I'm amazed - but I KNOW I just heard a pack of coyotes! (Raleigh: home, neighborhoods)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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We live in the back end of Brier Creek Country Club, right behind Page Road. Just now, while taking out the (damn) dog, I thought I heard a distant sound that was very familiar from all our years of living in the desert outside of Phoenix, AZ. Coyotes yelping and howling as they caught something for dinner. I might have questioned myself except the dog reacted to the sound in the peculiar way that coyotes always produced in him when we lived in the Phoenix area (and Mexico, for that matter).
When he finished his (damn) business, we returned home and google reassured me that I wasn't going nuts. There are indeed coyotes in Raleigh and Durham. I know many will disagree, but I LOVE that sound.
We live close to you and I have heard this sound several times in the past year. My husband thinks I am nuts and does not believe there are coyote here. I get frightened because we have 2 small dogs (14 lb). I know nothing about coyote - are they aggressive around people? I guess I want to know if they would ever try to attack my dogs if we are walking them on a leash?
I spotted one at Falls Lake a couple of years ago while fishing. It actually entered the water and swam across a section of the lake a couple of hundred yards wide.
I had a coyote walk across the road right in front of my car a few months back in Durham (Hope Valley Farms). I've heard them in the past so I know they live around here, but I was definitely surprised to see one!
We live close to you and I have heard this sound several times in the past year. My husband thinks I am nuts and does not believe there are coyote here. I get frightened because we have 2 small dogs (14 lb). I know nothing about coyote - are they aggressive around people? I guess I want to know if they would ever try to attack my dogs if we are walking them on a leash?
Google it and you'll show your husband you're not nuts. Recent news reports show that about 2 coyotes a year get hit by planes at the airport, and sightings have occurred in Ulmstead Park and along TW Alexander on the way to Durham. (And in areas more distant from me, including Cary)
Coyotes are skittish around humans. Aggressive behavior around humans and dogs ON LEASH is so rare that we never worried about it when we lived in the desert (where coyotes were nearly daily occurrences). I certainly wont be worrying about them in Rakeigh! Very small dogs OFF leash could be a target in an unfenced area. (Even in a fenced area, the fence needed to be 8 feet high - those suckers can 'climb' a fence if they are starving. Small dogs and small cats are also targets for eagles and other birds of prey.)
Yes, it's development taking into their habitat. But unlike certain species who move away from development, Coyotes are very adaptable, easily going from hunting in the wild for their food (rabbits, squirrels, rats, snakes, beavers, groundhogs, frogs, even small deer if they travel in a pack) to foraging trash cans and dumpsters. Like domestic dogs, their sense of smell and ability to learn new tasks quickly allows them to adapt and survive. Typically, coyotes stay within a 25 mile radius of their base home.
Have seen several in Wake Forest near Highway 98. Also saw one hit by a car on 540 near Leesville and on the belt line near Lake Boone Trail. They are all over. Saw my first one in the early 80's at Lake Jordan when I was hunting deer and couldn't believe my eyes. They do tend to get larger here than out west. I've got pictures of one that would go 50-55 lbs.
I live just north of Falls Lake, and I've seen one run through our yard. My first thought was what a big, ugly fox it was until I realized it was a coyote instead. I mentioned it to a neighbor who said she's seen "them" in the 'hood, too.
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