Re: Why shoot coyotes?
The last two coyotes I killed here in South Alabama were crouched down in a field waiting for a young deer or calf to stray from the group. The ones down here don't get terribly big. The last one I shot would probably top out at 30 and he was what I consider a pretty big one. I haven't had any cattle killed by them in probably a decade, but I have a rifle in the tractor at all times. I distinctly remember seeing cattle that had fallen victim to them when I was a child. The most memorable was a full grown cow that was in the process of giving birth. The coyote/coyotes stressed her to the point that she was not able to successfully give birth, by chasing and biting at her ass. For those not familiar with the process, a cow will usually leave the herd to give birth in a private secluded area, most often at night. It is very common for a few cows in a herd to have complications while giving birth, most especially during their first pregnancy. As you can imagine, a struggled delivery alone is a very stressful and tiring process. After so much stress, the cow will go down from exhaustion. Depending on the stage of the birthing process, going down can kill the calf in a matter of minutes, from restricted breathing/circulation. As you can imagine such a condition leaves the pair extremely vulnerable to attack. In this instance, the calf wasn't very big and was not the cow's first (which usually means the birth should be pretty straightforward). Long story short, both were dead and the calf never made it all of the way out. It was pretty evident that the coyotes killed the calf while the cow lay waiting to die. All of this "calling bullshit" to coyotes killing grown healthy livestock and deer stems from an ignorance of the nature of such animals. They are animals of prey. They aren't like us and other predators when it comes to fighting and dying. If they aren't fighting over a piece of ass, there isn't a whole lot of fight in them. They flee until they can flee no more. When they are all out of flee, they lay down and wait to die as you can see in the pictures of that deer on page 1. Don't get me wrong, a grown cow will kill the shit out of you to protect her calf, but she won't run across the county and then kill you. I can run an old cow to death on foot and I'm an out of shape short white guy.... The most graphic that I recall from my childhood was seeing half a calf hanging out the rear end of a cow. The coyotes had a veal feast and left the cow in good health all things considered. A dead calf is at minimum a $300 loss that day in the worst market. 9 months later it is a $1000 loss in this year's market. A dead calf and cow can be considered a $2000 loss on the spot and another $1000 loss every year for the next 10 years in the case of a young cow. If you want to replace that cow, thats another $1500 easy for a grown one that's ready to go, $1000 for a heifer that may or may not be fertile, or $700 for a calf that you'll have to feed for another year (could be nearly 2 years depending on the breeding program) without producing any income.
If watching a cow squeeze the remains of her dead calf out of her vagina isn't enough reason, try $15000 on for size.... As someone mentioned earlier, treble hooks in a tree do wonders. Popping them in the buffet line is far more entertaining though.
If you really want to gain perspective on nature, watch a buzzard peck the eyes out of a calf's skull before it even hits the ground. I hear they are protected around here, so I wouldn't dare shoot one. It is quite odd that the coyotes catch and kill buzzards quite often in the edge of our pastures.... Something about eating buzzard drops those coyotes dead in their tracks in the middle of the night. It's a good thing since we aren't allowed to shoot them after dusk....
The last two coyotes I killed here in South Alabama were crouched down in a field waiting for a young deer or calf to stray from the group. The ones down here don't get terribly big. The last one I shot would probably top out at 30 and he was what I consider a pretty big one. I haven't had any cattle killed by them in probably a decade, but I have a rifle in the tractor at all times. I distinctly remember seeing cattle that had fallen victim to them when I was a child. The most memorable was a full grown cow that was in the process of giving birth. The coyote/coyotes stressed her to the point that she was not able to successfully give birth, by chasing and biting at her ass. For those not familiar with the process, a cow will usually leave the herd to give birth in a private secluded area, most often at night. It is very common for a few cows in a herd to have complications while giving birth, most especially during their first pregnancy. As you can imagine, a struggled delivery alone is a very stressful and tiring process. After so much stress, the cow will go down from exhaustion. Depending on the stage of the birthing process, going down can kill the calf in a matter of minutes, from restricted breathing/circulation. As you can imagine such a condition leaves the pair extremely vulnerable to attack. In this instance, the calf wasn't very big and was not the cow's first (which usually means the birth should be pretty straightforward). Long story short, both were dead and the calf never made it all of the way out. It was pretty evident that the coyotes killed the calf while the cow lay waiting to die. All of this "calling bullshit" to coyotes killing grown healthy livestock and deer stems from an ignorance of the nature of such animals. They are animals of prey. They aren't like us and other predators when it comes to fighting and dying. If they aren't fighting over a piece of ass, there isn't a whole lot of fight in them. They flee until they can flee no more. When they are all out of flee, they lay down and wait to die as you can see in the pictures of that deer on page 1. Don't get me wrong, a grown cow will kill the shit out of you to protect her calf, but she won't run across the county and then kill you. I can run an old cow to death on foot and I'm an out of shape short white guy.... The most graphic that I recall from my childhood was seeing half a calf hanging out the rear end of a cow. The coyotes had a veal feast and left the cow in good health all things considered. A dead calf is at minimum a $300 loss that day in the worst market. 9 months later it is a $1000 loss in this year's market. A dead calf and cow can be considered a $2000 loss on the spot and another $1000 loss every year for the next 10 years in the case of a young cow. If you want to replace that cow, thats another $1500 easy for a grown one that's ready to go, $1000 for a heifer that may or may not be fertile, or $700 for a calf that you'll have to feed for another year (could be nearly 2 years depending on the breeding program) without producing any income.
If watching a cow squeeze the remains of her dead calf out of her vagina isn't enough reason, try $15000 on for size.... As someone mentioned earlier, treble hooks in a tree do wonders. Popping them in the buffet line is far more entertaining though.
If you really want to gain perspective on nature, watch a buzzard peck the eyes out of a calf's skull before it even hits the ground. I hear they are protected around here, so I wouldn't dare shoot one. It is quite odd that the coyotes catch and kill buzzards quite often in the edge of our pastures.... Something about eating buzzard drops those coyotes dead in their tracks in the middle of the night. It's a good thing since we aren't allowed to shoot them after dusk....
