Quote:
Originally Posted by HunterDave
The farmland coyotes around here don't seem to care much about scent.
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I found it wasn't the scent per-se any Coyote that lives where humans do is running into human scent all the time, and it's not the scent of steel either because there is pits of steel all over the country. Even a hundred miles from the nearest human activity.
Bits and pieces off seismic equipment, old homesteads that no one remembers, trash from past hunting parties and trapping operations. Even bits of space junk or possibly fasteners off airplanes that flew over that spot fifty or a hundred years ago.
But Coyotes are smart animals and they learn fast. Anything unfamiliar will put them on alert and one slip up will educate them. Even a odd combination of familiar scents can and sometimes does cause a smart Coyote to back away.
When I was learning to trap my Uncle had a trap wise Coyote digging up his traps. He figured that sprinkling a few iron cuttings around would make it impossible for that Coyote to figure out where the trap was so he did just that.
I was with him when he checked that modified set for the first time.
The tracks told quiet a story. The Coyote had came in straight as an arrow till he was only a couple of steps from the trap. Then he backed out and circled around and come in from behind. Again he backed out and tried a different approach. After third time he backs out and left.
He never robbed another set so far as I or my uncle knew.
I learned to never underestimate any Coyote. We all know how dumb pups can be, but even they can learn and once stung they get ten times harder to catch.