Okay, here's the dealio. I live in the city limits. Our place buts up to some trees. For decades our kitties have had free range in the woods doing what God and Mother Nature designed them to do. Hunt. Now we have at least one coyote that has killed two of our cats and please don't say something like, lucky you. We love these guys. I realize the coyote is doing what God and Mother Nature designed it to do. Hunt. Only problem is, it's hunting our kitties. I can't set up a leg hold trap, might catch a cat. It'll have to be a Have-a-Heart TYPE trap and then put it down after it's caught. I hear they're hard to catch in such trap. Has anybody here ever caught one this way?
I'm about ready to put a ghillie suit on, stick a knife in my teeth, climb a tree and play Rambo on this sucker. Oh, I'm considering a crossbow.
First off, do NOT let your poor cats outside at
all!. Especially when you know of the predators. We have the same ongoing issue in my area here with a pack of coyotes roaming. Started showing up only late at night but they've gotten more brazen and began showing up earlier like 6P/7P. I never let my cats out because of the predator activity. They walk right up onto the driveway, I can hear them howling right near my bedroom window & then the huge pack of them answers in the near-distance.
That being said, for your situation I don't think the live traps are very effective for coyotes, they outsmart it. We've had them all over this town and it never pans out. Usually just ends up getting someone's legitimate pet caught in it or other innocent passers-by and then they're perfect dinner served up for the coyotes.
Best bet - I would try animal control if your area has it, but only contact them when you actually see/hear the coyote on/near your property at the time of your call. Otherwise, they'll probably just come in and dump a bunch of traps and go...that's how the useless AC was in my area that's all they did. Local PD was actually of more help.
If you have a rural enough property, of course I would recommend luring it & shooting it as suggestion #1. We had to obliterate three of them on my property with 12 gauge shotguns about three weeks ago because they kept coming back, even during the early evening - 5:07P the earliest one - and attacking the neighborhood pets & humans. More brazen, more dangerous.
I called the PD, told them what was going on, and I told them that I would be discharging several shotgun blasts. They already knew of the coyote problem because of ongoing reports, and the dead deer/pets found everywhere over the course of three or four months from residents all over town. It was not an issue - they came over to assist me & get a report filed. They even helped with the clean-up. I have neighbors (unfortunately)fairly close by but since I called the Police prior to shooting, they minded their business.