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I need some help with identifying a hole

Here's an update...

When I got home I went out and looked for tracks, again at sunset. Had the shotgun loaded with 00 buck as I only have this and slugs at the moment. I notices that the food around the holes were gone and I noticed some tracks but it's just too sandy to make anything out. A rain would help this problem. Other than that I just can't find tracks because of the leaves.

The big news is that I found another burrow next to a post of the fence. It was between some shrub so it was hidden. Again, lots of dirt in about a 10 foot radius around the mouth and it was also about 1 1/2 feet wide. There was another sand area that looked to be like another burrow but it was past the fence and about 30-40 yards away. It was too much trouble to climb over at the te to look.

This seriously makes me concerned. I've never seen anything like this before. Three of these burrows are within 100-120 feet of each other. Is this normal? I feel like they're just smart and realize they can feed from the houses and wild. There's also three standing water ponds in this area. Pretty much everything needed to support wild life in general.

While I was checking out the areas that I threw food I did see a tail take off in the distance. About 60-70 yards away. I sat for a few minutes to see if I'd see it again or others but nothing. I looked around the area where I saw it yesterday to see if I could find anything useful but nothing. I started heading back and was walking up to the door and look behind the house and saw eyes and grey. I paused and it appeared that there were 2-3 of something about 60 yards out again. At this point the sun was almost down and the light wasn't there for me to make out what I was seeing in the shrub. There's a good section of property that I haven't checked yet which is where I was just speaking of. There is certainly something out here for sure.

I've read tons on these things today and I think that on the post 10-15 years they have become extremely adaptable to people and urban environments, not that I'd call my area urban at all. From what I've read they seem to not require the range that they were known for in the past. They can live near humans and in urban areas without ever being see or detected from some studies.

So to the point. I have no issues shooting coyotes that come on the property but my question is this. My main concern is the safety of the family of course but how should I go about this? Most people have open lawns and they walk out but I don't have open areas. I'm going to have to call or bait them. My cocern is that I'm afraid that I might attract more coyotes by doing this or make them get comfortable coming closer or even think they're getting easy food.

The sponge deal might be a good idea as well as shooting.
 
I forgot to mention that I don't have a dog. I'm thinking that maybe I should get a buddy and literally gear up and hunt the property. I also didn't get a hold of the camera either. I may just buy one anyway as I ca use it for other game.

There are plenty of rabbits around too. I think they're feeding on them as well. I didn't know what a rabbit in distress sounded like until I watched some coyote hunting videos. I heard that exact sound outside the front door a few times one week. I had no idea what it was but it sounded like something was being eaten alive. I've never heard and animal sound so terrified in my life. It was violent.

I could possibly kill a rabbit and use it to bait them.
 
I would call in the experts. Your local Conservation Officer or Animal Control Officer is the best place to start. THEY have the experience in dealing with animals like this on a daily basis and will be of help to you.
 
Something I've done in the past is set a chicken tethered to a stake. Coyotes arent at all dumb and may smell the trap.

Dilligence too may pay off. Put pressure on them by being out there and shooting as often as youre able. Put up a blind and before long it will seem normal and theyll come around. Bait them if you have to, pour keroseen in their dens. You can smoke them out too, just not in conjunction with keroseen. But whatever they are, if they cant get an easy meal, it will look else where.

Its kinda scary. You worry about kids and family, and I get that. I have found myself outside at night, just finishing some chores or whatever and start hearing noises in the woods. I wont stay out by my self for too long without a gun.

The mounds you describe for the dens sound weird, I've never seen dens that big and obvious and in the dirt. Though that could just be a regional thing, geographical and what not.

tcecil88 said:
I would call in the experts. Your local Conservation Officer or Animal Control Officer is the best place to start. THEY have the experience in dealing with animals like this on a daily basis and will be of help to you.
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This is very good advice! They can tell you much about what youre dealing with, from identification to how to rid them.
 
I dont' think I would try to smoke them out or pour kerosene in the dens at this point.

For the main reason if you do they may just relocate causing you not to be able to find them, but still near enough to your property to be a threat. it's good for you that you know where they are hanging out NOW.

