Coyotehunter.net

Last week on the ranch that I do work for and am allowed to hunt coyotes, gophers, etc. I was approached by both him and his wife to look around for any sign that would help solve a mystery. The misery is that one of their to dogs and their neighbor's two dogs all suddenly died and their other dog almost died but pulled through after a hefty vet bill. The vet thought that it had been poisoned. I have a very limited knowledge about trapping (talking with the local government trapper and reading). Also the coyotes seemed to have disappeared along with any signs of the sow grizzly and her two cubs. I have looked trying to find any dead carcasses (nothing) or any crows, hawks, magpies, etc. Nothing seems out of place. Cattle and horses are still grazing. The population of gophers seem to be down, but I and the rancher have been hitting them hard so far this spring. Any suggestions?

Were the dogs found or did they just dissapear?

They made it to my rancher's house and died in his yard. Same with the rancher's dogs. The one died the next day. It sounds like strychnine to me, but that has been banned for years.

What are the clinical simptoms of the dog that lived? Is the rancher useing any gopher poison? Are there any disgruntal neighbors that might not like dogs running amuck. My wife is a vet so I have her interest peaked.

Can you find out why the vet "thought it was poisoned"?Did he run any tests?

my wife was a vet techinicain for little over six yrs. she says alot of the times that dogs can get into things as for anti-freeze if left out in a garage or such. but also it is used by cowards that don't particuly like to deal with dog owners. not all dog owners are bad or unreasonable. anti-freeze is sweet to the taste & they won't die right-away it is as my wife says a slow & painful death. if you can get to it in time using charcoal from the vet as most of you all would know would cause the dog to throw up therefore saving its life or at least giving it a better chance. but getting to it FAST is very important. even if just a little is spilt on the ground & they come by & lick it it can cause problems. any & i mean any amount is dangerous to our beloved animals. i would check to see if anyone has changed their anti-freeze before accusing anyone because it might have been a slight mistake. for the yotes it could be the same thing they come into the farmstead area at night like i said it is a sweet taste to it.

The only symptoms that I was told about was the vomiting, which was all four dogs. No hard feeling between the ranchers, and the only way they kill gophers is by the use of lead poisoning. I, and half the county has free access to go gopher hunting. Now that antifreeze has been suggested, I will contact both ranchers and see if either has either changed theirs or possibly spilled some. Now that I'm through beating my head against the wall; that's one suggestion that I had completely forgot about. With as much machinery they have, that could be the problem. Thanks for the advise. I will report back after I get a chance to talk to my rancher. Thanks again.

Okay! I talked to both ranchers. Both admitted that there was spilled anti-freeze around their place, but both claim that all of it had dried up and soaked into the ground. Kind of "I don't want to admit to it, but I won't blame my neighbors, either." Thanks for all of the good advice. One last bit of information, neither rancher was will to have the vet do any tests because of costs. Case closed.

Real good example of a tool getting bad publicity! Strychnine has been banned and abolished for years but still people are thinking that might be the cause of dogs dying! Let everyone take a lesson from this NOT to jump to conclusions until some facts are brought forward or we won't have anything for tools against predators prettys soon!

What if a trapper was running M-44's on their ground? They would have assumed that the tool was what killed them even though a good average on M-44 kills are within 50yds or closer. Until someone told them about the other possibilities they would have abolished a trapper of using M-44's on their ground.

If they aren't willing to spend the money for the tests I hope they aren't willing to blame it on something without more facts?

Moral of the story DON"T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS BUT ESPECIALLY WITH COYOTES!!!!!!!!!