Tracking coyotes could turn out to be a nightmare if you happen to follow them without taking really knowing how. You can choose to track coyotes using their urine as you can be confident that they will pass urine as they move along with their sleeping dens having more concentrations of their urine.
You may wonder if tracking coyotes using their urine a worth the trouble their urine is not strong enough for the human nose. As such, you will require having the help of man’s best friend which would involve the use man’s best friend. Dogs are known to help in the hunt of such predators as they can pick the particular smell for long distances and even days.
Imagine the damage caused by coyotes in your farm or maybe your neighbors, and you will agree it’s a worth course. It is important to take note of their small sizes which makes them very elusive thus you cannot afford to ignore any clue of tracking them down. Ordinary, coyotes will appear like lightning and disappear like thunder. As such, urine can turn out to be one way of tracking them down although the scent fades with time and after a heavy downpour.
Do not underestimate these predators due to their small sizes as they can occupy any conceivable grounds, from forests to open ranches and caves. Therefore, the first step towards tracking them by use of their urine would involve training your dog on picking their scents and making not confusing it with the scent of another animal. You can also use coyote scat to track these animals.
In addition to training your dogs to pick up the urine scent, study food that could attract them to your compound, and this will give a clue of the paths they take. With their ability to eat any small animal they can lay their hands on, get to check on small animals such as rabbits and where rats could congregate. It’s also important to note coyotes will feed on berries and fruits during summer and fall.
A pair of coyotes or a family is likely to take down a deer or a goat. Thus, if you find a goat or a sheep missing on your farm, you know you are not tracking down a single coyote but a pack. Thus, you are likely to track down their urine as the scent from the whole family would be strong and possibly lead you to their hideout.
Additionally, closely monitor areas where you dump your garbage, as they are likely to savage on such waste in case they miss on hunting down an animal. However, a group of coyotes will kill domestic dogs as they will consider them territorial intruders. Besides, dogs or foxes that get close to their pups will get killed as they are highly protective and territorial animals.
In addition, it is important to note most hunting and feeding in the coyote family takes place at night, however, you will find hungry and disturbed coyotes hunting during the day. Thus, the first step towards tracking coyotes involves studying their feeding pattern. Second, get your dog early in the morning, and you are likely to find them asleep exhausted from an all-night hunting and feeding.
Studying Coyotes Dens
The second to study about coyotes while tracking them using their urine involves studying their den sites and routes to the den. Female coyotes dig underground to protect their young ones from any danger. Thus, if you are tracking coyotes using their small, you are likely to find more urine concentration around their sleeping dens as they will pass urine around urine to mark their territories. Hunting and trapping coyotes to relocate them is a great livestock management practice.
Ordinarily, coyotes, have several dens and move from one den to another to avoid getting detected thus minimizing their overall risks on their lives. Besides, the movement helps minimize the accumulation of fleas and other parasites. Besides, the accumulation of their refuse and urine is motivated them to make the movements. Coyotes will use a single den for a year then shift to another den.
Hence, when tracking coyotes using their dens, make sure you the den you find has signs of recent activity to avoid waiting for them on a den that is abandoned. Dens with signs of life will have signs such as fur, and fresh coyote scat. As a result, when you find a den, scan for other dens in the region to ensure you get them right in their place of slumber.
Study Of Their Reproduction And Family
In some cases, a pair coyotes hunt, live and raise pups for many years or throughout their lifetimes. Ordinarily, breeding will occur in winter with the gestation period lasting for 63 days. Hence, if you are tracking them by the scent of their urine, you are likely to get more strong scents during this time as more males will be marking their territories and attracting females.
Besides, pups are protected by the mother with the male occasionally assisting in hunting to cater for the mother. It is during such times that mother coyotes are most vulnerable and you are likely to hunt them down as they have minimal movements. Hence, if you track a den with pups, you are not only likely to kill the female coyotes but also the pups which are potential threats.
Since pups do not follow their mother for hunting, you are likely to get the strong female scent in dens with pups, which can be picked by a dog from miles away. It is also important to note that pups emerge from dens during their 2nd or 3rd week and begin to eat. At this stage, there is more conflict between coyotes and humans as the animals are actively searching for food to meet the growing appetite of their young ones.
As such, tracking the exact location of coyotes using the urine and coyote scat is efficient, and the most appropriate as the scent leads you to their dens. Consequently, get to work on your dog’s ability to pick a scent, and you are likely to nail coyotes down to their exact location.
