# Coyotes and horses. Should I be worried?



## BarrelRacingLvr (Feb 26, 2012)

We have Coyotes go through our pastures all the time....they mind their own business and don't bother the horses.


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## AdriaStitt (Jul 22, 2012)

Good to know. Thanks. And while on topic, a friend was talking about a black bear attacking a horse around here. I have never heard of such a thing and find it very hard to believe... Thoughts?


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

A bear could attack. It all depends on what the food is like for the bear at that point. Or if the horse threatens the bear/her cubs at all.

Coyotes scare me. We had a pack of them, very close to us this spring. I contacted the DNR about it. They were "so helpful"...NOT. i came to the conclusion, anyone i see threathening my animals...will meet a bullet. DNR did say they dont stay in one spot long typically, and a few weeks later, they were gone. Havent seen signs of then in awhile.

Years ago, i rounded the backside of my barn, in the horse pasture and came 10 feet away from a coyote. We stared at eachother, i was freaked out, but it turned tail and ran. Thank God.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

I wouldnt worry. I've seen coyotes walking right up to horses and they were no threat. Also, they're pretty harmless when alone but even in packs they prefer to go after smaller prey (a foal perhaps or calves). Less risk of injury and an easier take down.
As for the bear, i've never heard of one, especially a black one, attacking a horse. Most bears are scavengers or go after smaller prey. Typically a black bear that does attack like that is a young one, usually male and probably very hungry.


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## calicokatt (Mar 5, 2012)

We have LOTS of coyotes here, we see them all the time. We haven't had a problem yet *knocks on wood* but I do have one horse who gets nervous if left in a certain pasture by himself, so if he is there, I put a buddy in with him, and he's fine. Of course, this is the horse that runs the fence all day long if we take the other horses and leave him behind, so he's prone to be a bit nervous anyway.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Coyotes are not a big worry around horses (I assume there are no new born foals on the place) but if they are close to the barn, they can be a grave concern with regard to smaller creatures like chickens, cats, little dogs so keep an eye out for that.


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## AdriaStitt (Jul 22, 2012)

The best thing to do would probably be put up electric fencing but then my kids would just shock the sh!t outa themselves.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Chevaux said:


> Coyotes are not a big worry around horses (I assume there are no new born foals on the place) but if they are close to the barn, they can be a grave concern with regard to smaller creatures like chickens, cats, little dogs so keep an eye out for that.


I second this. I never worry about coyotes. They are pretty small to go after a horse. Now dogs, cats, and chickens are another matter! They WILL kill your small animals. But I think a horse is more a threat to a coyote than a coyote is to a horse. 

People worry wayyyy too much about wildlife. We are in a wooded area with coyotes, foxes, bears, mountain lions, etc. The foxes are the biggest pest because I have chickens. Coyotes would take a chicken if they could but never infiltrate the coop fencing. I've seen a few bears in the 13 or so years we've lived here but never had a problem with them. And I've NEVER seen a mountain lion. They are at the top of the list of animals I would like to see in real life. :mrgreen:


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

We have one that, for some reason, regulary stays with the herd. He's never been a bother. We had a cougar once (I did phone Fish and Wildlife to relocate, but they said no) who ended up with cubs that ventured into my stallion's pen, where they ceased to exist. Bear's haven't come up to bother any of the horses.
If I do, however, see a coyote in my yard, I'll take a shot at it. My little Chihauhau's won't be their snack.


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## AdriaStitt (Jul 22, 2012)

I would say it was a cougar that attacked that horse. But ppl say there are none around here. I bet there are. The woods are so deep and those animals so smart. The one I saw at a natural reserve safely behind a fence was enough for me. Their heads are massive they are very cool.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I hear coyotes often and have had one walk with us on the trail (he wasn't stalking but he was walking a ways off parallel to us). Never seen them bother horses.


