Coyotes and dachshunds' encounters do not always end well

Anybody who tracks wounded deer with dogs in the Northeast sooner or later will face the situation when the blood trail leads to a dead deer that had already been eaten by coyotes. We have written about coyotes quite a few times on this blog. Recently I came across our trailcam video of a coyote, which was taken just outside our enclosure where we run our dachshunds on rabbits. The video was taken on October 2010, and it shows a well-fed coyote, which seems to be in excellent shape.

The eastern coyote is considerably larger than its southwestern relative. The latest issue of NYSCC Grass Roots News has a short report on the Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs of Sullivan County 6th annual coyote hunt, which was held February 8-10, 2013. During the three day event hunters took 48 coyotes. The largest animal weighted 55.5 lbs, and that male coyote came from Schoharie County (we live near the the border of Albany and Schoharie Counties). The 48 coyotes taken included 28 males and 20 females. Average weight was 37.3 lbs, 45 coyotes were taken during daylight hours and 3 at night. 

Obviously a dachshund is not a match for a coyote, and there have been cases reported of dachshunds killed by coyotes, even when dogs were "safe" in fenced backyards, like in this case reported in Colorado. So when I started to read a story sent to me by Brian Hibbs from Iowa, I was not sure of its ending. This fine piece of writing was authored by Edd Woslum, who resides in Idaho and owns Chui, a dachshund out of Brian's breeding:

BLOOD TRACKERS

by Edd Woslum

After about a mile of casual fox trotting down the dirt road, Tillie, without any warning shot by me with a bark, a squeal and a mad rush down the mountain.  Kahlua saw her rapid departure and decided there must be some really cool stuff down there.  She then without delay was in full flight right behind her house mate.  Chui ‘s legs are only 7 inches long, even if stretched to full length, and I didn’t even see the feisty little fur ball until she came blasting by me doing warp nine on the star trek scale.  In less than two micro flashes, with miniature legs churning at full speed, she was 100 yards down the steep cliff and accelerating with every yip.

By this time I was jolted out of my quite reverie and was whistling as loud as I could and screaming to the point of damaging my respiratory system.  At about 200 yards off the road Tillie and Jesse, being of more reasonable disposition, decided this was a totally stupid endeavor and came trotting back to the road to see what the screaming was all about.

Immediately thereafter I nearly managed to kill my fool self while chasing my run amok puppy down the steep slope. After this I slowed down a bit but continued to stumble on for another half mile or so before I heard the  yip-yips from Chui getting louder and simultaneously heard the snarling of the coyotes. Several more yips from the little dog were rapidly followed by much more serious snarls from the coyotes.   Good lord, this idiot dog actually thinks she can take on that whole pack of four legged piranhas unassisted.  By this time I was wringing wet and was nearly spent but the adrenalin flow from full blown panic kept me going.  I could not see hide nor hair of either specie of k9 but could plainly hear Chui and the marauders verbalizing their displeasure at each other.  Of course I was still screaming with all the air I had left, but this was to no avail. 

Ten more steps and I heard it.  Over the top of Chui’s mini bark, and completely smothering the snarls of the coyotes, came a rumbling growl like I have only heard a few times before.  Kahlua is usually quite mild mannered but is very protective of home and family.  When she is serious about it, this gal could inject mortal fear into King Kong.

To read the rest of the story go to Brian's post by clicking here. 

The pictures shows Chui with the buck she recovered for the two hunters.