coyote's and cattle

[ohiyotee]

Who finds that the coyotes are more plentiful around cattle. Here in my part of Ohio we have some large area's of cattle less brush. It seems to harbor a smaller population of yotes.

Is this because of the ease of travel with open pasture, the cattle themselves, etc. what are your thoughts? greg

[vttrapper]

Not a whole lot of cattle in Vt anymore, but for me, I find more concentrations of coyotes in the pastures than in the forest in the early season. In December, they have mostly moved to the forest.

frank

[dabrock]

In our area of Ohio we have mostly cattle opporations with a littlt crop farming. I catch my yotes in pastures along edges of wood lots.
We have a growing population. So cattle may have something to wit it.

[redcoyote]

when scouting for new areas, cattle are the second thing i look for. the first being access. where there are cows there are yotes. i think cows = grain,hay etc = mice,birds = other activity = coyotes. they also are looking for afterbirth, dead calves, and also dead cows. there is almost always a carcass dump in a sinkhole. there is always alot of activity in cattle lots which i think coyotes are drawn to. the best part is permission is sooooo easy to obtain in these places.

the best places i have found to set are along the well used cattle trails, ponds, and the carcass dumps, (just set back aways to keep traps free of possum and skunk) let the wind bring the yotes to the trap.

[Creek]

Coyotes really like to hang around the cows, Most ranchers here calve in the winter. The coyotes will clean up the afterbirth as soon as it hits the ground.

[trappnman]

I agree with the posts suggesting that there are many reasons why cattle and yotes go together.

Even more so for dairy- they love the manure from milk cows.

Access for sure- but a telltale for me is pocket gopher mounds in open fields. Like magnets to coyotes.

[Wright Brothers]

Saw evidence in snow today of what creek said about after birth, twice. Tracked that thing right to my froze in coon set, then right to my cable restraint that is chewed off. Looks like a bomb crater. I took a pic, then tracked him for two hours to the next zip code. On the way I found a mole that he killed and didn't eat. I stole the mole. Been playing this game with this lone coyote for some time now. I think he enjoys it. I do.

[Rod17]

Very interesting post.

I would like to hear more about dairy cattle manure as a coyote attractant. Am I correct in assuming that this is a source of food? Have you seen them eat this? ..or are there other reasons why this is an attractant? Thanks

[Creek]

Yes the coyotes will eat the cow manure, especially if the cows are grain fed.

[Steve Gappa]

what creek said.

many times farmers tell me of coyotes following behind them when they spread manure.

[Rod17]

At first this surprised me, but we have all seen dogs consuming the dropping of other dogs. I doubt that such behavior is for sustenance but the eating of cow manure may be -- especially in tough times.

Anyone know about the nutritional content of manure?

[HappyPlumber]

Coyotes follow dairy cattle because the farmers schedule their cows to freshen year round so they have a constant flow of milk. Also at certain times of the year coyotes eat grain and can be found in corn fields and other grain fields. I would suspect that they eat the manure because that would contain some grains that were not chewed or digested. HP

[mmwb (Andrew Parker)]

"I would suspect that they eat the manure because that would contain some grains that were not chewed or digested"

While not much of a practice on this side of the puddle, in parts Europe they commonly pastured hogs with cattle. Especially with corn, much goes undigested and the hogs would benefit from the manure they were eating.

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

I had a bear tear a horse trailer door off once just to eat the horseshit.

Joel