My Friend the Coyote

[kato]

This'll tick off those who think coyotes are to shoot, but too bad.

We have an old bachelor coyote living across the tracks in our hayfield. He's been there for years. Howls when the train goes by, and drives the dogs crazy. This coyote spends July following the baler and grabbing mice from under the swaths. He comes out when the bales are being picked up too. (With 8 donkeys in the pasture, predation is not an issue! He behaves himself admirably around the livestock.)

Anyway, last July he showed up to follow the baler, and the poor old thing was suffering from a horrible case of mange. Had hardly any hair left. This means freezing to death in our neighbourhood. So I got a bright idea, and went out one evening with a can of cat food that had a part of a cc of ivomec in it. I left it near where we think his den is. Well, didn't he just eat it.

Saw him last night for the first time in months, and he is fat and sassy, and has the most beautiful thick coat you ever saw.

He's still a bachelor, though. LOL

[cakadu]

Kato, if the coyotes here would leave the sheep alone, they could live out their lives whatever way they wanted to. Unfortunately, they and another 10,000 of their friends feel that lamb is a good thing to have on the menu, hence the war of the non-lethal means of predator control continues.

The donkey is starting to be a little more aggressive - not so much in the way of the "dance" that bombay described, but in terms of walking after the dogs and not giving them a chance to stop.

Yesterday we brought home another Maremma - livestock guardian - so hopefully between the llama, the donkey, Jude and our other Maremma Dog (we did not name her), the coyotes will now be kept to a respectful distance. The bottom of our quarter has a seasonal creek that runs through it and the coyotes use this as a thoroughfare and a snack line. The new dog stays right in the middle of the flock, so the coyotes will get a BIG white surprise should they try anything.

Please just keep as many of them as you can in Manitoba!!!

[15444]

Good to hear about your success. Actually, I think the coyotes and wolves are more dangerous when they have mange as they seem less fearful of all things (humans, cows, etc.) because they know what they have to do to survive. One lonely coyote doesn't mean much to cows, the packs are the problem makers.

[les]

The thing that surprises me is that less than one cc of ivomec fixed him up. I would have thought it would have taken more than that amount to work on the parasites.

[cswilson]

Last mangy coyote here was in the tackroom ran right over my two little girls when they opened the door-he got 130 grains of pain reliever lol.

[whiteface]

Thanks Kato for a heartwarming story of looking after one of God's creatures rather than hunting them for sport or some other reason that is incomprehensible to me. I agree that some animals are trouble, and were probably "trained" to be that way by a person, so then must lose his life to one, though likely no fault of his own. I too have two dens of coyotes on my place, have never touched a calf, but then I keep a pretty close eye on the health of my cattle and let me assure you, I'd hate to be the coyote that tangled with any of my babies momma's! They live their lives peacefully on my place cleaning up rodents, are quite good at hunting gophers and are a prairie symbol that I for one don't care to lose. Every one has their owm opinion, mine is here, not looking to start a fight but I wanted to say I really, really appreciated your story Kato, I think too many people would have been as happy to see the coyote starve or freeze. That cold, suffering side of people irritates me. Glad to see more kindness from people, like rallying for a sick baby donkey, sorry you lost that little one bombay. Have a good day all!

[kato]

This particular coyote literally eats his weight in rodents every year, if not more. He'll come out in the daytime, and follow the baler up and down the field for hours.

We've got a couple of packs in the neighbourhood, too, but they don't bother our cattle, so we don't bother them. They are so smart about the donkeys that they will sit outside the pasture fence sometimes and howl. I think they are taunting them or something. They don't come in, though.

As for the dosage on the Ivomec, I figured that 1 cc is supposed to do 110 pounds of cow, so a fifth of a cc should do a 25 pound coyote. It worked, so it must have been close.

We've seen other mangey ones in the winter, and it is a horrible thing to see. I've heard of them coming into the sheds and sleeping in amongst cattle to stay warm. I would hate to see that happen here, the old guy has become a fixture in our hayfield.

[kato]

I have had mangy coyotes spend the winter in the calf shelters but as soon as the cows and new born calves were put into those areas the coyote took to the hills. Heaven help the coyote that tries to get too friendly with a Limo cows calf !!!!! A bullet would be welcome relief from the wrath of one of these very protective mamas !!!

[cowman]

Many times I have stated my fondness for coyotes. I believe they are overall a very good thing. They work over the mice and gophers and they clean up all the dead garbage in the country.
The only thing I have against them is they are fairly tough on the young partridges and the cats but then I don't hunt the partridge anyway and I guess if they get a cat or two I can live with that.
Now I realize they can be pretty brutal on sheep and chickens. I used to have a bunch of chickens, but my son was not all that keen on taking good care of them and the coyotes had a real banquet! But I figured oh well, if you provide the feast don't be surprized if the dinner guests come calling!
I've never had a problem with coyotes bothering my cattle. They wander through the cows and calves all the time and the cows just ignore them. Now maybe I have some really well behaved coyotes or something but I've never had a problem.
Now I can't say the same for the neighbors dogs! But a well placed .243 takes care of that problem very nicely.

[k-way]

I hate to rain on your parade, but it's more than likely a different coyote. Our vet told us a couple years ago not to use ivomec on canids because it is highly toxic to them. They had a farmer who treated his 2 dogs and even with proper weight dosage all their hair fell out and they nearly died except for vet assistance.

But I appreciate your attempts to help out an old friend. We have a neighbor who did something similar. He has a cow moose who comes to feed from his silage pit every winter. One year she came with a calf who was suffering from ticks so bad he was sure it wouldn't live many more days. So one evening he used his bow and arrow range gun to give it a shot of ivomec and it got better! Just goes to show how much farmers really care for their environment.

[Willowcreek]

k-way-- I have a local vet that prescribes ivomec for dogs with mange all the time. I've had a couple of my town acquaintances call me to get a couple of cc's rather than buy a bottle- Haven't heard of any problems that they had...

[les]

I have been giving ivomec to the cats and dogs on the farm for years and never killed any yet.One time I gave a cat too big a dose and it acted a little funny(ok a lot funny) for a couple days before it came around to normal again.

[15444]

After searching for more info on this topic:

At higher doses, ivermectin does treat roundworms, hookworms, microfilaria, mange mites, ear mites, and whipworms. It can be purchased at feed stores without a prescription as Ivomec®, a 1% sterile solution, designed for use with swine, sheep, and cattle. (Some sources may have ivermectin available in a cheaper, generic form.) Although the drug is injected into swine or cattle, it is used orally in a large dog. It is oily and reportedly tastes bad, but can be injected into a piece of bread. Using a cattle wormer in a dog is considered an "off-label" use; i.e., the FDA has not declared that such a use is appropriate, so a cautious veterinarian guiding you in how to do this may ask you to sign a statement acknowledging that fact and waiving your right to sue for malpractice should adverse effects occur. Enough dogs have died from off-label use of ivermectin that it is not for the fainthearted. Careful dosing is crucial. If you are administering a relatively large dose, such as that used to kill treatment-resistant demodectic mange mites, you may be able to use a small syringe to measure precisely. If you are administering the tiny doses required for monthly heartworm prevention, you will need to dilute the Ivomec® to a lesser strength using propylene glycol (available from your pharmacist), before you attempt to draw out a dose.