Interesting coyote encounter last night

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Last night while taking my evening walk, I was waking along when I heard something coming up the road, I couldn't identify the sound. So I flipped my head lamp on, and when I did I saw a really large coyote running straight toward me from about 75 yards away. I drew my sidearm and took aim, but as the yote got closer I could see he was running from something, he kept looking back, he didn't appear to be focused on me at all. He ran full bore right past me, and continued looking back? So I stood still and listened and kept an eye out for what ever might chase a yote like that, never did find out what it was though. Probably tangled with someone's dog, or maybe someone caught him on their property and popped it with a pellet gun or something?

GS
 
My very first deer hunt where I sat in a stand by myself I caused such a reaction. I had a small pack come through the woods with their nose to the ground, apparently trailing us off of dad's bloody boots from the day before when he shot a big doe. I squeezed off a .410 slug and rolled one and gutshot his buddy that was behind him. Dad got 2 out of the ones that ran past him looking back towards me. He said his shots just made them kinda jerk and look back where they had come from. I'm betting your coyote had just tangled with something or someone and was terrified to a point it wasn't worried with anything other than vacating the area.
 
My guess is that the coyote was trying to escape from a larger predator .. perhaps a cougar?
Coyotes are used to humans and wouldn't haul butt for very long after encountering one, especially at night. You may have interfered between a big cat and his dinner. ;)
 
I'm thinking mountain lion, nothing puts the fear into a coyote like a big cat.

I used to manage a ranch in the North Western USA, we had a lot of coyotes. The owner had been deterring them for a decade or so, and they're smart. The worst I ever had to do to them was pop a warning shot in their general direction and they'd move back into the treeline. They'd never cross our fenceline, that was ranch dog territory, and they seem pretty clear about territory.

But whenever a mountain lion would come around they would beat feet, right through the dog yard if need be.
 
Neighbors dog is my first guess.

A larger predator?
Any chance that larger predator was a Ford Focus or Dodge Neon clipping its heels at 60 mph?
 
Well, some people lead more exciting life's then others.

I bet the coyote just got done tripping over a rattlesnake in the road and was looking back to make sure it wasn't gaining on him attached to his tail! :D

rc
 
Normally I would say big dog, but I don't think it was, last night was a dead calm evening, I could have heard a dog from at least a mile away. I could hear the yote coming for a long ways before I finally spotted it at 60-70 yds. away. It was beating feet really hard, and when he blew past me he just glanced up at me for a second, mouth wide open and panting hard, and watching his back side.

I'm thinking more along the line of big cat too, we have some what of a problem with lions in my neck of the woods. But judging by the size of the bob cats I see, might have been one of them? But we also have large numbers of javelina also, yote don't do so well against them either.

I suppose it could have just crossed paths with a rattler, but I've witnessed that before, the yote usually just launches it's self straight up, and then just backs away as quick as possible.

I saw a coral snake last night also, that was a nice treat. Even though they are a bit deadlier than a rattler, they don't freak me out much, not like rattle snakes anyway.

Oddly too, is I didn't hear the coyote packs sounding off last night, which is rare. I'm betting they were in stealth mode to avoid becoming the main course for a bigger predator maybe?

I wouldn't trade my evening walks out here, for all the rice in China.

GS
 
Posted by gamestalker:
He ran full bore right past me, and continued looking back?
Click to expand...
Is that a question?

So I stood still and listened and kept an eye out for what ever might chase a yote like that, never did find out what it was though. Probably tangled with someone's dog, or maybe someone caught him on their property and popped it with a pellet gun or something?
Click to expand...
If that is a question, there is no way to answer it.

I could hear the yote coming for a long ways before I finally spotted it at 60-70 yds. away.
Click to expand...
Yipping or howling, or what was it that you heard?
 
I've heard cayote packs hunting at night on the other side of a creek that runs through my prop. Too dark to get a shot at them.
 
I was describing what I was thinking when I saw him looking back behind him, "What is he looking so intently at?"

And then I was questioning what might have spooked him like that, maybe it was a big dog, or maybe someone shot him with a pellet gun, again " hmm, I wonder what it was that spooked him so badly?"

And the sound I referred to was his feet pounding the pavement as he was running toward me in the pitch black of night. I could hear him coming, long before I could see him. Clicking of hooves from a deer is pretty easy to identify, a car driving down the road is easy to identify, but a canine running full bore isn't an easy sound to identify until you see it making that sound, at least not for me anyway. I was just a little bit spooked before I could see what was making to sound, and even more so when I spotted him running straight at me.

I hope that I answerd your questions regarding my poorly written post Kleanbore? If not, let me know and I'll do my best to better elaborate.

GS
 
Skin Walkers & Chupacabras are less popular around these parts X-Rap, there are some who claim such have been spotted in the area though.:scrutiny:

I personally think that Chupacabras are nothing more than a cross breed, or maybe even some mutation caused by yotes mating with domestic dogs. We have hybrid mule deer that have white tail racks and other characteristics, they are the result of the couse deer mating with mule deer. This was once nothing more than myth, that is until animal biologists confirmed it.

GS
 
I tend to agree with that analogy Art. I had a neighbor that had a dog with an extreme case of mange, that poor dog developed awful looking deformities. I assume those deformities were possibly brought on by the disease.

Does anyone know if coyotes can successfully breed with domestic canines? I'm guessing yes, they are a canine, right? Aren't wolves capable of cross breeding with domestics also?

GS
 
Yes both coyotes and wolves can crossbreed with domestic dogs.
 
The south is full of coy-dogs. A friend killed one that weighed 61 lb. on a scale used by the deer biologist.
I have seen 3 mixed packs of dogs and coyote-looking critters that were either coyotes or coy-dogs. These packs were led by a dog with the ones that looked like coyotes acting subservient. :uhoh:
 
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