Five days after coyotes were blamed for the death of a horse on a farm in Oxford Township, the wild canine predators are being blamed for the serious wound another horse suffered on the same property.
On Friday, Jan. 30, Lady in Black, a 7-year-old thoroughbred mare, sustained a lengthy gash on her side as she was running out of fear due to the presence of coyotes, according to owner Kallie (Roesner) Meyers. It appears the horse tore her flesh on a gate hinge.
‘It’s quite graphic,? Meyers said. ‘She really ripped herself wide open.?
Dr. Evan Moore, the local veterinarian who treated Lady, estimated the gash to be approximately 2 feet long.
‘It was a long wound,? he said. ‘It incorporated probably half of its side.?
Lady is currently recuperating at another farm.
Moore’s prognosis for the mare is ‘fair to good.? The rate at which the wound heals is really dependent on whether it stays closed or the stitches come apart, he explained.
‘I just saw the horse (Monday) and it looked good,? Moore said. ‘The most critical portion of the healing time comes at about eight to 12 days after I sew it up. If it looks good then and is holding, then it will probably stay closed.?
Lady is the primary horse that Meyers rides when she’s on duty as a reserve deputy with the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Mounted Division. She’s owned the 70-inch tall mare, who’s also used for breeding purposes, for approximately four years.
‘She’s just so laid back,? Meyers said. ‘She’s a lady. She’s very elegant and very easygoing.?
This is the second horse to be victimized by coyotes, according to Meyers, on the 22-acre property located at the northeast corner of Delano and Oakwood roads.
She previously reported that a pack of coyotes attacked K.O. Carmen, a 27-year-old registered Argentine thoroughbred, on Sunday, Jan. 25. Meyers, who did not witness the attack, speculated that K.O. slipped on some ice in the paddock while trying to fend off the coyotes that were harassing her.
When the mare went down, Meyers said the coyotes attacked her and she sustained wounds so severe, the mare had to be euthanized by a veterinarian.
In both instances, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has sent staff to Meyers? property to investigate.
With regard to the Jan.30 incident involving Lady, Tim Payne, the DNR’s Southeast Regional Wildlife Supervisor, said due to a lack of evidence, ‘we couldn’t prove or disapprove what (caused the horse to run and injure itself).?
Payne said a ‘single set? of coyote tracks was found and examined, but they were ‘quite a ways away,? about 100 yards, from where DNR staff were told the horses were.
Meyers? husband, Dr. Bruce Meyers, noted that by the time DNR staff arrived to investigate, many tracks had been covered by blowing snow. ‘I couldn’t even find my prints from walking out there,? he said.
As for K.O.’s Jan. 25 death, Payne said, based on the evidence, the DNR cannot make a determination as to whether the horse slipped and fell because of old age, icy ground, another animal ‘nipping? at its feet or some combination of these factors.
‘I don’t know if we’ll ever know that,? he said. ?(Meyers) feels that (coyotes are what) caused (the horse to fall). There’s no evidence to say yes or no.?
Based on the photographs he viewed, the bite wounds inflicted on K.O. ‘could be consistent? with those from coyotes or dogs, according to Payne.
‘Either one could do it,? he said. ‘So, there’s nothing conclusive to say one species or the other was the one that did it, but it does appear that there was some (biting) behavior once the horse was down.?
Payne said it’s ‘within the realm of possibility? that coyotes could have been biting at K.O. because they’re ‘opportunistic? and will take advantage of ‘any animal that’s down, that looks like (it) might be food.?
Metamora resident Janine Klayman, a friend of Meyers who lives on Barber Rd. near Rock Valley Rd., was there when K.O. was laying on the ground following the attack and she said she heard coyotes yipping in the tree line bordering Meyers? property.
‘It was definitely coyotes,? she said. ‘We get coyotes out here a lot . . . I’ve been particularly protective (of my animals) this year because we’ve heard so many coyotes out here. . . . There have been more coyotes out here this year ? I’ve been here since 2005 ? than I’ve ever experienced. We’ve been sort of on full-alert over here.?
Although Klayman said she’s ‘never known of a coyote to go after an animal as large a horse,? she has no doubt coyotes attacked K.O. based on what she heard and the damage she saw that day.
‘They were eating her from the back to the front while she was alive,? Klayman said.
When asked his opinion about what happened to K.O. on Jan. 25, Moore said ‘it was probably a perfect storm? where the mare was feeding near the barn and ‘probably got spooked by the presence of the coyotes.?
‘That would be my guess,? he said.
Meyers said she once had 23 chickens and 18 ducks living in that barn, but over time, they were all killed by coyotes.
