Coyotes along the Mississippi (Ontario)

by Steve
(Almonte, Ontario, Canada)

I remember when the first Coyotes began appearing in eastern Ontario back in the 1970s. Unlike the Wolves, Coyotes were not native to Eastern Ontario, but have moved in from the west, as the forests had been cleared for farmland to create habitat more to their liking.

Late this winter (2010) I saw for the first time road-killed Coyotes. There were 3 within just a few weeks. I saw one each on Highway 29 between Almonte and Carleton Place, on Highway 7 between Carleton Place and the Highway 417 junction, and one on Highway 427 between the junction with Highway 7 and the March Road exit.

They all looked like young animals to me, which might explain their lack of caution around vehicles.

Previously I had seen only one live Coyote in the area and that was two years ago. It was running along a treeline on the far side of a farm field.

My friend running a dairy farm on the Peter Robinson Road had his small dog killed by several coyotes at about 7 pm in late February. They had been visiting his farm trying to get at his calves, and his mother had spotted several during the day near the cattle barn.

On the evening of the incident he came out to let his small dog in for supper, but found Coyote tracks all around the side of his house and circling the spot were his dog had been. He found a small spot of blood. He trailed the tracks a few hundred feet from his farmhouse - there were two sets Coyote tracks - and there he found the body of his dog.

It had not been eaten, but killed 'on spec', to be dropped and left for dead.

Coyotes have made themselves unpopular with farmers in the area.