You're all welcome and thank you all too.

Keith

Keith
How about a pic or two of the holes she digs and more attracted to with something near for size and shape reference?

That's a good idea. I'll take some pictures of Katie's dirt holes tomorrow.

I posted this on here before, but some months ago, Katie dug a hole and was holding this Native American scraper or knife in her mouth, when I went out to bring her in.



Keith

Really cool thread Keith!

Very interesting post.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing. Good stuff.

That is too cool!

Thanks a bunch for sharing your experiences and observations.. Your very blessed to have these first hand observations to learn from.

Here are 4 dirt holes Katie made in my backyard. The holes are all at least a few weeks old, have weathered some and have been dug on multiple times.










The holes Katie digs are much narrower, when she first digs them. They probably average about 1 1/2 times her paw width. She mostly digs grubs and large thick roots. She mostly digs when the ground is fairly wet. Right now the ground is dry and brick hard. I'll add pictures of any new holes she makes. If I can find a good meadow vole area to take her to, I'll take some pictures of how she digs for voles too.

Keith

maybe make a video of her digging? make some dirthole sets and see how she approaches them and works them?

Thanks Keith, Kate must be a hoot. And obviously a genuine dirthole master.

Because of their tendency to catch water, I am not a fan of stepdown sets. After seeing the first 4 Katie dirt hole pictures, maybe I will reconsider.

Keith, and Bob, thanks for this thread.

Very cool post and very much appreciated. I'd always thought I'd like to have a coyote but reading that you feel you need to have it locked in a cage when you're not home, and on a leash when you are kinda burst that bubble, lol. I think I'll skip owning a canine that needs to be locked up all the time, but am totally loving your insight from a trapping perspective!!!

Very interesting! I enjoy when you share your learnings.

Thanks for the trench set tutorial Katie.. good girl.. Question does Katie obey commands like domestic dogs?

Yes, Katie knows sit, come, eat, water, food, drink, let it go, no, the names of our house dogs, the names our house cats, my name, Diane's name, kisses, to the pole, go home, go in, get it, quiet, stop that, the names of a bunch of toys, go up and probably some more commands I can't remember. I taught her to fetch and play frisbee, but we have not done it for a while. Katie is at least as smart as most dogs. She recognizes the outside cats and leaves them alone. She will actually touch noses with the outside cats she is used to. She will go after strange cats.

Where she differs most is fear of new objects or out of place objects, extreme dislike of dogs she does not know, fear of some, but not all people she hasn't seen before and submissive posturing. Katie loves our house dogs and when she greets them, she lowers her body, turns her head to the side and leaves her jaws loosely open, while vigorously wagging her tail.

I believe with selective breeding, over generations, coyotes could be developed into a very useful animal for man. They are very intelligent, have few health problems, have fairly long life spans and great senses of smell.

Keith

I really like what you are doing with the Coyote, you seem to have a good and realistic handle on the whole situation. I hope Coyotes never gain acceptance as pets though, it will be the end of hunting and trapping them if the public perceives them more as dogs than they already do.

Keith:

Thanks for the info. These are great insights. Really makes me think that several real subtle sets at a distance backing up one obvious set, may be the ticket to quick catches. I think over time, most coyotes will approach an odor or object they originally objected to at first, but if you're trying to catch the coyote quickly, it seems that subtlety would be the key. Its amazing to see coyotes on trail cameras come to a little dab of lure that is a month old, after rain, heat and wind, and still do that nervous head bob, advance-retreat-advance-retreat thing. Very thought provoking. Thanks again.

Thanks Keith, I would have thought she wouldn't obey being wild. I read somewhere that the one difference between wild and domestic is wild doesn't obey NO. But guess that ain't so.

Subtle sets with small toys work well. If ya get to big and bold not so much. Especially the adults! My daughter has a Korgy that acts the same, we move the furniture in the living room and she freaked out. Took her a week to get used to it. My lab could care less.


Great thread, Thanks

Keith, thanks for the insights with Katie.

Question: Have you noticed when a new object Katie was leary of, was then removed, that Katie is curious to investigate the spot that object had been. I remember reading a study about coyotes fear of new objects (neophobia) in their home area (I believe it was small traffic cones painted different colors). Though the research coyotes appeared very curious about the new objects it took quite a few days before they would come near and investigate those objects. But as soon as the object was removed, the coyotes quickly investigated the spot where they had been.

Lazarus, I think you are onto something with a showy set with a visual attractor causing them to stall and get into your other subtle sets. The internal struggle caused by fear of the new thing coupled with curiosity about it must make them anxious. Like the crusty old wolfer says "make em pee". But then what about those objects disappearing? Does that flip their red or orange light to green?