Wildlife control may not be a bad thing, but what I have seen of Fla., they may be more aggravation than they're worth. Especially if they'd rather try to bait and relocate (because as has been mentioned won't likely work and then you're still stuck with the problem).
'
Another method of baiting that I would personally consider is a piece of bailing wire secured to a tree limb or whatever and a large #3 or #4 fish hook with some stinky meat on it for bait. Tuna or sardines work well.

The coyote will likely swallow it in one bite and be "hooked" and may give you an extra few minutes to dispatch them, but don't expect a coyote to yelp and carry on like a dog will because they won't.

I've seen a shotgun almost tear a leg completely off without so much as a whimper from the animal so dont' expect a coyote to alert you that something is wrong with it.

Tieing bells to the wire isn't a bad idea if you can't sit and watch the traps but are within hearing distance.

But trapping like that may be more of a liability for you than a help if you catch your neighbors prized poodle or cat. I'll leave that determination up to you.

They've obviously already got your scent and "know" you by now so it's going to be difficult to hide from them, but other cover scents may help hide you. And Rossignol is correct about the blind. They get used to it and ignore it after a while, so that's in your favor if you can be down wind or smell like something else.

My uncle was having a very bad problem and even lost a dog due to coyote and baiting and calling, I don't think is going to make your situation worse than it already sounds.

It took a complete season of shooting numerous coyotes to (temporarily) rid the problem, but they always seem to come back after a year or two hiatus.

The biggest thing you can do is have the kids remain close to an adult, and supervise them at all times, even if it's just going to the car or shed or whatever.

If you need light for a driveway or parking spot, then do it. Even if it's a motion light for traveling between the car and house at night.

If you've ever seen a pack of wild dogs attack something, it'll change you forever. I don't think any of us want to think about it being a child.

Rossignol nailed it about making their life inhospitable as possible. If you cause them enough grief, they'll move on.

Until the next pack or litter moves in later.
 
I don't really want to go shooting out here all the time. The burrows are hidden by shrub except for the one I posted photos of. There is zero traffic in this area. People will never be back there so it would be easy for them to be discrete.
 
Let me clarify the baiting. I never had the intentions of using a trap. I think that would be difficult and I could possibly trap a pet. Same thing goes for the hook idea even though that could work. I was just thinking about basically chumming a rabbit to bait them, cover my scent, and wait until I can make a shot.

I realize that this is a serious matter and can be dangerous. In no way am I trying to be macho but I have zero interest in getting animal control involved. I think they only try to trap and move them here which is useless. As cruel as it may sound, I think killing them is the better choice. Hell we spend tons of tax dollars yearly killing them nation wide. The U.S. government kills about 90,000 coyotes each year in the united states alone. That's an extremely high number of you think about it.
 
Just my 2 cents...

If it was me, and my family and property were in any kind of danger, that predator would be prey, and quite dead by now. Try to identify it ASAP, research it's patterns, set up a blind or trail camera to help identify same...then be the predator and dispatch it !!

Afterwards...destroy the den by filling it with something that would keep anything from using it again...be it kerosene or anything man made and rank in odor so that it would inhibit any creature from taking over the already constructed dwelling.

Again...only my 2 cents !! :cool:
 
I've been going out for the past two days when I get home but that's about 30 minutes of light. Today I'm getting lucky and getting rain. I'm going to bait the dirt areas and hopefully find some prints. Time is the enemy right now.
 
As shooter said fill it.. you can use rocks too..big ones...fill a few of em so that it has to use one. Then you're able to get a better "scope" on it. ;)
 
SHOOTER13 said:
Just my 2 cents...

If it was me, and my family and property were in any kind of danger, that predator would be prey, and quite dead by now. Try to identify it ASAP, research it's patterns, set up a blind or trail camera to help identify same...then be the predator and dispatch it !!
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Good advice and this has always been my approach.

I know I sound rabid but these are BGs (bad guys) and they have your family in their sights. Take it to them with full force and full vengeance and reclaim your kids' safety.

Everyone on here has given you good advice. Rossignol is right that you have to make them decide that they can find an easier life elsewhere.

You can also find some youtube vids of people calling them and record it on a little handheld recorder. I've done this and played it outside and got almost immediate response. That screaming rabbit will bring coyotes running to find the meal faster than anything I've ever heard of.

