Lately I've been hearing a pretty big pack of coyotes less than 50 yards away in the woods behind my house.
It's hard to tell how many there are and I can't find on google how large a pack can be. Does anyone know? If I had to guess by their howls, maybe a couple dozen but probably way off.
They never got this close to until a couple years ago, and I'm not sure why. I always thought they only lost their shyness around hiking trails and public parks, but I live in rural Mississippi. I can't imagine there were any more pets, chicken, etc left outside at night 5 years ago than there are now.
Used to, I could barely hear them but now I hear them clearly over my TV or music.
Use any small children on hand as bait and try counting them. Might require several tries.
>>2032370
Normal coyotes (most of the US and Canada) are solitary animals. They don't hunt in packs but a fair number can live in the same general area. These aren't dangerous bar rabies and as far as I now have never killed a human directly.
The eastern coyote, also called tweed wolves or the annoying "coywolf", in the Northeastern US and Canada they are actually hybrids of coyotes, eastern wolves, and domestic dogs. They can form hunting pairs or even small family based packs and grow about twice the size of a normal coyote but are no where near wolf sized. Still not very dangerous to people but have managed to kill a few people.
>>2032370
It's probably not as many as you think. Coyote family groups make a ton of noise, especially when the older ones head out and come back from hunting. Since you're in rural Mississippi, think of it as like when rednecks go to visit relatives--they see cousin Jimmy Joe's truck coming up the drive and all spill out of the trailer, hootin' and a' hollerin'.
The groups are usually a breeding pair, maybe 1 or 2 offspring from the previous year, and the current year's pups. They're not as cohesive or stable as wolf packs and tend to disperse into solo animals when there aren't any pups.
Since they're more noticeable now they may have dug out a den and had pups somewhere behind your house. Or (since I don't know you) maybe you've gotten more observant over the years and are now picking up on things you missed before. Who knows?
It's a nice sound though. I grew up in rural Texas and it always reminds me of summer evenings as a kid.
>>2032422
This is where people are wrong. I've seen plenty of normal coyotes in packs and some alone but mostly in packs. I've encountered many packs in the wild and never been attacked. They're pussies. Besides one me and my brother got to come up to us.
But OP if you're annoyed shot a gun in their direction.
I live in a heavily wooded area in Kentucky. I was walking home after hanging out with friends. Takes about 30-40 minute walk in pitch black surrounded by woods. All we have in the area is coyotes so I wasn't to worried besides the wild dogs that killed and ate a biker. I heard some rustling in the woods. Not your normal rustling. Some heavy rustling so I was a little scared. Picked up the walking pace. About 5 minutes later all I hear is the sound of a dogs nails hitting the pavement. It was running. Before I could turn around and see what it was the dog jumped on me. It started licking my face and being real friendly. Just some large lab mix. I was pretty happy. So he walked me home. Attacked anything he heard in the woods and when we got home I gave him lots of treats and he went home. The end.
>>2032422
There was a story about a hiker being killed by coyotes. It was a girl so she probably looked like an easy enough target for them.
Regardless, yotes are the niggers of nature and I won't hesitate to gun them down.
>>2032596
People aren't wrong. Seeing coyotes in a group doesn't mean much, it just means they aren't territorial. I seen huge groups of feral cats but I'd never call them a pack. Coyotes aren't cooperative hunters, they are not pack animals in the same way wolves and lions are pack animals.
The hybrid easterns have been seen hunting cooperatively with their mates and more rarely young.
It probably sounds like a lot of them OP, but the sound is misleading. It's likely only a few animals yapping away.
As others have mentioned coyotes don't really form cohesive, close-knit packs like wolves do. That said, they're social and not especially territorial so you'll see them in groups sometimes. A mating pair and their offspring perhaps, or just coyotes that live in the same area coming together for a short time. Eastern coyotes are sometimes observes hunting in pairs or groups, but for the most part coyotes are solitary hunters even.
Personally I've never seen more than 3 or 4 of them in a group at once.
Either way, I'm jealous. I don't get to hear them that often around here and I love listening to their chorus of yips and howls when I get the chance.
>>2032587
this post basically
If you dont have any small pets or kids(you do post on 4chan after all...) then I wouldnt pay them any mind and actually take some joy in it. If you do have a small dog they are cowards and easily scared off.. Out here we have bounties on them...
Coyotes also modulate their voices so that only a few coyotes can sounds like a hoard.
I have a few living in the woods behind my house too. I feel pretty lucky to be able to live so close to nature. I'm hoping that I can hear the pups learning how to howl again this year.
>>2035258
>pups learning how to howl
That sounds adorable
>>2035260
It's kind of a Yip yip yip, almost howl, yip, yip. It's beyond freaking adorable. At first I thought a neighbor had puppies but that didn't sound quite right. Took me a good couple seconds to figure out what was going on. Sounded like at least 4 or 5 and I heard their progressively better yips and howls for a few months until the silence fully returned. Best thing ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1eDC6iBCnY
This is pretty much what it sounded like. Just imagine a bunch of them going at once and out in the woods where you can't see them.
