Digging

What makes a coyote dig? For years I used a lure with snake as it's base and the coyote would dig till the next summer at the dirtholes where I used it. Was it the snake meat or something else?

Something they just had to wear because once the digging had the lure out or the contaminated dirt, they rolled on it.

Many times, with baited or lured sets dug deep or placed in narrow stake hole types of holes where the material has perked into the soil; The bait may have leached enough into the media where trace odors can remain for some time.

Then any predator or other animal that comes along and finds the set, they may dig, scratch, roll or mark it with their own urine or feces or all of the above. Thus, keeping the set primed enough to have interest for the next visitor. Eventually, as the odor wanes or the visitations stop, so does the refreshing odor of the set. Then it will go dead and grow in with native vegetation.

Some sets that are on good travel ways or are positioned in proximity to natural hunting grounds may get frequent visits until the next season.

I thought snakes have a gland that k9s love to roll on

A good lure will make a coyote either want to wear it , eat it, fight it, or try to mate with it . A better lure would be able to trigger any of those reactions depending on the mood the coyote. Until we can get a coyote to respond to the question, it will mostly be guess work unless you get videos of it doing those reactions.

My experience is it's usually got to trigger a strong rolling response to get them to really dig hard. Sometimes a really good food lure/ bait will get some digging if they are in the mood. Quantities down the hole will also influence the amount of digging most times.

Good post and I guess SnipperBBB said it best. BUT, I have witnessed several domestic dogs roll on other dogs FRESH deposited urine as well as some of my experimental lures. I will never understand the rolling action. I know Summer time is not the best time to check the effectiveness of baits and lures but I do it it anyway to get outside and scout around. Beaver tails chunked up fresh and deposited in dirt holes of all depths usually get dug quickly in my area. Here is the weird thing...if I hang the tail from a fence post it will rot down until it falls off or until the insects clean it up??? I guess curiosity and the inability to get to the bait frustrates the animal causing intense digging??

The intense digging is what I was thinking of. I have seen it with beaver tail oil. But I have seen it with grease melted and poured down a hole too. I have never seen it with fresh meat baits but have seen it with some commercial baits. But as mentioned - what if the coyote is not in the mood for it?

Short answer...... if it gets an intense digging or rolling response they will be in the "mood" for it more often than anything else.

But I put ZERO stock in the "mood" theory when it comes to to coyotes. The large majority of the time it's just an excuse for why they walked past an inferior lure/bait or poor set in my humble opinion based off observing thousands of coyotes responses to bait/lure and there are some lesser reasons for walk bys sometimes. Is there lures and bait that will never get a walk by? Absolutely not but there are a lot of mediocre ones that get too many.

After I read my previous post I realized I used the word mood in it and will clarify that "hungry enough" would have been a clearer description in that particular post. Hunger is a good starting point but doesn't get as intense or consistent response normally as a rolling response. Thus the reason it's more difficult to create a great true bite and pull dope for getters.

What I've seen with a lot of guys who use only a natural bait at a set is they use a much larger volume of it which does increase the intrest in it. And then are most likely comparing the results against a mediocre bait at best in small amounts.

But there can be multiple reasons for things when coyotes are involved so nothing is set in stone.

Mchewk

I test mostly year around ,with the exception of when it's miserably hot, and I find what is the most attractive in the summer to be the most attractive the rest of the year when doing side by side testing.

Will some lures work better during certain times of the year when comparing them against themselves? Yes but when comparing them against other formulations I've found what's the most attractive wil be the same no matter what time of year it is. If that makes sense.

Now if your doing say control work and trapping year around on the same properties it can be productive to change up your attractants as they can get wise to them.

I've found gland lures to be most effective in late winter and early spring. Enough more so effective that my opinion from just trapping and not doing any side by side testing, I think a particular gland lure may be inferior to a particular food or curiousity lure in the summer and early fall, but be superior to it during late winter.

That being said, I'm using strictly gland lures right now, because they still hold attraction year round, and they hold considerably less attraction to bears than other lures.

