# The Truth about Carnivores and What They Eat



## Chris patterson (Aug 17, 2011)

I'm new to this site and have been reading a lot of post about carnivores only eating meat.I'm not a expert on the subject and will not claim to be.I live in the south and do not know as much about wolves but I do know a lot about coyotes.I do know that wolves eat more than just meat.
Through the winter months a coyote's diet will be mostly meat because this is all that's available to them.In the warmer months their diet changes to mostly berries and fruits.When blackberries get rype this will be about the only thing they eat until they are gone.If there is a watermelon patch nearby they will raid it every night when the melons are rype.These are creatures of oppurtunity.They will eat what is available to them and easiest to get.
I've been a trapper for several years and found that a coyote would rather have dried dog kibble than to hunt for any other food.
In captivity if you keep a coyote's feeder full of good dog kibble they stay much healthier than they do in the wild.With dog kibble in a feeder readily available they will not even hunt or kill a mouse or a rabbit.
We've even found that if you put a dog feeder at the edges of watermelon fields and blackberry patches the coyotes will eat it in the wild instead of stealing the melons and berries.
Coyotes in the wild especially in near the bigger city's have been stealing a lot of domestic puppies and small breeds of dogs.This is mainly because they are easier to catch than a deer or a rabbit and there is not any farms nearby to steal fruits and vegetables from.If you have this problem in your area I suggest you contact a trapper or put a dog feeder full of kibble in the woods to keep the coyotes fed.I'm retired from trapping so please don't ask me.
I've been a dog breeder and had dogs for all 43 years of my life.I've fed almost every brand of food available including raw.I've recommended several different brands over the years and most have changed there ingredients to make it cheaper._* * * Unauthorized advertising removed by moderator (RFD) * * *_ This is my opinion and I'm sticking to it, Have a Happy day and Take good care of your pets. Chris


----------



## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Chris patterson said:


> I'm new to this site and have been reading a lot of post about carnivores only eating meat.


Well, yeah, thats why they are called carnivores. They eat meat. :smile: BTW: They don't just eat meat. They can't survive on only meat. They also must eat bones and organs.



> I'm not a expert on the subject and will not claim to be.I live in the south and do not know as much about wolves but I do know a lot about coyotes.I do know that wolves eat more than just meat.


The discussion here is not about coyotes, only wolves. Coyotes are not nearly as closely related to our dogs as wolves are. Our dogs ARE wolves, a subspecies of the gray wolf. They are not coyotes. We really have no interest in what a coyote eats. In general he eats what's easiest, not what's most healthy. A coyote has a diet compared to pizza, frozen food, cake and ice cream to humans. Meat, bones, and organs are by far healthier for them. Most of the fruits and berries they eat are because they contain tasty sugar. Sugar is terrible for them healthwise.



> I've been a trapper for several years and found that a coyote would rather have dried dog kibble than to hunt for any other food.


Again, because of sugar and grease sprayed on kibble to make it palatible. They don't eat kibble because it's healthy.



> I've been a dog breeder and had dogs for all 43 years of my life.I've fed almost every brand of food available including raw.I've recommended several different brands over the years and most have changed there ingredients to make it cheaper.I'm now feeding _* * * Unauthorized advertising removed my moderator (RFD)* * *_ This is my opinion and I'm sticking to it, Have a Happy day and Take good care of your pets. Chris


Hey Chris, welcome to the forum. I'm looking forward to a lot of discussions with you. You must be very careful of advertising. The stuff I removed is real close to spam and I did think for a few minutes about treating it as such.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i was talking to a tracker who told me a story about a vinyard being raided by wolves in italy....the owners were told
to fence off some of the grape vines, which they did and the wolves stuck to the fenced off area and left the vinyards alone...

his conclusion from this was wolves, not unlike humans, develop a taste for sugar....

i can't speak about coyotes, having never studied them....but it would make sense to me that dogs, wolves, coyotes, will eat when they are hungry.....

and not always species appropriate..

we've already seen that wolves in captivity survive....i won't say thrive on kibble....albeit specially made just for them...just ask the folks at the national zoo in washington d.c.

humans act that way too.....hunger + mc donalds = filled belly. doesn't have to be appropriate, just has to fill the belly.


----------



## doggoblin (Jun 6, 2011)

When first looking at your post the first impression was that coyotes are simply lazy. They eat anything they can which is edible, and stationary. 

I think it is interesting that as far as I know, some zoos in america are the only places that feed creatures like wolves kibble. All the rest, around the world feed meat although quite a few may also give vegetable matter/berries. If kibble was good for these animals it would be common practice in all zoos throughout the world as they take genuine interest in the welfare of the animals under their care.


