeah. I can relate to that reservation.. I only visited NE with my dog that time. If I lived there now I'd be building fort knox so my current dog didn't try to play with them.. I grew up there but at that time they were few and far between and people thought they were coy-dogs till the DNA was tested. There were a few stories/rumors about them chasing children into apple trees, but I don't remember any of that hitting the news so we didn't know what to think.
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u/PracticalWallaby7492 7d ago
Oh, BTW, I saw a comparison between wolf, coyote and eastern coyote skulls. I noticed the eastern coy's skull seemed to me to have a larger percentage brain cavity. Of course, just 3 animals, but thought that was interesting..
Here's a really well done and enjoyable educational video on the taxonomy etc. It's made for older kids but is really wonderful; "Wolves can be a bit Coy". Has some gore, but you can handle that.
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u/Cultural_Elephant_73 6d ago
Apparently! Someone else commented they’re 30-40lbs… the ones around my house look easily bigger than my 70lb dog.
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u/poopadoopy123 8d ago
I walk my small dog and carry bear spray just in case