We've learned that some coyotes have been prowling in my very small little neighborhood recently and they're killing much of the small wildlife (squirrels, racoons, etc) that live here. I emailed the HOA asking about this as we often take our little dog out late at night. Apparently the HOA Board has known about at least one pair of coyotes for some time yet they didn't notify anyone. I'm just curious as I've never lived in a community overseen by an HOA before. Don't you think they should notify the 22 residents that dangerous animals could be out there? I'm not thinking they should have immediately sent a hunter out with a gun to shoot them or anything, just that it would be nice to know so we could be more cautious.

PS: I discovered the coyotes were here when they attacked and killed a large raccoon and her 3 babies at 3 AM the other night. The shrieks, howls and terrible noises were awful. My next door neighbor found the carnage on her lawn the next day.

 

The only solution I know of is to kill them. We'd hunt them with wolfhounds and snd snowmoblies back on the ranch. You hired a guy with a 4 wheel drive pickup and a stock rack full of wolfhounds. The dogs would spot the coyotes, he'd turn them loose and they'd run them down. He got paid 25 bucks for everyone he took out.

We also used skunk baited traps and some guys used cyanide traps. If you saw one driving, you got out an took a shot at it.

Coyotes are a nasty predator.
Your homeowner assn should hire a trapper.

fltsfshr

 

^^ They are not naturally indigenous to this area, so I was taken aback to learn they've migrated here and there are no natural predators to keep their numbers under control. I was always cautious outside due to snakes and natural critters here, but had no idea coyotes were roaming around. It just seems to me if the HOA KNEW the coyotes were here they should have sent us notice so we could watch out for them, especially since most folks in here have small dogs and other pets. The HOA said nothing about what the plans are to get rid of them.

 

Why they don't would be my first question. They were indigenous there, it's just our ancestors were smart enough to kill them off.

I still think your board should notify the state, hire a state approved trapper and take them out. Either that or a .243 Winchester works really well. I have no love for coyotes or wolves.


fltsfshr

 

Apparently coyotes first showed up (at least that's what the Dept of Natural Resources says) about 30 yrs. ago and they've spread throughout the state. I agree they need to GO.

 

We had a family of coyotes in our neighborhood a little over a year ago for about 6 months. They were living in the woods behind the pond our house is on. Nobody had to notify us that they were around...you could hear them howling and yipping at night. They were seen numerous times and one even walked though our back yard late one afternoon while we were sitting on our deck. He stopped, gave us a look for a few seconds, and kept on walking. We figured out that our compost pile was on their food shopping itinerary so we got rid of it.

While they were around the only missing animals we know of was one cat and a chicken coop was raided a couple of times.

Anyway they're gone. What happened to them we don't know and don't ask and nobody's talking since here in Massachusetts it's probably worth a heavy fine at best or couple of years in jail at worst to have gotten rid of them without some sort of permit....which would take forever.

What surprised me was how much bigger these eastern coyotes are compared to their western cousins.

 

I think the original range of the Coyotes were more of a western US animal.
I think the indigenous carnivorous species was the wolf and big cats which we're mostly eradicated by the settlers on the east coast.
This created the new ecological niche for the coyote to exploit.

Darlene,

I suspect the HOA was more of a sin of omission rather than commission.
They were just probably clueless that they should tell anyone and the thought never occurred to them.

I try not to attribute to malice that which is so easily explained by incompetence.

 

I don't think it was malice either. I simply attributed it to ignorance and am glad they have not caused any more harm than they have. I'm sorry my neighbor lost her cat and wish it hadn't happened. I just think since almost everyone in here has an email addy on file, it wouldn't have been a big deal to let us all know the things are prowling. Several people have outdoor dogs that could have been harmed, but so far so good. The snarls and shrieks are what alerted me that something was on the prowl. I was surprised it was coyotes. I didn't realize they had come so far east and they are apparently very large -- about the size of a German Shepherd dog.

 

We have coyotes all over the place. Just heard them howling last night and they leave their scat all over the place. Before we fenced around our house, (years ago) we watched 13 of them playing in our septic field, three generations of them. They don't bother me. However, the fox that lives somewhere inside our fenced area ticks me off. He (she) loves to poop on things to lay claim to them, like walls, walkways, even the reflector I put on the drive to show firemen where the fire hydrant is!

 

22+ yrs ago we lived in an area that had a HOA, if we really wanted to find out what was going on it was in our best interests to attend the meetings.