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Coyotes are tiny critters. Surely they don’t attack humans?
by fmbb 1y ago
Coyotes are tiny critters. Surely they don’t attack humans?
- pinkmuffinere 1y agoThey do on occasion, and there have even been a couple of deaths. But to your point, the rate is very very low. Edit: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_attack
- throw0101d 1y ago> Coyotes are tiny critters. Surely they don’t attack humans? Perhaps adult humans are less likely, but child humans the risk could be higher as a coyote may think they can 'take' them; from a few days ago: * https://globalnews.ca/news/11267424/nobelton-coyote-attack/ https://globalnews.ca/news/11267424/nobelton-coyote-attack/
- kibwen 1y agoIt sounds like you're on the west coast, where coyotes are tiny. East coast coyotes are much larger, on the order of a good-sized dog. That said, I welcome coyotes in urban spaces, and have admired from afar the few bold urban coyotes I've come across. Humans need reminders that they're a part of nature and not apart from nature, especially in the city. In terms of actual danger, coyotes kill approximately infinity times fewer people than cars do, so let's focus infinity times more energy on solving that problem first.
- billfor 1y agoOn the east coast the coyotes interbreed with wolves and form coywolves which are really huge and can be nasty. Look at the picture on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_coyote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_coyote. It's only a matter of time before something bad happens to a small child. They've already killed a lot of small dogs.
- pfdietz 1y agoThey're expanding/evolving into the niche that wolves occupied. The superabundance of deer is facilitating that.
- GauntletWizard 1y agoDingoes are a good percentage smaller than Coyotes on average and maximum (Dingoes 22 – 33 lbs, Coyotes 20 – 46 lbs). Dingoes are small, to the point where "Dingoes ate my baby" was a common and sarcastic joke after a reported attack - And yet that attack was extensively proven[1]. Yes, a small group of Coyotes could easily corner or snatch a small child and pose a danger to such. Is it likely? No. Is it reasonable to relocate the coyotes? Absolutely. It might also be reasonable to manage and not relocate the coyotes. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Chamberlain-Creighton#Evidence_that_a_dingo_took_Azaria_Chamberlain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Chamberlain-Creighton#Ev...
- triceratops 1y agoThey're the size of a medium size dog, only not friendly. If we don't accept off-leash dogs in public I don't understand why coyotes are tolerated in human cities.
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoThey are tolerated because there is no human you can yell at to keep them on a leash.
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- skeeter2020 1y agoWhat do you mean tolerated? How many coyotes have you personally eradicated? If not you then who?
- triceratops 1y agoDepartment of animal control usually.
- vunderba 1y agoThe ones I've come across in the southwest portion of the U.S. are pretty small, and from Wikipedia: "The average male weighs 8 to 20 kg (18 to 44 lb) and the average female 7 to 18 kg (15 to 40 lb).". My Pyrenees/husky mix absolutely dwarfs them and they give her a WIDE berth the few times I've seen them while hiking.
- southernplaces7 1y agoAt least when it comes to coyotes on the Pacific Northwest, they're not tiny at all. I've seen specimens that easily had the size of a largish German shepherd, many times. 30 to 40 kilos isn't rare, and that's not a tiny critter at all. It's definitely a threat to a kid or nearly any dog and could give even an adult male human a run for their money if the coyote actually got aggressive enough to lunge (that at least isn't likely, since they're fantastically cowardly when confronted by any aggression from adult humans, at least in my experience)