females, females and females

[oso lento]

I set a large bait pile with flat sets using gland lure. After about 2 weeks i caught my first coyote. It was a female and in heat. I thought hot da-- i would start pickin up dogs right and left!!! No, i have now caught 5 females in a week but not one male. Why? :?

[RdFx]

I think you have  a rainbow coalition there fella    :-D

[Wackyquacker]

Ya ever hear the expression "dumb Bi#$%" ? :-D

Oso that sorta apperant disparity is not at all uncommon.  Often it seems that the sex ratio is askew.  I'll bet if you keep at it in the same general area you'll have about a 50:50 mix buy the time they stop coming.

...and here I thought this was gonna be some sorta Valentines day post.

[a1foxhopper]

Males may be too intimidated and wore out from chasing all those hot females around to work your sets :-D  :-D  I know if I had that many hot females around I'd get nervous and hide or leave the county!! :eek:  :-D

[RdFx]

Hey Foxhopper speak for yourself, i wouldnt leave country. Maybe this life and into the next  :twisted:  LOL.  Catching that many female yotes in one place would be  a super  attraction site for blind, flat, scent post sets all around  and of course snares.

[jim-NE]

Not sure why, but historically I've always had a much higher percentage of males caught at post sets as opposed to my dirtholes and other baited sets. When I caught doubles, the post set almost always held the male. Late in season like this, especially. Not sure if this is just something unique to my sets or geographic area, but that's what I've noticed from my notes.
Had some interesting things happen a few years back during a harsher winter, too. Had two separate females caught at dirthole sets, and both were completely beat up, chewed up, and one even had portions eaten out of it. Both locations I had set up with two or three sets also, the other sets were nearby post sets. Had a male caught at post sets nearby at both locations near these whipped on females. In both cases, these were the first two coyotes that I've ever actually seen that did not display much fear of me. You know, most times they will cower away from you, or may bark at you, etc. but these two males were actually on my end of the chain, snapping growling, etc. and made me glad to have welded, kinkless chains on those traps. Real wolfy-looking males, too. didn't hesistate to put them down or even take time to snap photos either.
I swear those males came across those females caught, and given the harsh conditions attacked and mauled those two females...and like I said the one even had sections eaten out of it. I tried to tell this to some others around here, but was given that "sure they did" doubting response.
Has anyone else seen similar behavior in their coyote populations trapped?
Neither has happened to me since, and I know it isn't the norm for them to do this, but seems like just like in human population once and awhile you get a real jerk speciman that is so dominant that it exhibits some oddities in behavior.
Jim-NE

[Wackyquacker]

About as close as I can come was an old female in a snare this year...She was dead but still warm and limp.  When I got around to inspecting her I noticed that her one ear had been chewed off.  What ever did it had fangs and based on the blood present did it while her heart was still pumping.

[RdFx]

Might have been a mate trying to help her.  Dont know for sure.  Havent had anything  in canines tore up except fox by yotes.  Not sure ... Anyone else have  those problems?

[cdnclub45]

Its been well documented that coyotes and timber wolves will readily beat up on one of its own kind when they have been injured or held in traps.  If you find a wolf or coyote partially eaten, you can be certain that one of the pack got at it.  As for why females are caught at the bait pile I would hazzard a guess that a female in heat will stay in the area and let the males find her.  As well, I suspect that, like all females, eating is first and foremost on her mind, whereas, the males have something entirely different on theirs.  You know what I mean, Guys? :-)  Males of most species do far more travelling and range wider than females do.  Moose, bear and timber wolves are prime examples.

[oso45-70]

guys, let me tell you what happened to me a few years back while i was trapping the burro mt.s southwest of silver city, i came up on a set and all hell was breaking loose, i had cought a female and there was another female tearing the one in the trap to peices, i shot the other one and did'nt have to set a trap, when i got back home i told this old timer about it and he said that was not to uncommon, i had it to happen once more but did not get to see it happen. i think it would be more likley that a female would do it more than a male. jmho, thats all folks.
stay healthy and keep your powder dry, Joe

[RdFx]

Stands to reason  when you mentioned females as my daughters two female sheltys for example:  when one of them gets hurt the other one ties into the other one biting it.  Ive seen this over five years so it isnt a one time happening.  Seems to make sense. Maybe Asa has some comments on this occurance.

[Asa Lenon]

I've never to my knowledge had a coyote in a trap attacked by another coyote.  I would attribute this to my using drag hooks so the coyote is hidden in heavy cover rather than being pinned down in a visible vulnerable position.  However, I have observed many coyotes i've held in captivity for urine collection and some as pets.  When the females come into heat they violently hate all other females and will attack them.  I've seen them attact each other, attack the family dog and one female coyote nearly killed my Mother after it broke its chain.  These female pets in heat were very loving to all males both human and animal.    As far as matrix type lures, they will attract both males and females in equal numbers at any time of year whether it is mating season or not.   I did a lot of experimentation with doe in heat and buck in rut deer lures over the years, watching from a blind.  Both sexes were just as interested in one another and none I ever seen passed the lures without a response.  I even once had a doe so intent on smelling a rag I had hanging in my blind and saturated with doe in heat scent that she come right into my blind, standing there taking deep inhaling smells of the rag so intently that she didn't even see or smell me 6" away. I have done a lot of mating season canine trapping over the years and generally catch both the female and male running together in similar sets using the same matrix lure.  Ace :grin:

[jim-NE]

interesting take in the females in heat. I'll never know for sure if I had the males caught first at the post sets or the females at the dirtholes, and maybe was just coincidental that I had one of each in those different sets, and happened to be only two times ever I had coyotes torn up at sets.
Like I said, the two males were also exhibiting odd behavior in that they were on my end of the chain the whole time as I approached them, and that too is behavior I haven't seen since. My gut reaction was purely dominant unaffraid males, but now that I think about it perhaps disease could have also played in...as well as the extremely harsh weather patterns that winter?
Thanks again for all of the information!
Jim-NE