Coyotes In Maine
Its rare to see a Coyote in Maine and be able to get a picture of it. Coyotes are known to kill deer and other animals like it.
Maine is known for its wide variety of animals including deer, moose, fox, and coyotes. We have attempted to post all kinds of pictures of them on the site.
These pictures were taken at a sludge dump, I tried to post the best looking ones. Of course, attempting to avoid all of the garbage because that isn’t very attractive.
Like I said previously, its very difficult to get pictures of coyotes besides on train tracks and dumps. They are extremely fast animals.
Coyotes are a cousin of the great grey wolf. They are not known to attack humans and when they do, usually not causing serious damage because of them being rather small animals (think a large dog).
Click image to enlarge and save the high Resolution Free photo.
April 11th, 2009 at 3:52 am
Hi…
This probably isn’t the place to ask. I live in senior housing in Eliot, me. & i have spotted a small coyote(didn’t know until i looked online) i am very worried about it killing my chihuahua. last night around 7:30 p.m. i glance out my window & saw it. it came right up by my back door sniffing. Probably hoping to grab my adorable dog.
Is there an open season on them? If so, who would I get to come & either trap it or shoot it? I just want the damned thing gone. I also spotted it twice this winter. But, this is the closest I have seen it come. I live just yards from the woods that the thing comes & goes from. I hope you can help. All of us women in here are very nervous about it.
thanks
dale
May 17th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I just saw a coyote in my yard in Sanford. Freaking me out! I have 2 Tibetan’s. Someone please tell me they are safe. Thankfully I have a 4 foot fence. Do they jump?
Wow I am from NY city. can not deal with this. What can we do???
May 18th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
No. They are not one of the safest animals. I would address the issue accordingly if it persists.
September 4th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Linda coyotes can easily get over an 8 foot fence and have been known to get over fences as high as 14 feet. I would not panic but a coyote in your yard is something you need to think about taking care of.
September 25th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Hi,
We live in Bowdoinham, ME and often hear the coyotes cry in their pack at night. Our cat disappeared a while back and we believe that the coyotes ate him. We have a Belgian Malnois that is hooked on a run during the day. Will they bother her? Sometimes, especially when the wind is blowing, she barks and growls as she does at night when we hear those coyotes cry. Will they attack me or my daughter? We live quite a distance from the road and the woods start closely to the back side of our home.
Any info would be helpful.
Thanks,
Heather
September 30th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
We enjoy and justify the persecution and killing off of top niche predators such as coyotes. Before they arrived to New England we systematically slaughtered wolves, rendering them regionally extinct. How many birds and small mammals have our house cats killed (and cats are introduced from the Middle East. Cats are destructive introduced animals.)
The things we love about our dogs, their loyalty to family, their intelligence (in most cases) are just some of the traits that coyotes embody. Coyotes are wonderful parents; coyotes cull sick and weak prey species. If you really love your chihuaha, be outside when the dog is outside. A healthy coyote would never approach a human. Just listen to their music at night. Celebrate them! An amazing and wonderful predator exists among us–that is unless we slaughter them as we did the gray wolf.
October 16th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
I live in Naples, Maine and have just been advised that there are a pack of coyotes in our area.
Which I am not surprised to hear, as I thought I saw one a few years ago and heard them howl at night.
I have not seen any recently and have not heard the howling, although my dogs do bark occasionally at night and I can’t see anything outside.
I have a 6 foot high by approx. 24ft wide run for my dogs, they are very small (maltese poodle). It worries me that a coyote will jump the fence and go after them.
Do coyotes come out during the day? I try to go out with them at night with a flash light, but I am up on the deck and they are down in the run. Would a coyote jump the fence while I am out there?
My daughter has an american bull dog who’s about 8 months old and weighs approx. 50 lbs, would a coyote attack this large of a dog?
Does the laws of the state allow us to shoot coyotes if they are on our property? Also are coyottes ever hunted legally in Maine?
October 17th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I’m really not an expert on coyotes. Yes. They very rarely come out during the day. The coyote probably would attack the dog.
