Will a coyote eat a...?

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2zwudz

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Will coyotes eat a dead coyote? I know they are predators and will eat just about anything but I didn't know if they would eat one of their own if it were dead or if seeing a dead coyote would be a warning sign of any kind?
Whats your take on this??

Thanks
Mark
 
i have always noticed that if there is a dead coyote there isnt another live coyote with in a bazillion miles. just my observations...
 
HardcoreSlot, I shot a coyote once and another one came in and was shiffing on the dead one. I shot that one and another one came in and sniffed on both of them, then I shot that one. Coyotes are not scared of other dead coyotes.

As far as coyotes eating other coyotes, I have never seen it happen in all my years of predator hunting. Coyotes are survivers and if they must eat another coyote to survive I'm sure they well do so.
 
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I have never seen it happen in all my years of predator hunting.



+1

Doesn't mean it doesn't happen though. From what I've seen, a coyote carcass will draw quite a bit of coyote attention though. Plenty of tracks and scat around to support that theory.
 
Yes they will I was on a little vacation in NM doing some hunting. I made a pile of the bodies after i skinned them, and use them for a BAIT pile. went back afew days later and got two more off of the pile.
 
I shot one during Deer season a couple years ago. I shot a deer and a coyote on the same day. I took the dog home and let the kids check it out. When they were done playing with it, I took it up and dumped it out in the woods. Several days later, I took all the bones and scraps from cutting up my deer and dumped them on the untouched coyote carcass. Most of the parts landed next to the carcass, but one leg was laying on it. I went up there to do some shooting about a week later. Everything from the deer was completely gone, except the one leg that was laying on the coyote. It and the coyote were untouched. That area is gated during winter, so I didn't go up there from December 1st until april 2nd (game dept was supposed to open the gate on the 1st but they are slow). There was the coyote, full of worms and maggots with a deer leg still laying on top of it. Even the crows and magpies stay away from them.

Weaz
 
The range of responses, or opinions, is interesting. But, not too surprising. Coyotes are coyotes. They'll do whatever the heck they feel like. Each one an individual, who may or may not do the same thing as another coyote. Or, for that matter, may or may not do the same thing as the day before.

Coyotes absolutely, positively, most definitely WILL eat each other, though. Sometimes. I've seen it. And it has been well documented. A guy I know that kept a few in a pen for urine had one kill and eat another one right there in the pen. But of course, sometimes, maybe even most of the time(?), they won't eat each other?

I've personally never seen anything that would lead me to think that live coyotes are much bothered by dead coyotes though. Sure, once in awhile, with multiples on a stand, a live coyote might spook from a freshly dead one. But, just as often, like Billy the Kid said, instead of spooking, the live coyote will stop to sniff around the dead one and end up on top of it. It's always nice when that happens /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. And once they have been dead awhile, from all I have ever seen, other coyotes are either actually attracted to the carcass, or totally ignore it. Never seen a live coyote spooked by one that has been dead for awhile though.

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Even the crows and magpies stay away from them.




I've seen my share of old, bloated, or mummified, or frozen, or melted, or whatever coyote carcasses that haven't been touched. Seen the same with deer, elk, cows, sheep, horses and every other critter that lives and dies out there. Some carcasses, some places, some times, don't get eaten, for whatever reason. But, way, way, WAY more commonly, I see coyotes get totally picked clean. Often in less than 24 hours. This one is totally typical of what I see most often:

IMG_0858.jpg


That one, I had skinned exactly one week earlier. From the sign in the snow, it was mostly ravens, along with a few magpies that enjoyed that feast. I've seen many, many, many coyotes totally cleaned up like that, sometimes overnight. Of course, when it's coyotes eating coyotes, there isn't a whole skeleton the nexty day like that, as the bones are scattered, crushed and just plain gone (eaten).

Anyway... From what I've seen, in the areas I'm familiar with, most coyote carcasses do get eaten, usually by birds. Quickly. And completely. But - not all of them. Critters are notional, that way.

- DAA
 
What I usually find is just a pile of fur and a few scattered bones. But the majority of the bones are gone. I doubt birds would be packing off the bones.
 
I've seen eagles sitting on a dead coyote having a meal.I never thought they were scavengers before that,I mean I thought they hunted all their food. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
DAA is right. I've seen some not touched & others eaten. Usually they are eaten in winter from what I've seen.

I also know that a lion will kill & eat coyotes on the hoof.

Eagles will scavange like a buzzard too. I've seen eagles on all sorts of carcasses.

Good thread!

Barry
 
like has been said mr. coyote will do what ever he wants to do, i,ve had them eaten by other coyotes, and i've had a dead one lay right next to a getter all winter and just keep killing coyotes on them, and see where they marked them when they came to them. and the eagle is sure enough a scavanger, when one finds a getter line the only fur you are going to pick up is what you kill the night before.
 
As far as dead coyotes being a warning to others, it don't work that way in my experience. When I set M-44's and get a pull on one, I'll throw the dead coyote off to one side and re-set my trap. If its a good spot there will be 5 or 6 coyotes piled up about 10 yards away, so it doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent.
 
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As far as dead coyotes being a warning to others, it don't work that way in my experience. When I set M-44's and get a pull on one, I'll throw the dead coyote off to one side and re-set my trap. If its a good spot there will be 5 or 6 coyotes piled up about 10 yards away, so it doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent.



The same goes for good calling spots. I have several coyotes laying around in a relatively small area....they are in different stages of decomposition. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Live coyotes don't really mind the dead ones.
 
nmrancher, if you were talking about my post i might have been misunderstood, i've had dead ones laying right there and keep getting pulls all winter, i'm not the best writer there is,lol.
 
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The same goes for good calling spots. I have several coyotes laying around in a relatively small area....they are in different stages of decomposition. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Live coyotes don't really mind the dead ones.



I agree. I usually drag or haul my coyotes out of my calling areas but there are certainly times when I don't, and then call another coyote there just weeks or days later, with a carcass in whatever current stage of decomposition laying just yards away.

Remember, also, that bugs really get after dead animals. I have a beetle colony that I use to clean skulls and if they're hungry, they can pick a coyote skull clean in just a few days. Then there's ants, maggots, etc. - you get the idea.
 


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