Not sure if I saw a coyote or a fox last night

[Darrell KSR]

I'm in the middle of suburbia, but there is a large state park basically across the street from us. I have woods in back of my house, although the woods just basically separate two neighborhoods from each other and aren't big.

Have seen deer, rabbit, possums, raccoons, of course the normal supply of chipmunks, squirrels, snakes, you name it in my yard, and my son--and the next door neighbor--both swear they have seen foxes, too.

I'm not sure whether I saw a coyote or a fox last night. Any sure fire tips on how to tell the difference? I'm guessing coyote; I know they are plentiful around here.

[badrose]

Aren't coyotes a bit larger than foxes?

[dan_bgblue]

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/regions/1/redfoxsurvey/

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Wild-Anim...es-Coyotes.htm

[Catfan73]

The tail is usually a dead giveaway, and coyotes are much more dog-like in the face imo. If you've got all those other critters Darrell, you've probably got the coyotes too.

[Darrell KSR]

Good photos there, Dan.

Daughter just looked at the pics and said 100% sure it was a coyote.

[Darrell KSR]

The tail is usually a dead giveaway, and coyotes are much more dog-like in the face imo. If you've got all those other critters Darrell, you've probably got the coyotes too.

Fox face is "cuter"--son has seen foxes out here, too previously, but last night definitely more dog-like in face, and a coyote.

[Darrell KSR]

Badrose, this wasn't huge--maybe 4 feet or so? But I'm pretty sure it was a coyote. Daughter says she's 100% sure, based on the pics of the gray fox versus the coyote. Wasn't red fox at all.

[CitizenBBN]

Four feet would be a good bit bigger than any fox I've seen, red or gray. that's a coyote.

Things are thick as thieves. People all over rural Kentucky are carrying rifles again that haven't carried on their farms in forever.

I worry they'll make it in to my neighborhood. so far so good, and we're as urban as you can get for Lexington, but that's not very urban for these things. They're getting to be like kudzu.

[akaukswoosh]

Four feet would be a good bit bigger than any fox I've seen, red or gray. that's a coyote.

Ditto

[DanISSELisdaman]

We're lousy with coyotes here. We used to have plenty of foxes, but since the coyotes and bobcats got so plentiful, they are disappearing, along with ground hogs, rabbits and other small game.

[CitizenBBN]

We're lousy with coyotes here. We used to have plenty of foxes, but since the coyotes and bobcats got so plentiful, they are disappearing, along with ground hogs, rabbits and other small game.

They're a true nuisance animal. If there's one critter everyone needs to shoot every time they see one it's this one. They can destroy the native animal population quickly, not to mention pets and livestock. Coyotes and feral pigs will take over the place like a zombie horde.

[CitizenBBN]

Four feet would be a good bit bigger than any fox I've seen, red or gray. that's a coyote.

Ditto

that and coyotes usually are seen on roller skates tied to bathtubs with outboard motors in them.

Foxes are cute. Not quite as adorable as ferrets and minks and such, but still really cute. Coyotes are not close to cute. They have that "don't turn your back on me" look. A true pack scavenger/hunter.

If it is Darrell shoot it and make a rug. get a deer blind and set it up in your back yard and wait it out. Put some deer urine on your boots. Won't help get coyotes, but if you do it we'll all have a good laugh at it around here.

[thedeerehunter]

They're getting bad again, for sure. I pop everyone I see, even when I'm deer hunting, and anyone that knows me knows I don't compromise a deer hunt for just anything.

If I get a chance one night this week a buddy and I are gonna set up on some at one of his farms. He's been losing calves at a pretty alarming rate.

[badrose]

It's open season on coyotes in North Carolina year round. A cop told me, If you see one, shoot it!

While we're talking about nuisances, crows are just as bad. Not as dangerous but they prey on smaller birds, crops, etc. and they're very intelligent.

[CitizenBBN]

As a kid I had open license to shoot all the blackbirds I could manage. Lexington has in the past had some real problems with them in the winter. If they'd let me take care of it that problem would go away but there were people in town whining about killing the dang things.

As a rule you never shoot what you don't eat, but there are some nuisance animals that are doing real damage to native species and those you shoot to protect the ecology. Shoot every coyote you see, run them over, call them bad names if you aren't armed.

[suncat05]

If it's a coyote.......KILL IT! Foxes will not be a problem, for the most part, unless it's rabid, and if so then it needs to be killed to prevent the spread of rabies. Usually though a fox will not cause too many problems, as they seem to have a healthy aversion to humans.
I feed the gators around here pretty well. Every time I kill a coyote I drag the dead carcass down to the canal and toss it in. I hate a coyote! The only good coyote is a very dead coyote!
After I caught those two coyotes doing a broad daylight surveillance of my front porch about three years ago trying to get to my dog, I decided they needed to be forcibly vacated from the neighborhood. Every time I see one I put rounds downrange. In the last three years I have killed at least 20.