I really don’t know the laws pertaining to hunting coyotes. I know that people do hunt coyotes in Maine. I’d assume the best way to handle the situation would be to have a game Warden do it or raise the issue at a town council meeting if you feel its that much of a threat.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:43 am
We have coyotes on our land and we’ve never had a problem. They come right into our front yard.
If you people are so worried about your dogs don’t leave them outside unattended!
As far as cats go they belong inside!
They’re just dogs for God’s sake, get a grip and take some responsibility for your animals. There’s no reason to go gun down these gorgeous animals. They are just trying to survive like all of us. Humans do far more damage than they do.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I think Coyotes may be becoming more populated in maine. I am in Palermo, Me. an we have seen 2 coyotes in the front yard just this weekend.
the first stopped and stared for a moment then walked off into the woods, the second seemed slightly timmid an paused for a secound then walked accross the back lawn into the woods. both times the coyotes have been no more then 25-50 feet from the front door.
December 14th, 2009 at 9:19 am
In maine there is no closed season on coyotes. If you have dogs that are smaller in size I would keep a close eye on them and stay with them when out side. Female coyotes have been know to lure male dogs into the woods when in heat so that the pack can ambush the unexpecting male and consume it as food. These coyotes can be very smart and clever. Should they be feared. No. But just like anything else in the wild that has teeth you should respect them and they will respect you. As far as dispatching coyotes in your area or on your private land there are many different ways. The first way is to find a local respected hunter in the area. I myself is a well seasoned hunter and have been through saftey courses. You will find that it is very easy to get a hunter to come to your area to harvest coyotes. Second if you go online there is other ways to repel coyotes. One of the reasons why there are so many coyotes in maine is because there main predator the Wolf is pretty nonexistant here. With saying that go to your local hunting store and pick up some Wolf urine and use it in your yard. I have been doing my homework on these animals now for a while. If anyone has any direct questions please ask. I might not have the exact answer right away, i will be able to find it.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Hi,
I just saw a coyote about an hour ago down by my cove, in Ellsworth. I’ve seen evidence of them (tracks and scat) throughout the wooded area. I walk my two labs daily through these woods (about 45 acres). It follows the Union River. I pulled up other photos of Coyotes, but this one is all gray and white—-it actually looks more like a wolf….are there wolves in this area??? The sighting was at 11:00 am this mornng…i was standing on my lawn overlooking the cove(on a hill)…he was standing right at the mouth of a brook running into the cove, and he just stood there looking at me for about 10 seconds. Then he slowly walked up the hill towards the interior part of the woods—when he got to the top of the hill, he stopped, turned around to look , then slowly walked away.My dogs did not see him, so I proceeded to walk down the embankment and we followed the shoreline up and away from the sighting. I’ve heard them howling earlier this year, but not this winter.
Is this normal behavior? We also have lots of deer around(lots of tracks and scat)…I’m really not that afraid of them as long as we respect each other’s distance…they have to survive too. But I do worry about my dogs a little. I let them out at night unsupervised with light-up collar so I can see them. They only go down the driveway (400 ft long driveway), but return quickly.
My biggest concern is if it’s really a coyote or a wolf….how can I find out? I’ll try to take a photo, but you never know when they’ll be around….
January 20th, 2010 at 10:12 am
In 09 a woman in Nova Scotia was killed by coyotes. Saying that they only cull the sick and weak and then saying watch out for your pets doesn’t add up. Wherever there is crusty snow and deer sink deep and coyotes run on top is a problem that has nothing to do with sick or weak BTW. Coyotes in Maine are often found to have wolf DNA. Coyotes, like most animals that flourish around humans cannot be eradicated but can certainly be eliminated locally.
January 27th, 2010 at 11:44 am
David. I think the diverse amount of opinions here will help everyone be more informed. With any animal we should always be cautious, I think that is of the utmost importance, and everyone can agree.
In my original posting, I didn’t mean to sound glib, we should do our best to remain alert about any wild animal at all times.
Thanks everyone for commenting thus far. It has been a well informed and lively discussion, that I hope continues because Coyotes seem to be a concern to many.
