Why Coyotes don't eat Cows

Using captive turkey vultures, ecologist David Houston hid chicken carcasses in varying stages of decay. His research showed that turkey vultures cannot detect freshly-killed carcasses by smell. By the second or third day, as the meat begins to rot, the birds can and do find their way to the carcasses. However, by the fourth day, when the chickens were in an advanced state of decay and therefore very smelly, turkey vultures rarely showed any interest. Houston concluded that by that point there would be such a high level of microtoxins present in the putrid meat that it would be dangerous to eat even for a vulture.
Other researchers working with condors in Peru verified the turkey vulture’s ability to sniff out hidden meat. Despite the researchers’ attempts to hide carcasses meant for Andean condors, the local turkey vultures always found the meat, often walking right into the researchers’ camp to uncover the booty. The vultures always came from downwind.
 
-my dad's a vet and we have noticed all the things already mentioned here. medicated cows are rarely eaten by healthy coyotes up here in the great white north. i have seen coyotes eat dead coyotes.
i thought that vultures and other scavenger birds were drawn to the reflection of sunlight off of insect bodies and wings? bugs will always get there first. thats why in winter a carcass will be relatively untouched until the birds actually see it.
 
That's one of the things that makes this board so great, everyone gets the opportunity to "learn something new every day".
 
I would have to say that buzzards use their eyes more then scent here wouldnt you guys. They fly at an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500' ( I passed one in a small aeroplane @ 3,400' /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) Then they may pass it up once inspected.
 
No, I wouldn't. A vulture soaring at 3,000 feet is not searching for food. However, a vulture soaring at 300 feet certainly is.
 
NASA,
I realize that there have been studies which suggest that buzzard's may have found hidden meat with their nose, but there have also been studies which show that the buzzards may have been following the maggets and other creepy crawlies that feed on rotting meat. I have seen too many buzzards feeding on dead cows that were so rotten that I could not stand to approach the carcass from down-wind, so I ain't buying that study which showed that meat can get too rotten for a BUZZARD TO ENJOY. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
LOL, I'm with you Rich. Back when I was in school, I was on a research team doing a turkey vulture tagging study in the Sespe Wilderness Area in CA. We used dead goats and road killed deer we got from the Forestry Service. Some of those carcasses were really rank.

Fortunately, the turkey vulture's digestive system has the unique ability to kill any virus and bacteria in the food the bird eats. Their diet also includes as much as 50% vegetative matter, according to a recent doctoral study. The vulture's droppings and bolus are clean and do not carry disease.

In addition to their keen sense of smell, the turkey vulture, like other birds of prey, has excellent eyesight. It has been proven to be 10 times more efficient than our own. From heights of 800 feet they can spot carrion, when it's in the open. They also locate food by observing crows and ravens moving in on carrion.

Anyway, we hid in blinds and netted the birds with radio controlled bow-nets. Since I was the "new" guy, I was sent out to retrieve the birds and bring them back to the blind for recording and banding.

That was when I learned the true meaning of the term "buzzard puke".
 
Holy cripes, NASA. that would have to be one of the nastiest jobs in the field for sure. For you guys that don't know, a vulture's front line defense is to regurtitate on its attacker. And it stinks when it went in, so you can imagine what it smells like after fermenting in a buzzard's belly. Makes me recall a kid this one time when I was giving a tour. We gave the standard "don't poke at the birds, don't pick up feathers, blah, blah, blah" talk but this kid was a maverick. The vultures were in small, single bird cages and he couldn't resist. He had to make a fast move, stick a stick in there and "RRRAAALLLFFFF". All over him. And geez, it smelled bad! Not to mention that he had to ride a bus back to school like that. Maybe he learned something, huh?
 
