Paula: I'd like to know that too. I've been trying to get actual focused pictures of them but since they're here at night and dislike the flash of my camera (I'll get a picture of darkness if I don't use it) I'm having an issue.

I've seen coyotes before and they really look just like them. Narrower faces, the coloration is right and all four have the white tipped tail. They're a good size (common for coyotes on the east coast). I did a lot of research on coydogs when I first got Ryuk. He was from the middle of no where, didn't look like any breed I knew (he was emaciated and rather slimy...yes, slimy...I couldn't tell his coloration until four baths later), his tail tip was white, he was friendly but shy, and would digs holes to burrow in, and when he started getting adult teeth got 40 rather than the average 42. Luckily after a month he became a rather bold adventurous puppy, his he filled out considerably and grew, got his dingo head (from is cattle dog mutt mother), I haven't bothered to count teeth, his while tail tip is now smaller and a tiny bit darker like the rest of him, and his burrowing has reduced to piling blankets and curling into a ball. I figured the stray who got his mother was a shepherd mix (or that was how it was described "monster demon wolf thing that comes out of the woods and eats my cows")

Maybe I'll document the behavior and ask my professor about it, drag him out here and have him observe it....

The only experience I have with coyotes is as a livestock owner.
I shoot on sight.
I know that professors and researchers have their own ideas about wild predators, and reachers and lovestock owners have theirs. lol

They will lure dogs off and kill them. I know people that have had this happen. I'm one of them. Our old retired farm dog was let out one night by me...I got distracted by the kids, and remembered to let her about 30 min later. I opened the door and she literally fell into the room. Her hind end was shredded. She almost didn't make it to the er..it was over an hour away. We would have heard it happen, and she never leaves the house area any more...so we think that a single coyote showed its self and lured her away.
Emergency surgery, and a long recovery and she can get about rather well now.
I realize this assumptive on our part, but I do know other people that have had this happen.
Even with a LSGD its one of the reasons that you need to watch the young ones...1.5 yrs to 2.5 yrs...they think they know all that.....but they don't. lol
They are usually the ones that the coyote packs get. lol isn't that life though....its always the young stupid ones that come to grief.
I know that at our old place they would wait till the dogs had gone off to patrol the ridge, and then come down to try to get the chickens....yes in broad daylight. Sigh.
I almost got a shot off, but it saw me and ducked into the brush before I could nail it. The lady before me had lost almost all her chickens to them.
Oh...this one was as big as a GSD. No kidding. And I'm not exaggerating...I've seen plenty...I wonder if it was a coydog.
I wonder if your dog has some coyote in him and the others recognize that?
I sure wouldn't be letting them near me or my dog...The ones that are semi tame as you are describing are the ones that bite people.
Good luck!!!!
They are also carriers of mange around here..as well as the foxes!

I thought I read somewhere that pure coyotes don't usually live in "packs", but that coyote mixes usually do. I dont see them very often, but they usually are alone. Maybe the pack near your house could be a type of mix???

True coyotes do live in packs that can get pretty large where there is no competition from other predators. Yellowstone packs prior to wolf introduction were pretty huge due to lack of predation and competition.

from what i understand of coyotes, they are one of the most flexible, as far as pack structure goes.
normally, the males don't even pack up, you will have an alpha female, her pups, maybe an adult female pup or 2, and a sister to the aphla. their territory may overlap the male(who would be the father), but more often than not, they don't pack up together, they are usually neutral to eachother, unless its breeding time.

But, if you go to a different location-or if conditions/food in that location changes(both for better, or for worse) their pack will change. when food is plentiful(and it sounds like your area is, with all the fenced in bunnies, lol), they can tolerate larger, though more loosely organized packs-the area males will temporarily pack up with "their" females, etc.

oddly enough, when things get harsher, coyotes have LARGER litters, and other adult females in the "pack" will actually mate as well, normally its only the alpha female.


again, this is how i understand it, from the studies and research i have read over, i really really enjoy studies on carnivores/predators. Unfortuantely(or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), coyotes are still rather mysterious. Even with the feuds between them, and ranchers, etc they are STILL thriving, and even though theres now more coyotes than ever, we still don't know much about them. i think thats kind of funny.

My old male was dog aggressive but would play with a local fox sometimes in the evenings (obviously a different thing with no danger to him) which suggests that wild canids will occasionally play with tame ones.

Willie's experience with coyotes is the same as mine. My tough old ACD Sooner was terrified of them and would shiver when they were howling close to the house, she would refuse to go outside. We considered a LSGD for awhile but due to health reasons opted for a new 22.

Shoot on sight is pretty much the norm around here too. The coyotes will hunt in packs and will occasionally get a young calf.

When my outside dogs hear coyotes they come to the front porch and listen from there, no going out to investigate. Tells me they know the difference, they're not something to mess with.

Any time a normally aloof animal appears playful and willing to interact with something/someone not natural..... sends up red flags. Regardless of the reason (and I would love to know why they're behaving this way), I wouldn't let your dog interact. The more comfortable he gets with the coyotes, the more at risk he becomes.

Updates!

So I went on field trip today up to some of our farmer neighbors to ask them about these coyotes....most said the same thing everyone else has, generally nice wildlife neighbors, leave their livestock and chickens alone, never shown much aggression, they stay out of the animal pens and they're generally pretty good.

Then I got to one farmer who lives up the road. Apparently the friendly dominant male coyote is about 5 years old and was the victim of some teenage pranks a while back. He was trapped and cans and wire tied to his tail and body to scare him. He showed up clanging on this guy's door step and a few days later this farmer managed to trap him and get the cans off. He was quite young at this point, about a year old. When released the coyote stuck around and the farmer's two dogs sort of adopted him as an honorary dog . The female showed up about two years ago and the younger two were part of last years litter. They've also played with this man's dogs (hounds). The pack has never been friendly with any other dogs until now and their den is located on the back of this man's property in an unused pasture. Apparently this coyote simply likes my dog. I've also been warned that while he's got a nice fear of people he likes things that belong to people. I guess he's a bit of a clothesline thief...we have a clothesline and have been having socks going missing for a few months....the farmer brought me out to the back of the feild and tada, I'm sure some of the socks out there were mine...no, I didn't take them back.

Ryuk's still not going to be allowed to play with him, but it's nice to know that this coyote is not out to lure dogs to their deaths. I'll try to get some pictures, the farmer says he's got a couple he took when the two younger ones were little pups.