January 28th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Up heah, the coydogs are as thick as the ferns.
“Rare to see”? Hardly. After the “bad” Wintah of a couple of yeahs ago, they’re breeding like rats. I guard my dogs EVERY NIGHT when they go out wit a 12 ga.
I have no desire to shoot an apex predator, but if they’re after me or mine, we’ll DEFINITELY “do the dance”.
January 28th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Maine Eastern Coyote almost ALWAYS test out to between 75 and 90% WOLF DNA.
UNH did a study some years ago. It’s all there in black and white.
I don’t want to get in a shouting match with any PeTA types, but I DO hunt. I will DEFEND my self, family, dogs, and PREY. Two legged or four…I am the top of the pile, and have EVERY intention of STAYING there.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
I have lived in Maine for less than a year. I have a dog about 70 lbs and two horses- pretty large ones. I have only heard the coyotes once, back in November… they were definitely very close, about 3am in the edge of the woods behind our house. We were unnerved, but were able to scare them all off with just a BB gun. I have never seen them during the day and would guess if they were around frequently at night we would have heard them more than once. I think it’s wise to remain cautious when going outside at night and staying with your pets. We don’t let our cats outside.. between the coyotes and the hawks we’d surely lose one, and we keep a close eye on our dog. I just think we should all respect the coyotes and defend only when necessary. They are creatures of the earth like us… we are all trying to survive. I do have one question: anyone ever heard of coyotes attacking a horse (a healthy one)? Great discussion…
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:42 pm
this is for the do gooders like angelica,
Obviously you really dont know much about wild animals.
Maine is starting to have a real problem with coyotes and pets, Has nothing to do with survival, its easier to prey on yard pets than actually hunt like there suppose to !! As for keeping my dog in the house, not gona happen. my dog, my yard, and theres no closed season on coyotes for a reason. there starting to over populate and thats why there hunted and eat pets. Do gooders see what they want to see till something really bad happens to them personally. They are pretty but they need to be thinned out. And i will be part of the cure not the problem !!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:48 pm
wow you guys no nothing, they are more afraid of you then you are of them. And as for your dogs on the lawn during the day, you really shouldn’t worry about and as people have already said they don’t see them during the day. They are more nocturnal then anything and its not very likly to for a them to attack for no reason. WOW!!!
February 7th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
coyotes are only trying to survive like you and I ! They will defend their young, hunt where most accessible and do what they need to do to defend themselves. They are not out to “hunt us humans and our pets down”! — !! Humans have caused most of the problematics concerning wildlife by – over-hunting (trapping and hunting contests/snaring,etc). Such cruel and ridiculous methods to say we are “SPORTSMEN” -what a bunch of cowards!!!!! (get another hobby). You have no idea how you are ADDING to the problems that you proclaim. LET THE COYOTES ALONE!!
February 8th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Your going about it all wrong! The population of the coyotes are growing constantly! So in turn the deer population is going down rapidly every year. So we have to hunt the coyotes. So they less the coyotes the more deer there will be next year for the deer hunters. The hunters are not adding to the problem. Haha so get a life and stop putting your opions on ppl that no one even care about. Hunting them is the right thing to do so the population of the deer will go back up.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:00 am
RevLouM, they are rare to compared to other animals from my experience, maybe not yours. I don’t think we need to argue over this point.
February 10th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
It’s easy to talk about what coyotes “usually” do-what happened to the gal in Nova Scotia last year?
1) Coyotes are opportunistic and will take food comes along whether it be a pet or a mature buck deer. It’s a myth that they cull the deer herd of the sick and weak. (ever see a sick or weak deer? I never have.)
2) Coyotes are certainly not rare and in the So Aroostook area, they make up most of the tracks you’ll find in the woods or fields. It’s breeding season now and they are roaming!
3) While they do not form packs, they live in family units of 2 adults and litter. I’ve often seen them with 2 pups.
4) They are certainly not nocturnal and hunt both day and night. I usually hear them howling at night, but last November heard several communicating at high noon along the Penobscot River.
5) Contact your animal control officer if they become too friendly in town!
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