Moore speculated because of this, the coyotes ‘got bold enough to hang out at the barn and continue looking for food even though there may not have been any.?
Scared by the coyotes, Moore said K.O. could have tried to run to a ‘safer spot,? then slipped and fell on the slippery ground. Once down, he speculated the mare couldn’t get up right away due to her advanced age.
‘Its body condition was pretty skinny because it’s an old horse,? Moore said.
At that point, he believes it’s possible the coyotes ‘took advantage of the situation.?
‘They probably never would have touched the horse if it had been a younger horse, (who) was a little (more) fleet of foot (and had) a little better grip on the ground,? Moore said.
Given he’s been practicing in the Oxford area for 26 years, this reporter asked Moore if he had ever encountered an incident in which coyotes harassed or attacked a horse.
‘Not that I can recall,? he replied.
In the days following K.O.’s death, Meyers said her other seven horses had been ‘really agitated.?
‘Their senior mare is gone, so now the herd is a little bit lost,? she said.
On the day Lady suffered her injury, the horses were running back and forth in the pasture in the morning. ‘It’s not like them at all to do that,? Meyers said.
Her husband and father went outside to investigate. Bruce encountered a coyote southeast of the house and shot at it with his handgun, but it was too far away and he missed.
A while later, as Meyers was preparing to take a shower, she heard her dogs ‘go crazy? inside the house. She looked outside and saw her horses running at top speed.
‘They went this way like the Devil was chasing them,? Meyers said. ‘Horses run blind when they’re afraid. They’ll run into walls, they’ll run through trees. They’ll run right through a fence.?
When she went outside, Meyers encountered one of her neighbors who had come to inform her that two of her horses, Lady and another one, were lying down. Meyers then discovered Lady’s severe injury.
Meyers said it appears when the horses went flying through a gate all at once, Lady ‘tore her side right open? on a hinge.
‘It took (the veterinarian) two hours just to clean (the wound),? she said.
Moore offered a piece of advice to horse owners with multiple pastures and narrow gates between them. To help avoid this type of injury, he said, ‘Close the gate between (pastures) and let them live in just one.?
Meyers said they’ve had to keep a constant watch on Lady to make sure she doesn’t lay down, which could result in her stitches tearing. ‘I’m just exhausted,? she said. ‘We’ve been with her 24-7. It’s so cold, you can only spend like three or four hours out there, then you’ve got to come in and someone has to relieve you. My husband’s been doing it. My neighbors have been doing it.?
Meyers said her other horses, while not injured, appeared to be ‘exhausted? on the day of Lady’s injury because they kept lying down.
‘Our best guess is (the coyotes) had been running these horses at night and we didn’t know it,? she said. ‘There were (horse) tracks all over the yard. They were everywhere.?
Meyers said the coyotes are living in the swamp to the east of her property and moving through the tree lines around her farm.
Following the Jan. 30 incident, all of the horses on Meyers? property were moved elsewhere for safekeeping.
That night the coyotes returned and were in the front yard, according to Meyers. The veterinarian had dumped some bloody water near the barn, which attracted them.
Meyers? son, Tyler Yuzwalk, heard the dogs ‘barking? and the coyotes ‘yipping,? so he grabbed a rifle and ran outside.
‘I couldn’t really seem them,? he said. ‘I didn’t have a good flashlight.?
Soon after, his mother arrived and pointed a light in the direction the coyotes were running, but at that point, they were too far away to shoot at. Meyers, her son and a friend of his, who was visiting, could see a coyote looking back at them.
The DNR’s Payne noted animals that are ‘aggressive enough? to pose a threat to livestock, pets or humans should be taken seriously by local law enforcement, animal control and landowners. If, for example, a coyote is doing damage or about to do damage on a private property, the law allows a person to kill it. They don’t have to have a hunting license or call the DNR to do it.
Whatever is causing the problems at Meyers? farm, be it coyotes, dogs or something else, Payne said she is well within her rights to dispatch it and the same goes for any other landowner experiencing such issues.
‘If I had something like that and I was on a farm and I had livestock , I’d shoot it,? he said.
Payne stressed people typically don’t have anything to fear from coyotes when it comes to their personal safety. ‘People shouldn’t have a thing to worry about,? he said. ‘They’re not known to, out in the wild, attack people just to attack people. That type of behavior is not consistent with coyotes.?
Payne noted coyotes can be a threat to small pets, so precautions should be taken to protect them if there’s an issue in the area.
In the end, he said the DNR is ‘just trying to set the record straight for the coyote.?
?(They’re) just a part of our environment and we don’t want people to be unduly concerned about their presence,? Payne said. ‘We don’t want people to be paranoid over something that they don’t need to be paranoid over.?