Here in south Alabama we have way too many coyotes. The sound of'em running at night will send shivers up your spine. I live in a rural area and see a few and hear many.
An option that hasn't been mentioned, and may not work with your setup is to get a donkey. Donkeys have a natural, inborn, burning desire to stomp any canine they happen to get sight of. Many folks with cows around here are now pasturing one or more donkeys with their cows.
A few years ago a local neighbor's donkey (neighbor had the donkey for a "pet" and really had no idea how to take care of it) got loose and made it through the woods to the pasture beside my house. Well, my two sooners (dogs) caught sight of it and took off after it. Needless to say, the donkey stood it's ground and soon the two dogs were running for their live's back to the house with the donkey hot on their heels.
It was a rather tense time as we watched our dogs running for their lives, but it was amazing to see how the donkey was attempting to stomp them....the donkey was running full speed and at the same time stomping at the dogs in front of it. Kind of hard to explain...it was like all the donkey's forward propulsion was coming from it's hind legs while the front legs were only being used to stomp with. Well, the dogs made it safely to the house (though one did get a glancing blow with a hoof) and the donkey stood off at the edge of the yard with a "make my day" look in it's eyes. I eventually had to sting it with my .410 to get it to leave and head back home. That donkey *wanted* those dogs! It was interesting, but later all we had to say to get the dogs on (nervous) high alert was the word "DONKEY".
I'm not sure how they learned the word that quick, but they did!
Coyotes have all but decimated the ground critter population down here in Alabama...though the native quail population was already about history the coyotes have pretty well nailed the lid on the coffin. I had the chance to walk over the 320 acres here a while back...there use to be 5 coveys of quail on the place....I was actually looking for a downed RC airplane and covered areas that mankind hadn't been into for years....I never got up a single bird. Turkeys are still holding their own, but they're taking hits, too.
Anyhow, if you've got fenced pasture, and feel like a new (big) pet then a donkey might be an option. Other than that....use good gun control.
An option that hasn't been mentioned, and may not work with your setup is to get a donkey. Donkeys have a natural, inborn, burning desire to stomp any canine they happen to get sight of. Many folks with cows around here are now pasturing one or more donkeys with their cows.
A few years ago a local neighbor's donkey (neighbor had the donkey for a "pet" and really had no idea how to take care of it) got loose and made it through the woods to the pasture beside my house. Well, my two sooners (dogs) caught sight of it and took off after it. Needless to say, the donkey stood it's ground and soon the two dogs were running for their live's back to the house with the donkey hot on their heels.
It was a rather tense time as we watched our dogs running for their lives, but it was amazing to see how the donkey was attempting to stomp them....the donkey was running full speed and at the same time stomping at the dogs in front of it. Kind of hard to explain...it was like all the donkey's forward propulsion was coming from it's hind legs while the front legs were only being used to stomp with. Well, the dogs made it safely to the house (though one did get a glancing blow with a hoof) and the donkey stood off at the edge of the yard with a "make my day" look in it's eyes. I eventually had to sting it with my .410 to get it to leave and head back home. That donkey *wanted* those dogs! It was interesting, but later all we had to say to get the dogs on (nervous) high alert was the word "DONKEY".
Coyotes have all but decimated the ground critter population down here in Alabama...though the native quail population was already about history the coyotes have pretty well nailed the lid on the coffin. I had the chance to walk over the 320 acres here a while back...there use to be 5 coveys of quail on the place....I was actually looking for a downed RC airplane and covered areas that mankind hadn't been into for years....I never got up a single bird. Turkeys are still holding their own, but they're taking hits, too.
Anyhow, if you've got fenced pasture, and feel like a new (big) pet then a donkey might be an option. Other than that....use good gun control.