Good responses...thanks...always something to learn about these jokers.

It could be just plain boredom like a dog digging in the back yard. Pups are probably the worst about it.

What else do they have to do aside from killing fawns, livestock, and making more coyotes?

It’s not like they have the internet or cable TV to keep them busy.

Pups do dig more.

Yes sir, so your theory is not that they are in a mood but they are just being a coyote when they dig? To you does this mean certain things or smells will trigger that response in a coyote?

I was curious what could be in this '' snake lure'' I had that would make them dig it much more than the other lures I have tried. I've seen coyotes dig many things. This lure would have the hole dug out 6'' around and a foot deep by spring. I suspected something was in it that triggered that reaction. Or maybe they like rotted down snakes that much? It was very mild smelling to me and my burned out old nose.

I walked up on 4 pups in a field digging. Nothing but a millet field we burned then turned to get the millet back under the dirt. You can even see dirt flying in the thermal video I posted of it. Nothing in that field, just loose dirt. Guess they were just having fun, lol.

LB
I think for the most part coyotes dig because they want what's down the hole bad enough they are willing to work to get it. Some ingredients excel at provoking a stronger more consistent intrest, attraction and response. My experience is the stuff coyotes dig the most frequently for and the hardest for will usually get a rolling reaction once they get it out. I've even seen them roll on the hole if they can't get to the goodies.

The duration and extent of what your describing with that one lure is pretty exceptional if it's a regular reaction. I'm speculating that that lure has a combination of very high attraction and very high level of duration. Could be mainly from one ingredient or the combination and effect of several ingredients. I'm guessing there's a very powerful fixative used in that formulation that can keep them digging over that long of period.

As I stated previously I've heard discussions about snakes having a gland that has very high attraction to k9s but having never worked with snakes in formulations I can't verify the attraction or the longevity of snake as an ingredient. And not knowing about the biology or anatomy of snakes I can't confirm the presence of a gland that would be specifically attractive to predators.

In playing around in the lure making game I have come across some ingredients that have some exceptional longevity, talking like lasting for months and years when released in small amounts in a good sized room. I have played around with some high quality fixatives in formulations and seen positive results but nothing quite to the scale your describing.

As a trapper and lure maker's I'd be interested in know the lure you're referring to if your willing to share. You could post it or pm me if you want.

Don't know if this helps much but that's about all I can come up with.

There are numerous ingredients and combinations of ingredients that can get a strong digging reaction but normally a coyote will only dig a few times if they really like it before they lose the level of intrest that makes them willing to dig for it. And when other coyotes find it they will usually dig for it too. Longer the odor lasts at a strong enough level to create enough intrest to cause a digging reaction and the more coyotes that find it the bigger the holes will be.

This^^^^^^^^

O'Gorman's Big Horns Medicine. I hear that it does not get the same reaction from other parts of the country but here it is super good in dirtholes. I have had others not so good here and people tell me it worked well for them.

This also leads me to another line of thought whereas if a coyote grows up eating deer or rabbits and is used to that will snake hold a higher or lower amount of attraction for that particular coyote or the coyotes as a whole from that area? There is ground beaver, cat, horse, prairie dog ect. Then there is fresh meat like muskrat or other furbearing animals meat. Sometimes the coyotes will dig for it and sometimes they pass on by like its last week's left overs. So I wonder if what the coyote is used to factors into how they react also.

I agree that if a coyote wants to dig it up they will want to roll on it.

It helps a lot. I was curious what others might think. I appreciate the answers.

One time I tried muskrats down the hole. I dug a hole very deep and put in 12 muskrats. It got down right cold and the dirt around the hole was froze solid. The coyotes just walked on by but the foxes dug out the hole and took all of the rats. It took them a while because it dug it straight down but they got the job done. Those little squirts had a party with those half rotten rat carcasses. They had the snow packed down in and area about 50 yards across and rat guts smeared all over it. I can only imagine the foxes rolling all over that mess.

Dobbins has/had a lure called digger on the market that I tested before just before/when it came out and whatever is in that stuff makes k9 want to dig