Coyotes Howl
Back when all the trees were standing before the 2007 storm I could occasionally hear the howl of coyotes in the distance. Sometimes they sounded closer and sometimes I’d see them or their scat on my trails. However lately I’ve been hearing them several times every evening and night from a nearby clear cut. Neighbor dogs reply to their calls.
I once knew a trapper here who told me that when beaver pelt prices were low there would be a coyote population explosion. If the trappers weren’t killing the animals, their population would go up giving rise to a rise in predator populations.
I don’t know if anyone still traps anymore, but I’m thinking the lack of trees has created thriving environmental conditions for small woodland creatures which coyotes eat. Though coyotes are noisy it’s still pretty cool to be woken up by them at least once a night. It’s probably payback for the machinery I run at times when they are sleeping.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 4:00 AM
14 Comments:
cool?
hmm. ok I suppose it can be cool to hear them - as long as say...you don't need to take out the trash or something after dark.
(oo my suburban pansy is showing)
i walk my dog very early in the morning. it is still quite dark out, with only the stars lighting the way.
after your post about hearing owls, i started hearing them too. i don't know if i just started to become more aware of them and that they were always there...or if they only just arrived....either way it doesn't matter. they are lovely to hear in the stillness of early morning.
i woke to coyotes the other night. they sound sad and lonely. i don't know that they are...but they remind me of a description i once heard about miles davis and jazz music. sigh.
i like the different versions of natures songs. sounds like we might be tuned to the same station.
could you turn it up just a bit please?
Every once in awhile at work we hear coyotes off in the distance. Most of the inmates are city kids and they scare the hell out of them. And the bats that fly around after dark scare them even more. That just tickles me no end. I'd love to have a recording of some of the more alarming animal noises and hide it just out of eyesight. But I don't know if I could keep a straight face long enough for it to work.
I grew up in a house, in the woods with no neighbors except for woodland creatures. One of my favorite night sounds were the coyotes in the nearby woods, that sounded like they were right under the window. I especially loved to listed to them in the spring after their pups were born and you could them yipping along to the howling.
And, I know this sounds weird, but I miss being woken up by the geese in the early morning too.
I miss the country.
Could it have been the coyotes that got to your chickens?
Auntie likes being awakened by a goose?? Cooool....
Moose
I prefer coyote howling (from a safe distance) to the creature I am currently dealing with. A crazed squirrel is hurling itself at my side door – X 4 and counting. WTH??
Lack of trees or payback for the noise of your machinery may account for your coyote howling but what did I do to deserve this?
Coincidence, I suppose, but I heard coyotes this morning for the first time in ages. Then this afternoon while riding Blue through the woods, an owl flew over the path ahead of us.
I pity people who can't experience this sort of thing.
We have huge packs of audacious coyotes in our community. They even come out in the day (though only solo). They are extremely raucous and once took a lab-sized dog down in our woods out back ( less than 20 yards away) and eviscerated the poor thing. I used to think they were cool too until we had the Wild Kingdom midnight special. Now we just want them to go away.
Weese, I don't think they'd take down something taller than they, but a wolf would.
Irish, Turning it up may be bringing them in too close for comfort especially since you have pets.
Darev, you better hope they never find out about your fear of corn fields.
Auntie, don't forget about the motorcycles and chain saws in the country. Then there are barking dogs, gun fire and screaming children.
Anon, it was definitely weasels because coyotes wouldn't be able to climb an eight foot wall and squeeze through a 3&1/2 inch vent hole. But they could get them when we free range them during the day.
Moose, I'm glad you wrote that instead of me, but I was thinking it.
Beth, drill a small hole in the door. He'll mate with it and you'll never see him again.
Donna, Life is beautiful, isn't it?
Yokel, I too get a twinge when I hear them if our two cats are still outdoors. Fortunately they run and hide anytime anything moves outdoors.
We've been getting hit pretty hard here lately. In the past two weeks the coyotes have gotten 10 young lambs, 5 full grown sheep, and all 23 of the geese.
Brought the rifle out tonight.
Damn, dude. That's some major loss. I feel really bad for you. What do you have left?
still have a bunch of sheep. the goats are all up here by the house now so they're pretty much protected. it's a damn shame about the loss of the little lambs though. darn near a whole generation wiped out this year. we've had the geese a long time too. 6 or 7 years now. that was a huge loss. i miss seeing them down in the field below my house. bummer!
Sorry g. Predation is a bitch, especially on large animals.
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