Recap:
ALWAYS pack a heater
Watch your kids
Put up a blind
Cover your scent (or downwind)
Watch your back
Recruit a buddy (or two)
Go predator on them
Close up all of their holes but the one you want to shoot at
Call and bait them
KILL, KILL, KILL
Drive them away to easier game
Pour all the holes full of kerosene (don't cheap out, spend a hundred bucks and make that den completely useless)

Remember, you have the higher reasoning capabilities (and thumbs). Fight smart and show these SOBs who the top of the food chain is!

(Keep posting pics as you move along)
 
Wow, yote wars, since when did coyotes become so dangerous? Keep track of your kids at night and there won’t be a problem….I have heard of them biting a kid here and there but I haven’t even heard of a death caused by a coyote…most of the time they are hauling ass the other way…..not like its dangerous game or anything . IMO there is some serious over reacting going on here.
 
oli700 said:
Wow, yote wars, since when did coyotes become so dangerous? Keep track of your kids at night and there won’t be a problem….I have heard of them biting a kid here and there but I haven’t even heard of a death caused by a coyote…most of the time they are hauling ass the other way…..not like its dangerous game or anything . IMO there is some serious over reacting going on here.
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Oli, a couple years ago (okay, more like 10 or 15) I would have agreed with you totally. We just shot a few and the rest scattered. But in past few years we've watched yotes become too accustomed to and unafraid of man. They seem to have lost their fear of the guys with thumbs and come in much more aggressively than they used to.

That's why I recommend an all out assault on them. They're right in this guys back yard (within a few hundred feet). Maybe I'm just getting old and crusty and tired of being hassled by the man always trying to keep me down and always got his foot my neck yelling at me and.... oh sorry. Went a little crazy for a minute there :lol: (this is where you write back and go, "yeah, that was funny")

Maybe you're right. Maybe nuking them is overkill. I just don't trust a pack of scroungy coyotes anymore to stay far enough away that my kids and dog are safe.

Does anyone else think this is all blown out of proportion?
Pile on. I can take it. :D
 
Only two recorded human deaths by coyote in North America that I'm aware of, one a toddler in Glendale, California in '81 and the other was a 19yr old female in Nova Scotia, Canada in 2009. Although with the incedent in Canada it was later determined that the animals responsible were coywolves, coyote/wolf hybrids. However, non-fatal attacks are occuring much more frequently in recent years due to encroaching development and the coyotes becoming habituated to contact with humans. Attacks are mostly on unattended children under the age of 10yrs.

To keep it fair though, in 2010 alone, domestic dogs were responsible for 33 fatalities in the U.S. Of these fatalities, there were 20 children and 13 adults.
 
Well there you go, more people killed by mosquitoes this year, around here they have a job they do well and that is culling out the weak, and cleaning the forest floor.
 
LAZY EYED SNIPER said:
Attacks are mostly on unattended children under the age of 10yrs.
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And thus my main concern, however, he did say they've been eyeballing him too, so I don't trust them.

They hunt in packs, a neighbors calf is dead, children are involved.

My instinct is to get rid of them. As quickly as possible. No quicker way than a bullet.

Just FWIW, I kill all the wasper and hornet nests around my house when I find them too. :lol:
 
It all comes down to Chris111's level of comfort with the situation, not ours. It's his family that is involved, so whatever level of tolerance or aggression he chooses toward the culprits is justified in my opinion. A healthy fear and respect for mother nature is never a bad thing.
 
Well if your 10yo kids are unattended in a place where wildlife exists then.....take your chance with mother nature.......don’t blame the bee for harvesting pollen , do your job as a parent and look after your kids in yote country or do like my dad did and train us with weapons and safety . My friends and I carried guns in the woods at the age of 12 or so…..imagine Tom Sawyer with guns…..lol
 
Let's not get worked up here guys. Nothing wrong with a good discussion though.

I'm working on getting them out so that's clear. Obviously safety is my main concern. I have no issues with them but they're on the property and are coming within 100 feet of the house. That's too much for me.

It rained all day so I never got out today but I'm going to go look for tracks in the morning. Hopefully I'll find something.
 
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