Why are Coyote's attracted to Woodpecker sounds.

I think in my area, they like the sound so much because it is a new sound. They recognize it as a distress sound but not one they have ever heard before. I know a guy that uses a piglet distress sound in an area that the coyotes wouldnt know a pig if they fell over one yet he slays the Coyotes with that sound. Just my theory anyway.
 
Coyotes like anything that sounds like it is about to give up the ghost. That basic quick cries of desperation, pain, and terror are the same. Think of it in the terms that all distress sound are alike in their basic "Wha Wha"... the only thing that differs will be the pitch and tone. I'm not sure that a coyote thinks, "...hay I hear a woodpecker!" I think they just know something is dying. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
in my area, georgia the hawks will pick a yellow hammer (rather large woodpecker) right off the side of a tree. they seem to have a slower reaction time than a squirel(sp). then they go to the forest floor and pick every last feather off that screaming bird before dispatching it. i quess most of the time the strike kills the yh or it dies soon after, but i witnessed one plucked alive screaming for what seemed like an hour but was probably less than five minutes.
 
i don't think a woodpecker distress works any better than a rabbit distress or any other distress, unless the area and coyotes have heard them before. most ppl use rabbits, so a woodpecker or something other than a rabbit may work like magic.
for coyotes anyway i believe this is true. now bobcats and fox on the other hand seem (in my experience) prefer higher pitched sounds like the bird-type sounds. this makes sense to me b/c especially in a fox's case, a bird would be easier to catch and kill than a big 'ole jack rabbit.
 
I agree with all hat has been said. So far I have used the hog distress, woodpecker distress and kitten distress with luck. Trust me the vast majority of yotes around here do not even know what a woodpecker, turkey or kitten is, let alone heard enoought cry to know what it is. I think distress sounds in general create panic and excitment.
 
I've lived in Texas since 1977 and have only seen 3 wood peckers. So I had no idea why a coyote would want one for lunch. Not much too them. I'd rather eat a nice fat rabbit or cat if I was a coyote. I guess it's just the noise that excites them or makes them think there is a meal around..
 
All of the above are correct in my estimate. I can say that over the years, I have had the woodpecker perform quite well on predators of almost all kinds. It amazes me still how people are still discovering it's effectiveness 42 years after Dad recorded his first.

We do not know that a coyote even has a clue what it is. I want to believe as others have stated that a coyote comes to what sounds edible or if it sounds like an easy meal.

I had a guy in Maine tell me one time that his best tape the previous season was one of our jackrabbits. Go figure...

The comment about high pitched is right on in my book, especially for the cats and coons. Fox love it as do coyotes.

I highly recommend our CT116A Squealing Bird. That is a Ladderback Woodpecker that has called hundreds of furbearers for me.
 
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Gerald,

Heading up to Waco next month to see if I can get my daughter interested in going to Baylor. I'd love to live and hunt around Waco. Down here in Austin you can't hunt anywhere now because they are building houses everywhere.

Sigh, one day when I retire.. it's Green Acers for me..
 
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