[CitizenBBN]

20? Man. They're bad in so many places. I agree, shoot 'em all and there will still be way too many.

[jazyd]

A friend o mine has a picture from a trail camera this past spring with a coyote having a small doe in its jaws, had her around the neck. First time I have talked to someone with that type picture.

If you have probablems with them, and you don't have any stray dogs running loose, you can take hotdogs and inject antifreeze in them and toss them out, locks up the coyote and they will die. done down here a lot to get rid of packs of them.

Darrell, if you have one, you have others. Might want to talk to the officials to see what can be done.

[suncat05]

20? Man. They're bad in so many places. I agree, shoot 'em all and there will still be way too many.

Yes, they were really thick around here for awhile, but I think I have thinned them out some.

[jazyd]

I love it, good target practice, might need it if we have riots from people not getting enough of their free goodies from the government.

Yes, they were really thick around here for awhile, but I think I have thinned them out some.

[MickintheHam]

Darrell, you have both in your yard. They are both all over the area. Funny story: ET came to visit one time with his wife, who grew up on the farm. As they drove down the cul de sac where I live, they spotted an animal in the middle of the street. It was the size of a dog and had an angle to its gait. Mrs. ET recognized it for the coyote it was. Mr. ET thought it was a german shepard. It was a coyote. If you observe the way the animals walk there is a distinct gait to the coyote. 80% of the time when I see a fox it is running. They certainly seem to scare much easier. Foxes tend to be distinguished by the short pointed ears. Most in our area are reddish in color. All of the coyotes I have seen are light gray to white.

I will bet you saw a coyote.

[suncat05]

A coyote's ears are more pointed, not rounded like a fox's ears. Also, foxes tend to be small, whereas a coyote will look like a decent sized dog. A coyote's walk is almost kind of a 'lope', which is to say their gait is different from just about any other animal that appears to be a member of the dog family, plus their tail will be down between their legs, not out like a dog's would be.
And a coyote will stare right at you, almost like he's daring you to do something to him. He'll see you and want you to know that he sees you by staring right back at you. A fox will run from you, almost always, unless he's rabid.
One time I had a coyote sit down and stare at me like he was sizing me up, but as soon as I went into the house to get my AR-15 he bolted. He was big too, really big for a coyote.
They are nothing but a nuisance and unnecessary trouble for small animals, small game, domestic farm animals. You see one, there's only one rule: KILL IT!

[Darrell KSR]

I think you're right, Mick--pretty convinced based on what everybody has told us. By the way, we were in our car, and stopped with the headlights pointed in its general area. It stared at us for a good minute. Started walking away with a almost skip like gait (I'm describing it poorly), and I rolled the window down and yelped at it. It did not scare easily, and didn't seem to be bothered much by my yelping...certainly not nearly as much as my 13-year old daughter was.

[CitizenBBN]

Odd. I find your yelping very scary. Did you try telling it about your Palm Pilot?

[jazyd]

I was in the stand on opening morning a few years ago and hear dogs running toward me, thought it was a deer coming so I got ready. Here comes 3 coyotes, right at me, so I shot the first and he crawled out in the thicket and thrashed around until he died. an hour later, hear the dogs again coming toward me, again another coyote, this one died on the spot. big one too and a female which was good to kill. Messed up the deer hunt but I didn't care, taking two of those out was the best thing I did.

They're getting bad again, for sure. I pop everyone I see, even when I'm deer hunting, and anyone that knows me knows I don't compromise a deer hunt for just anything.

If I get a chance one night this week a buddy and I are gonna set up on some at one of his farms. He's been losing calves at a pretty alarming rate.

[DanISSELisdaman]

Talk about a coincident, while I was reading this thread, my wife asked me to go to the car to get some medicine she had left in it and when I went outside, there was a pack of them critters yelling their fool heads off over on the ridge from my house. I say "kill em killem all".

[DanISSELisdaman]

I talked to a neighbor today and he said the coyotes had killed one of his calves recently. He's had several killed also.

I'm like you hunter, when one of them shows his ugly mug around me, I blow it off, no matter what I'm doing.

[badrose]

Odd. I find your yelping very scary. Did you try telling it about your Palm Pilot?

That's hilarious! My first thought was wishing I'd been there to get it on video.

[blueboss]

Coyotes and wild boar are the the largest growing invasive species in the south/southeast and I believe they both have open seasons. Coyotes have all but wiped the quail population in areas of central KY that I have hunted.

[jazyd]

boss, wild hogs are becoming a huge problem i Miss, they are to be killed on site. The biggest we have killed at our small camp is 251#.

Coyotes and wild boar are the the largest growing invasive species in the south/southeast and I believe they both have open seasons. Coyotes have all but wiped the quail population in areas of central KY that I have hunted.