> In captivity if you keep a coyote's feeder full of good dog kibble they stay much healthier than they do in the wild.


 better comparison would be kibble fed captive coyote vs meat fed captive coyote.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

doggoblin said:


> When first looking at your post the first impression was that coyotes are simply lazy. They eat anything they can which is edible, and stationary.
> 
> I think it is interesting that as far as I know, some zoos in america are the only places that feed creatures like wolves kibble. All the rest, around the world feed meat although quite a few may also give vegetable matter/berries. If kibble was good for these animals it would be common practice throughout all zoos throughout the world.


i realise your answer was to the OP.....

i don't subscribe to the feeding of kibble to wolves, believe me, and i was kind of shocked to read that some of the largest zoos feed kibble....one would think they know better...

i don't know around the world, but honey and i were looking at zoos and habitats...we were dismayed to find out that
many do feed a kibble....


----------



## doggoblin (Jun 6, 2011)

I know in europe it's meat. I even contacted a zoo to ask their opinion about the dangers of feeding raw. I was simply told that they feed raw meaty bones to wolves with occasional berries and haven't had any problems. I had the impression they knew it's a possible controversial subject and didn't want to get drawn in, which in a lot of ways is understandable. I've only ever heard of zoos in america feeding kibble.


----------



## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

I look at what animals are* DESIGNED* to eat, not what they *WILL* eat. 
Their jaws are not even designed to chew plant matter, nor are their bodies equipped to digest them. That's enough for me. 


People will eat cake. 
People will eat candy. 
People will eat fast food. 

Should they?

No.


Welcome to the forum, Chris.


----------



## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

PuppyPaws said:


> I look at what animals are* DESIGNED* to eat, not what they *WILL* eat.
> Their jaws are not even designed to chew plant matter, nor are their bodies equipped to digest them. That's enough for me.
> 
> 
> ...


What a great way to put it Linsey!!! couldn't have put it better!! i'm stealing this for the moments when people try to tell me a dog needs plants and veg!!! :biggrin:


----------



## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

I'm not entirely sure what you are saying in this post. It starts out sounding like you are saying carnivores are not carnivores because they raid fruit and veggie patches, but by the end you are saying they prefer the "meatiness" of kibble and leave the fruits and veggies alone. I'm confused and I feel daft.


----------



## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

I brought a platter of cookies from a neighbor to work so my employees could eat them. I'm not a cookie person. 

Based on the fact they all ate them, I think they are a vital part to human nutrition. Makes sense, right? 


Ps. Braxton eats the crotch out of ladies underwear. just sayin'.


----------



## RaisingWolves (Mar 19, 2011)

PuppyPaws said:


> Ps. Braxton eats the crotch out of ladies underwear. just sayin'.


LOL!
OMG, this is hilarious!:biggrin:


On a sad note....I was picking up Isabella from daycare yesterday and the owner asked if she could have a dog biscuit.. or was she still eating that weird diet? 
How sad is it that a whole, fresh, species appropriate diet is considered weird -and kibble is normal?:suspicious:


----------



## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

PuppyPaws said:


> I brought a platter of cookies from a neighbor to work so my employees could eat them. I'm not a cookie person.
> 
> Based on the fact they all ate them, I think they are a vital part to human nutrition. Makes sense, right?
> 
> ...


My dogs used to do this until I stopped wearing them.....


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

The dog we look after quite a bit, English cocker, does this also. It's a PAIN cause she'll go through my hamper.


----------



## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

PuppyPaws said:


> I brought a platter of cookies from a neighbor to work so my employees could eat them. I'm not a cookie person.
> 
> Based on the fact they all ate them, I think they are a vital part to human nutrition. Makes sense, right?
> 
> ...


LOL! I love DFC in the morning.
Linsey, you put it all so well!


----------



## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Chris patterson said:


> In captivity if you keep a coyote's feeder full of good dog kibble they stay much healthier than they do in the wild.With dog kibble in a feeder readily available they will not even hunt or kill a mouse or a rabbit.


While it may be true that coyotes in captivity stay healthier than those in the wild, you can't attribute that to just kibble without taking into consideration things like diseases, the elements, injuries, infection, etc. Unless there were a way to conduct a study where each one of those risk factors were individually ruled out as a contributor to their state of health, you can still only prove a correlation at best. 

These coyotes who eat from a feeder instead of hunt, are they born and raised in captivity? If they have kibble available since birth, they would never need to hunt, or would perhaps never have learned. I have deli meats and frozen food in my refrigerator...I will eat this because it's more readily available than raising my own chickens or growing a garden :smile:


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

> In captivity if you keep a coyote's feeder full of good dog kibble they stay much healthier than they do in the wild.With dog kibble in a feeder readily available they will not even hunt or kill a mouse or a rabbit.


Of course they may be healthier. I am sure a great many coyotes die from starvation. Starvation not only kills directly, it also lowers the immune system, makes the animal weaker etc. A weak animal easily gets infections.


----------



## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

Hmmmm wonder why the coyotes would be slaughtering all our sheep if we didn't bring them into the lot by the house every night then....


----------



## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

whiteleo said:


> My dogs used to do this until I stopped wearing them.....


LMAO...you bad!


----------

