If your canine companion is of the smaller, more vulnerable variety you may have wondered how you could safeguard against vicious attacks from larger animals. Rather than training Fido up to fend off the assailants himself, fitting the pet with a prickly protective vest that scares off predatory coyotes might be a more practical option.
The CoyoteVest was dreamt up by a Californian couple who experienced the heartbreak of a wild dog attack in 2014. Not long after their dog Buffy was captured in the jaws of a coyote and dragged away never to be seen again, Paul and Pam Mott began to explore ways they could help prevent similarly nasty attacks in the future.
The result is an armored vest designed to protect small animals in a few different ways. The spiked collar is intended to prevent neck bites and the deadly shaking that normally follows, while the vest itself is made from stab-resistant Kevlar, which should be enough to block even the sharpest of fangs. Some porcupine-like quills sprouting from the back add another layer of protection.
Lastly, and perhaps most ominously, an optional "CoyoteZapper" accessory neutralizes a threat through an electric shock delivered by two highly conductive strips that can be attached to the CoyoteVest along with a shock module. With a push of a button, this allows pet owners to deliver a zap and force an attacker to drop the dog from their jaws before they can make off with their catch.
The CoyoteVest probably won't win your dog any Best in Show awards, but will make snatching it up an entirely different proposition for would-be predators. The makers claim that it will not impair the dog's ability to run and play, and that the CoyoteZapper is harmless but just painful enough to force their release.
Starter Packs are available through the CoyoteVest website priced at US$109, which includes the vest, spikes and the quills. The optional CoyoteZapper is priced at $60.
Source: CoyoteVest
The risk is not the puncture, although that may be of concern in terms of infection later, but rather crush injuries caused by the power of the bite. The teeth primarily give grip to hold on while they kill their prey. Only afterwards is the 'cutting' of importance.
If this device works at all (and I suspect it would depend upon how hungry the predator is) then most likely will be because the predator will be unsure what the animal is, as wild animals are always wary of new things for their own self-preservation.
"Hunters" would dart predators with tranquilizer guns, photograph them, take data, vaccinate, cure disease and parasites, collar and release these unharmed. The collars would have a receiver that would apply a gradual shock as the predator nears a transmitter on pets, people and property. It would soon learn avoidance without necessity for collars.
Dart and release "hunting" could substitute for the blood sport and allow the best of the species to thrive and restore natural processes that bullet hunters and other humans have interfered with. Photos, holographs and videos of the "hunt" would please wives and scare children less than dust-catching stuffed animal heads on walls.
Hunting outfits could convert to "dart and release" with permanent open seasons increasing their profits. And store bought meat is tastier and more tender than gamy, tough wild meat.
2) Keep a sidearm when in predator country. Although it's Humans who are to blame for the vast majority of predator/human conflict. If land developers weren't so greedy, there'd be more space for the wildlife who were there first.