Very true, Lance. But I'm a quick study. The second thing I learned that day was how to "sock" a buzzard, LOL. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I've heard that crows & buzzards aren't eaten because there is some kind of bacterial situation with eating dead birds. Obvioulsy there are enzymes and things in those scavanger birds that could be dangerous but I think there is an issue with the birds body temperature harboring bacteria very quickly and turning "Foul" very quickly and therefor they aren't eaten.

I hunt crows a lot and sometimes kill 30-50 a day; I throw those crows out after taking pictures of them and I haven't seen anything (other than maggots) eat a dead crow... I'm sure buzzards would be worse! I've also noticed that dogs aren't eaten as quickly as deer or cattle.... not sure why; maybe because K-9 scavangers are more leary?
 
I would guess maybe the captive birds may of had a little different behavior than the ones out in the wild. They may have became selective on what they would eat. I know our cats won't touch the cheap food, only the most expencive. I think a farm cat or stray cat would eat any brand.T.20
 
I agree. I’ve seen the same thing up here on the farm. They won’t touch the ones that have antibiotics in them.
If a calf dies during birth or it’s early years we put it out in the woods and they are immediately devoured. The coyotes also love the bones as chew toys just like house dogs.
If a heifer is sick and has been treated with antibiotics then dies....the coyotes won’t touch them. We’ve left them out at the edge of the field all winter as they are frozen and there isn’t 1 mark on them come springtime when we have them hauled away.
 
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One thing the coyotes (& farm dogs) love to eat is the placenta from a new born calf. I’ve witnessed it personally. They cannot wait to help that little calf shed its umbilical cord and start feasting on that tasty afterbirth. They also love to eat the poop from calves that are still nursing. Apparently there are a lot of valuable nutrients that were not absorbed by the calves digestive system that end up in their turds. Coyotes and farm dogs eat those up like they are tootsie rolls. It’s called coprafagia. Gross!
Rest assured, if there are cows with calves, there are probably coyotes nearby waiting for some afterbirth or coprafagia tootsie roll snacky treats.
 
In 23 years of coyote hunting, I have only once seen a cow that coyotes did not eat. It was a calf I found dumped along the road. I took it home for bait. It lasted a long time but eventually went away. I suspected at the time that it had been put down with an injection.
Otherwise, the thought that coyotes don't eat cows is absurd, at least around here. A dead cow will have coyotes on it in a day or two and will be gone a few days after that.
 
My wife’s family was in the veal business for over 4 decades. I’ve seen the opposite with coyotes eating dead calves that were injected with antibiotics. But, the calves we’re decayed. Whether it was winter or summertime they would eat the calves. Of coarse in winter it takes longer for them to decay. I’ve used them on my bait pile for years when I had the opportunity. When I say decayed, they were nasty. I actually preferred to get them when they were already getting nasty. I’ve taken a lot of coyotes coming in for their late night snack.
 
The calves that die usually are antibiotic free and the coyotes definitely feast on them. I find their remains everywhere, far from where we originally placed them. My dogs find them closer to our yard after the coyotes shred them apart & leave portions of them closer to our yard and leave us presents at our door step.
I’ve tried to put out some of the cows that died after being sick and had antibiotics and have never seen coyotes or any other scavenger touch them.
One of my wife’s horses was put down and nothing touched it either for a couple days until I was able to dig a hole with the excavator and bury it. And I know coyotes travel through that field almost every night. I hear them, or the farm dogs are back there barking at them defending their territory.

I suppose it might depend on how hungry they are as well. Coyotes around here have an abundance of food. Probably why there are so dang many of them.
 
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well, in Virginia I can't tell you how many times I've seen and shot coyotes off of mature dead cows.
I'm relatively certian the farms these came off of were well taken care of livestock and had had their shots. Also have witnessed and shot them off of calve carcasses and have also shot them and pulled doubles with them eating calf poop, super rich in clostorum(spelling?) Coyotes love it...the calves can't process all the nutirents from momma and there it is on the ground. I know we've killed a couple dozen eating poop. and probably triple that on dead adult cows..just my experience
 
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