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## eclipseranch (May 31, 2012)

the 1st time I saw a coyote in the back yard I called the conservation department..they told me that coyote only prey on small animals like cats, small dogs, squirrels, rabbits..oh and she told me not to leave a human baby out alone..hah as if that would happen anyway...also we have mountain lions in this state and they told me that usually wild animals that prey for food are generally too lazy to "take down a horse" it requires a lot for them to do so. I trust they know what they are talking about since the coyotes never seem to be interested in the horses or my 60lb aussies!


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## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

We have seen bear and coyotes up at our vacation property and I dont worry about my horse. I wont go riding by my self though. The coyotes dont bother us at all. I wouldnt worry about it


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

We have alot of Coyotes here,I see them routinely when I walk the property. At night they venture right up into the back yard.They pay no mind to the horses or horses to them.They do however try to lure my dogs regularly.My BC thinks playing coyote tag is great,but I worry more for my Mini Aussie or cats to fall victim to them:-(


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

Ditto what everyone else said. We have coyotes run through our property every night hunting rabbits. The horses get nervous, but the coyotes don't bother them. The only time I worried was when Havok was born, which is why we moved him close to the house.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

We've had coyotes take down old and young horses. They are hard on calves, too.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Coyotes usually don't bother with horses. Usually. In a large pack and a single horse may be different. We have them here too. I've seen paw prints along the river that runs by our pasture. They may spook the horses but that's about it. 

Coyotes population is so large, you don't need a license to hunt them. At least around here. 

Mountain lions on the other hand will attack a horse if it's food is scarce. They will chase them and attack the slowest, injured or smallest. Some friends of ours had that happen last winter. One horse ended up caught in barbwire. He got too messed up that they had to put him down. Another they found dropped dead. They guess she had a heart attack from being out of shape and running through deep snow. The third was the one that the lion caught. It was a younger and smaller horse. 

Usually you need a permit to hunt mtn lions. An exception is if they are on your property and endangering you or your livestock. At that point, you have the right to protect yourself and your livestock. That's what I've heard.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

AdriaStitt said:


> The best thing to do would probably be put up electric fencing but then my kids would just shock the sh!t outa themselves.


They'd only get shocked once if it were my fence.

After that, they'd learn to stay off the fence.

Okay, if they aren't real smart it might take twice.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I did have a very large old goat taken out by coyotes. Kind of surprised me because Ernie was well over 100lbs and had a rack on him that was pretty formidable. I even had fish and game come out and check the carcass because I thought it was so unlikely that coyotes did it. However when F&G arrived there was a coyote on the carcass.

Interesting note...There were enough tracks around the kill spot where there was no doubt my studly old gelding had gotten into the skirmish at one point. Having seen the horses do the coyote stomp more than once I suspect old King attempted to help his goat friend.


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## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

The only thing I make sure of is that my horse are vaccinated for rabies. Coyotes can be rabid.. If they should tussle with the horses, bite one of them, you might not notice a small bite mark, but your horse if bitten, would become infected with rabies. My horses always get the rabies vaccine along with their normal vaccines....
We had a rabid coyote try to attack our car driving down the road. Ended up being killed by another car, but he was rabid, thank goodness nobody touched him before fish and game showed up to gather him up.
We shoot them if seen in the pasture or around the house, they are predators here and can be shot. 
We are starting to see bear issues now, the wolves have pretty much desimated the herds in Yellowstone and the bears are starting to venture further from the park areas to find food.. Grizzly and black bear. Course Wolves are here also and killing whatever they want to.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Coyotes are smart boogers....
If they have ever been shot at usually they will peel out as soon as they see a human or a truck driving down the road. If they have no reason to scared of you and have never been shot at they can be quite bold.
I worked on a ranch in eastern WA that was also leased out for hunting. The hunters were allowed to shoot all the coyotes they wanted. You couldn't get within a mile of one, if they heard a truck coming they would take off zig zagging across the wheat stubble until they hit a draw.
Several times back home up high looking for strays I have had them follow me and my dog real close and I have had a small female jump my dog. I had to keep running over there with my horse to break it up, Twist would go back to pushing steers and that coyote jumped her 3 times before Twist got her pinned and she gave up and I chased her off a ways with out losing my steers. Same with cull calves that didnt get on the truck, we used to sit out there in the truck and pick them off several a day to keep them from taking those calves down. But those coyotes never got shot at so they didn't know to be scared.

