Here's a couple of pics inside the Dingo Gate.





The ranger called in for a free cuppa one morning and kept looking at my Dingo, in the end he couldn't help himself and asked what breed of dog it was, I told him a Labrador cross.
he kept looking and eventually said, bloody looks like a Dingo to me, I nonchalantly replied, does a bit.

Not only did look like one, he was purebred from the NT.

Great pics mate !! I am told Dingos make good pets when had from a pup, though they always have that wild streak I was sitting on the verandah of a hut up Stewarts Brook last month and one had a good old howl off up in the trees. I still laugh at Mrs Andy yelling at them out near Kings Canyon in the middle of the night....."shhhhhhuuuuuuttttttt uuuuuuup". I did explain I found her yelling much more annoying than the dingos...who nearly were my company outside the tent for the night as a result.

Same trip I was sleeping with only the bug screen of the tent zipped (big canvas thing) and woke with a pair of 'em sitting on my door step side by side looking in at my like they were house dogs....

They do make great pets, though different as they don't bark, as you know.
When one wants your attention, it makes a sniffing noise.

In the Gulf we had thousands of them, some nights you could hardly stand the racket from their howling,
Early mornings, it wasn't unusual to see ten to twenty running around the yard, they never attempted to bother my dog, and he kept away from them as well.

In my experience with Dingo's, you would never see one enter a confined space, they always wanted an escape exit.
The ones at Kings Canyon have been fed by tourists the same at Ularoo, or what ever they call it these days.
That tends to make them a little less timid.

Another pup I had. "Aussie".



Same one in the top picture on the chase after a Roo.



Aussie again.



I'll say this, they are way smarter than a domestic dog, where a domestic dog will just way in and get himself killed, a Dingo will sus out the situation, then will go in with a plan if it all goes pair shaped.

I imagine the American Coyote's would be similar?

Yes I agree about the confined spaces dislike, as you note people have actually interfered with their natural wariness of humans and such, especially in the tourists spots like Ayers Rocks in the NT. At Kings they were stealing all manner of crap from around camp sites and dragging it off into the bush, folding chairs and they really had an affinity for gas bottle hoses, normally dragging the bottle as well. Watch one start in stalking a toddler that was just left unattended. I was unsure if a car or the dingo was going to get her. I broke into a run and was beaten by an old dear who promptly bailed up the parents and gave' em both barrels....German Tourists with no f'ing idea...

They always are a wild dog, irregardless of tourists feeding them and their appearing tame. They have to be reared from a pup, and even then, they grow up with their wild instincts.

An example is to watch them have a kill, I've watched a Dingo eating the intestines out of a live Kangaroo, (I think I even have a picture of one doing it somewhere) he disabled it first, then calmly started to tear open the stomach, then feed on the intestines, the Roo laying there with his head up watching.

Domestic dogs don't do that.

Or sit out a Roo stranded in a creek and wait for it to cramp and to become weak, instead of rushing in like a domestic dog and allowing the Roo to grab it and hold it under to drown.

There's no marcus of queensbury rules with them, its play dirty and survive.

Yes mate, first and foremost they are a predator. And most people (using Bambi and The Lion King as a point of reference) don't understand just how cruel a Mistress "Nature" can be !! I have finished a few 'Roos that foxes and other critters had already started to have their way with.

I finished building my Mongoose upper. They released a batch of 22" stainless spiral fluted barrels for $250, so I sold an 18" 556 build to pay for it. A nice gent on the Mad Dog Weaponry forums sent me 80+ pieces of fireformed brass to get me started. Now it's off to the races!

Well, I should probably take iot to the range and then the woods. They might not appreciate me bringing an AR capable of shooting deer with an 85gr bullet past 300 yards to the races. In today's climate, someone is bound to call the cops....

Reading through the descriptions you and Andy provide on the dingo, I would say yes, quite similar in many ways Ian. Coyotes are very wary of any tight areas. Young/inexperienced coyotes can sometimes be caught in tight brush, very seldom older ones. Although I do catch a very few big, dominant dog coyotes this way, and can only conclude that they are the 'cock of the walk' so to speak, and have grown accustomed to having their way.

About the hardest thing in the world to catch is a smart, old female coyote. She has nothing to prove, and is infinitely wary and patient. The really smart ones are almost impossible to take with rifle, call or trap, and I would venture to say that this small percent, when they are taken, are nearly all incidental kills.

One difference I can see is where it seems that the dingo is little threat to domestic dogs, if I am understanding correctly from above. A dominant coyote can and will kill a domestic dog if it has the chance. A pair of coyotes can kill or cripple a dog in short order and are very territorial. Of course this all depends on the situation, the individual dog and coyote. But coyotes are very good at teasing/luring dogs away far enough to work them over hard.

I once saw coyotes chase a black bear away from their den in the springtime. I've never seen anything so quick as that female coyote, and that bear could not spin fast enough to keep his backside from getting bit. He abandoned the plan in short order

I've seen a few coyotes raised up from a pup. I never saw one totally domesticated. One was fairly gentle, but was a notorious chicken killer anytime it wasn't chained. Another would bite hard when he could, even from when he was very little. I couldn't tolerate that little cuss and didn't shed any tears when he was run over about 9 months old. The most gentle one I was around was one that a guy had we used to run into fishing along the Snake River. He said he had got it before its eyes were even open, but I don't remember the whole story on it. This was about 35 years ago. What I do remember was my dad dangling a piece of rind off of some liverwurst in front of its nose while it was napping. That little guy went from snoring to snapping for that liverwurst faster than a blink. I thought it got some finger with the liverwurst, and I think dad did too for a minute Fish and Game finally saw him with it and took it from him.

A couple of coyote kills from this winter. Even the larger animals are on the menu when conditions permit.





I looked through for a picture of a live coyote. I don't get too many of those. This pack is several hundred yards out, living on the frozen river and eating anything unlucky enough to be caught on the ice.



Some other pics from this winter





Although I'm pretty hard on them out of necessity, I have great respect for them.

That should be a great build. The 80 grain TTSX out of my .243 has accounted for a lot of game, and will of course be very close ballistically to your mongoose. I hope they get this one popular enough to produce factory brass.

DT-

Good find (and trade). Let us know how you like it in the field.

-carl