Hey, there! Log in / Register
Coyotes getting pretty aggressive in Stony Brook forest
By adamg on Sat, 04/28/2018 - 8:16am
BJ Ray reports he was walking his two dogs in Stony Brook Reservation (where West Roxbury, Hyde Park and Roslindale come together) around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday when the dogs darted after something - and promptly got attacked by about six coyotes.
3 or 4 dragged May off out of my sight. I was running through the woods at top speed and screaming. Rosie was unscathed and May was missing for a good 2 or 3 minutes. I was screaming for her (and freaking out) until finally she popped out from behind or under a rock. She had a few scrapes and a cut on her back. The coyotes didn't run away, by the way. They were half surrounding us and barking/howling. It was pretty harrowing.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Easy solution...
Keep the dogs on leashes.
Yep
Entirely the fault of the dog owner. If you cared about your pet you would act responsibly
ouch!
If the dogs were not on leashes, that was irresponsible on the part of the dog's owner.
Love coyotes? Why not bring back wolves?
Nature is for people and people like their dogs off the leash.
Nature for coyotes is a human concept that has no more validity than nature for people.
If nature was truly for coyotes then nature would be full of wolves who would eat the coyotes and the people.
Eco-crazies want to get rid of other humans. It’s apocalyptic fanaticism. I love nature but it’s for people, not predators.
Tiresome strawman
Is tiresome.
Um,
Um,
People ARE predators.
We kill LOADS of other animals, often just for kicks.Nature is also for producers and decomposers, as well as consumers such as predators.
Overpopulation often leads to population crashes in a single species.
Eco-crazies may have fantasies but war driven eco-blind crazies are EXCELLENT at preparing to get rid of other humans beings and actually following through with the killing.
I really don't quite understand what you are trying to convey unless it isn't supposed to make any sense and you're just blathering.
Just wait til they grab somebody's kid
Coyotes will do this as snack time.
I wish I were able to carry around a paint gun as protection to keep them scared/averse to interacting with people.
My dog is not small - 80 pounds - and he runs the other way when the coyotes are around.
Citations needed
Please provide citations.
Sounds to me like they aren't going after kids or we would have more than one incident in 30 years.
How did they run off of the
How did they run off of the dogs were leashed?
More Air Horn
Needs more airhorn. And a leash.
It's a dog eat dog world
It's a dog eat dog world
Not funny, at all!
/
Sing it with me
It's the circle of life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle
The circle of life
Nature
I hope this is the start of an effort to cull the coyotes, this space is preserved for nature...which we don’t have much left of in eastern MA. If dogs (seems likely off leash) being a tracked by coyotes is indeed becoming a problem then I hope the solution is banning dogs (or actual enforcement of leash laws, if that would solve the problem), and letting nature continue its course.
Not sure what you mean
I get your later part, about controlling dogs, but since coyote are natural creatures, living in nature, how is culling them "letting nature continue its course"?
I hope you are kidding.
Just an unbelievably ridiculous comment.
Gotta preserve nature - let’s shoot some coyotes.
I mean
The only other option seems to be that dog owners keep their dogs on leashes (in on leash areas.) I guess you pick your poison, really.
When wild animals populate to an extent they become a menace
they should be culled; or their natural predators on thefood chain, wolves, need to be re-introduced to eastern MA.
BTW: Humans are nature's ultimate predators,and nature expects us to do our duty, and prevent over-population.
Nature?
I'd like to know more about Nature having expectations.
Wolves are not their
Wolves are not their predators. Wolves and coyotes have mated which is why Eastern coy wolves are so big.
Ignorance of nature
Is dangerous.
Your "plan" is ignorant.
Culling coyotes would do nothing to change the situation. Nothing. That is because there is food available and coyotes will eat it, have babies, and refill the niche.
Coyotes will also move into "empty" niches due to culling.
TL/DR: crunch all you want - they'll make more!
PS: the coyotes are keeping the bears out.
So then we can get rid of the
So then we can get rid of the endangered species laws? After all - if you kill 'em, they'll just come back!
Doubt coyotes respect leashes
While the dogs should have been on leash, I doubt the coyotes factored that in when deciding to attack. Especially when the original post says there were more than half a dozen coyotes. How close or far the dogs were to the human might have been factored into their decision, but their real deciding questions and answers were probably:
"Can we take them? Sure we can, they're only three and we're six"
and
"How hungry are we? Hungry!"
Bottom line - there is at least one large pack of coyotes in Stonybrook, so if you want to go there, bring a large intimidating pack with you. (Either two footed or four pawed)
Leashes mean control of your pet
Coyotes will try to run unleashed dogs into the pack. They can't separate your dogs from you if they are leashed.
Get familiar with hazing methods, use leashes, and the coyotes will no longer try.
Doubt you know coyotes
Coyotes are really smart, and will actually send a single coyote (often a female) to lure dogs to chase them. Dogs are dumb and will tear off after a coyote like it was a chew toy. I live in country that's considerably wilder than Stony Brook Reservation, and I've never heard of a pack of coyotes attacking a dog on a leash.