I would start shooting at them.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I've had them come withing rake striking distance.
I had a small old beagle sized dog taken. Numerous poultry.

Coyotes also present a bit of a moral dilemma for me. I love listening to them sing. Interesting watching them hunt mice. I really admire their intelligence. 

They do seem to know when I have a gun and when I don't. I have emptied clips 3 inches behind them across the pasture. Yes they do learn to dodge bullets. I'm not a bad shot and I've yet to connect with a coyote. Foxes no problem. Foxes take a straight run for cover.

My fenced area is nearly 20 acres so in order to salve my conscience a little I use an imaginary line in the sand for when I shoot and don't shoot. Pretty much the same line my old jack donk used and he was a wise coyote hunter.


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## LKC (Jul 18, 2012)

I have a pack of coyotes that live around my house, in fact one day I looked out the window and one had ran right under my horses feet and not one of the three horses even noticed. I also had two mini horses that were never bothered. They are more scared of the horses than the horses are of them in my experience.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Coyotes I don't worry about, bears I do. I had a black bear chase my horses, I got them out of the pasture, called the conservation officer and he shot it. He said the bear is at the top of the food chain, however they don't usually attack & eat horses, but they do protect their "claimed" territory and will chase & possibly injure a horse if it can't get away & out of the bear's area.


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## AdriaStitt (Jul 22, 2012)

Wow. Very interesting the bears likely consider this their territory since they mess with my garbage every chance they get. Kinda scary. As long as my tb is on watch I don't think much will get to them. I've seen him stomp my dog when they first met and she decided she should chase him. Somehow he didn't hurt her. I don't think he wanted to.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I have bears. Only trouble I've had with them has been my own fault. Like leaving a bag of grain in the car overnight and finding one eating it after smashing out the window.

I just yell at them. They leave. But I only have black bears here.


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## klkavich (Jul 25, 2012)

You absolutely do not have to worry about coyotes. Actually, in my experience horses are actually a really great predator control animal. We have sheep and our sheep dog is quite old (13) and isn't able to go back to the back where the sheep are (she's in retirement I say haha). But the sheep loved my gelding, they literally followed him anywhere and we never had an issue with the coyotes since (and we have a lot by our place, even though we shoot/poison them). When I moved my gelding off my parents' farm I actually found them a free horse to eat pasture and protect the sheep (she's a 19 year old Arab) and the coyotes have been kept at bay with her too.


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## PaintingPintos (Jul 24, 2012)

We have tons of coyotes in our area....Basically I live in the middle of nowhere and I see at least one in the field next door every week. They're amazing, and they are VERY pretty if you get a close look at their coats. Usually they're very shy and will run away if they see a person in close quarters (Once I literally stepped ON one that was resting in a very thick pine forest I was hiking through with my dog-- he flew out of there so fast!!!). I don't worry about them bothering the horses where I board mine, because the horses have free choice so they are allowed to roam throughout the pastures, stables, and stalls. They're all over the place and if something wild bothers them, then the dominant geldings will either attack or the herds will go to the barn. 
Chickens usually aren't a problem with being killed because the horses keep the coyotes away. There are also around 27 cats and 2 dogs at the stable, and none have ever been killed. Hawks are the only problem because there is a HUGE pigeon coop that is on top of one of the barns....They keep the hawks busy though. The pigeons have been feral for around 20 years now, so we don't miss them....plus their poop is messy.
I've never heard of bears attacking horses, even though we have some very aggressive black bears over here. One bear attacked a beagle that was chasing it, though, but most dogs will either stand their ground or run when they see a bear.
The only things I've seen killed by coyotes were a kitten (RIP little guy...) that was near my house, and a pygmy goat whose owner had it tied to a tree (NOT a good idea)....
I hope nobody is bothered by wild animals, though.

But anywho....coyotes are amazing in general. I believe someone has raised one and keeps it as a pet. It's as gentle and plays like any old dog. I think the website is dailycoyote.net but I'm not sure.


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