Coyotes...

[L0rraine]

I tend to agree that the 'big cat' predator problems sound the scariest to me. Fortunately we don't have them here or I would be a nervous wreck on walks as well. One of local wildlife biologists says that our coyotes (as in many suburban/rural areas) are a bigger problem for us, because they get so comfortable with human activity and and used to feeding on pet populations. They aren't stressed by the human proximity, but rather take advantage of it. As much as I knew he wasn't a 'thrilled by the hunt' kind of a guy, he really did stress that the situations can just get worse and worse until someone starts shooting at them.

 

[Jaguaress]

Yes, the bobcat is probably killing the feral cats. I was breeding cats a number of years ago and a bobcat chewed/clawed through 1/2" plywood sheets to get to them. They were in their outside runs of chain link with a plywood roof, covered with roofing. (It was nice weather, so I let them be outside.) The bobcat climbed the runs, then pulled up a nailed-in, corrougated roof in order to get to the plywood. The females were going into heat and the males were yowling to protect their territory, which was apparently too enticing for the bobcat to leave alone. One of my girls was killed and two of the boys were never seen again.

The big bobcat tracks were all around the next day, as was bobcat scat which was deposited close to the fencing. Needless to say, it upset me greatly and I lost my desire to breed them after that. Had there been electric fencing around their runs, it may not have happened, but as large as the tracks were, it might not have phased him anyway.

I'm sorry for those of y'all who have lost pets as well. Please be careful with the cougars and the coyotes; they scare me.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

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All we can hope for is that there will be easier game to catch than our ducks and LGD inside an electric fence. Of course, maybe the distractions will buy us enough time for a 308 to do its part.

Remember, you don't need to be able to outrun a bear in case it attacks. You just need to be able to outrun the person you're with.

 

[operator16]

Dang! Bear or dog? What breed is that? Does it protect all property or just livestock/birds, etc?


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[Red Maple Farms]

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That is a normal sized 110 lb, year old Great Pyrenees female. It just protects the ducks.

 

[dragonlair]

I live in a residential area just outisde of our state capitol. I have coyotes in my back yard on a regular basis. So far they have not bothered my horses, goats, dogs or chickens. The fox, on the other hand, have killed several of my birds. I love listening to them, however, when they howl, it causes my Alaskan Malamutes to howl, which scares off the coyotes!

 

[janastasio]

Coyotes are bad in our area this year as well. Seems like every year they get worse and worse. Last weekend we were driving down the road from our house. There is a pond about a 1/4 mile down from us and geese and ducks come back to it every year. There is a canada goose and her 3 goslings there now. As we were driving down the road we saw a brown animal run accross the road (around 11am). We thought what the heck and thought it was a dog. Then we saw the mother goose fly accross the road with the coyote (not a dog!) in pursuit. Meanwhile her babies were trying to run after mother goose and the coyote grabbed one of them. We stopped the car and I ran out after the coyote who dropped the baby and fled. We caught the three babies (all unharmed, thankfully) and brought them back to the pond where the mother goose took them and hissed at us. I took that as a thankyou! I drove down the road about every 20minutes that day and the next to make sure the coyote didnt come back. So far so good. Its been a week and the geese are still there. We have yet to have a problem in our yard, but with this incident so close to home, I'm just waiting. I have a run and indoor housing for night, but my birds are out all day and I'm at work Monday thru Friday and my fencing is not electrified (yet!).

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Coyotee will run through the same teritory if they discover a food source. I used to live on a coyotee run a few years back and my neighbor and I had to shoot a good many of them to deter them from the teritory.

Coyotee are a menaace, they are NOT your loving dog and they are fearless, determined and arogant when it comes to thier runs.

Remember these are pack mentallity animals and their numbers drive them to do things that a lone animals would NEVER do.

GG