Bitches be tricky
Yep, it was a common thing when I lived out in California. Some dopey dog would get the scent, follow them out, and become lunch.
Bounty is the solution
$100 for every coyote head turned in.
Can’t hunt within the city
Can’t hunt within the city limits.
A canister of Halt! or pepper spray might be a good idea to deter a pack deciding you or your dog look like a tasty chewy treat.
Lemme guess
In real life your name is not Lanny Budd.
It's Road Runner?!
You want bears, next?
This is how you get bears: empty the coyote niche and you get bears.
Learn some population biology, please.
pot black etc
Learn some population biology? You are the one advocating ignoring an invasive species. What coyotes eat overlaps with what our native foxes, fishers, raccoons, etc. eat. Why do you hate foxes?
We need to get over our romantic idea of the coyote. They are not native. They are dangerous. They need to be eradicated. There is no coyote niche.
So you're saying
Our native foxes, fishers, raccoons, etc. should be the ones eating little off-leash dogs?
Whether or not coyotes are invasive
They have a niche because they are here and they are filling it.
Not sure if it would be bears moving into it were we so stupid to repeat the mistakes of removing the wolves, but it will certainly be something because the food is there and the habitat is there.
Anon is correct in his/her/their prescription for you. You have much to learn about the population dynamics of animals - beyond that fox and rabbit story problem.
Oh, and you know what is the true invasive species here? Look in the mirror. Far more invasive than coyotes.
your definition of niche is flawed
I am as versed in population dynamics as any posters here advocating ignoring this problem until it literally bites them in the ass.
Coyotes do not belong here. They need to be eradicated.
Ignore?
Who said to ignore them?
People are saying LEASH YOUR DAMN DOG and GROW UP and live with them;
P.S. You don't know what a niche is. You just fucked that up twice.
You are the ignorant one
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/ecological_niche.htm
Yes
I'd love bears.
No, you wouldn't
In Western Mass, where there are a lot of bears, people don't leave garbage out, they don't leave pet food or bird feeders out, they secure dumpsters. They understand that if you don't do those things, you end up with nuisance bears, and nuisance bears end up dead. People in Eastern Mass would learn those lessons way too slow.
Would?
Black bears have been seen recently as far east as Rte 495.
they are getting way too comfortable around civilization
I live in back of George Wright,and I used to hear them howling there at night. Last fall, I took the trash out and saw a pair of glowing eyes in the backyard.
My bf is from AZ. He says, if you see one, start throwing stones at it to scare it. Do NOT let your cat out; a lot of cats have gone missing around here. The leash is the right thing to do for the dogs.
They are pretty bold. I would be pretty freaked if one confronted me. Stay safe!
too bad
Humans have to get more comfortable with not providing easy meals and with a new ecological niche.
I don't understand
why people get freaked out when they see a coyote in the neighborhood. I'm sure if they had a choice, they would rather be away from people but their habitat is being developed so they have nowhere else to go. They are just trying to survive like the rest of us. Use common sense and keep and eye on your pets, don't leave trash uncovered, and make some noise when you go out at night so that they are aware that you are there.
The coyotes are already aware
The coyotes are already aware that you are there. They are not afraid of you. I had one follow me and my dog - it was definitely sizing us up and I sensed that it was trying to lure my dog to chase after it so it could get her away from me and closer to the bushes where I am sure there were other coyotes waiting to attack her. Luckily my dog seemed to sense the same and never left me side though she kept looking back at the coyote. I consider us lucky.
Tracked
Yep, I regularly get tracked in Wompatuck. Them coyotes is pretty bold.
Not really true
Coyotes are a recent development in New England. Forty years ago, there weren't any here; they moved here from other places. Also, the city is their habitat now. There's more to eat in urban areas than there is in the woods. It's not just Boston; they've taken up residence in LA and most other cities.
By "recent" you mean mid 1900's, right?
MSPCA.org and MassAudubon.org are great resources to learn more about coyotes and how to co-exist with them.
That's because we killed off
That's because we killed off the wolves in the East, and it took a while for another species to fill the same niche.
In this case, it's coyotes that have hybridized with dogs and wolves (they're all the same species). The cross with dogs, a domesticated animal, probably partially adds a genetic component that makes them even less afraid of people than coyotes already are. So we 100% did this to ourselves.
So MA needs to import alpha
So MA needs to import alpha wolves to the state to have sex with coyotes and un-domesticate them. And if that doesn't work, then mix some Chihuaha into their gene pool. Those little screeches aren't domesticated at all.
Coydog
Incredible leapers. My sister found a stray and took it in. Great family dog, but could leap a 6 foot wall with ease. After it bit a second kid and the suspicions grew, the dog went to the "farm".
Chased by coyotes
I have been stalked by coyotes in stony brook while running with my dog (on leash). They kept on following us along the trail even though I was yelling loudly. It was around 7 o’clock as the sun was setting.
Chased <> stalked
They weren't chasing you, or they would have caught you. They were just pacing you, hoping you would let the little yipper off leash so they could eat it.