Dealing with predators

[Chatychick]

I know where I live it takes the Sherriff 30 min's to get here and I dont have time for that...also I have been told shoot first and ask questions later if someone is on my land without permission...also if its a animal predator I dont think about it anymore...I have cattle, horses, goats and fowl so I am their protector and I do my job well...
When I lived in the city if you are threatened by a intruder you have the right to protect yourself.

 

[SisterFlash]

I cannot agree more chatty. Seams like people have gotten crazy and have forgoten that animals do pose a threat. THey put these human emotions into predators and do not understand that when a bear continues to "visit" that animal is probably looking for diner and protecting our family and flock should be a #1 priority because generally these predators will just be back.

 

[MissPrissy]

Where I live the SO's dispatch would say shoot it and call us back if you have any trouble.

We use traps and have weaponry for dealing with predators. It is not uncommon for bears and other wild animals to come down out of the mountains looking for food. So far we haven't had anything beyond a nasty possum and groundhogs to deal with.

 

[Chatychick]

So far its just been possums lately and missed 1 last nite...I hate those stinky things..we have coyotes and wolves here and a big cat that makes a apperance every once in a while...I have 144 acres and dont go out back with out a firearm...not wise as the river is at the back ...never know what you will come across. I agree some people just dont understand what animals mean to us and we are their protector ...Yep they try to make it out that most wild animals have our kind of emotions...NOT...they want a meal and its not going to happen to the expense of my critters...Coyotes are a dime a dozen here and its always coyote season...and they will be comming as its gettting closer to calving season...I hear them every nite...I am ready...

 

[Buster]

I knew a guy once who was hunting in Utah and a Mt Lion jumped out of a tree onto his friend and he shot the cat so it wouldn't kill his friend. Fish and Game took his gun away, fined him and told him he couldn't ever hunt in Utah again. They did this because they said the cat wasn't attacking him personally, it was attacking his friend, so it wasn't self defense!

We have Mt Lions and coyotes on our place where we graze cattle. The Mt Lions have been hard on the calves the last few years. Fish and Game here said to shoot them if we catch them in our cows. I also never go down there with out a firearm.

 

[chickbea]

I got a little lost on this thread - it started with trapping and moved to shooting...

Anyway, I do just fine with a strong electric fence. The only losses I have ever had have been when free ranging.

We also need to remember that Nature will move into a vacuum - meaning that if we remove all the predators from an area, it isn't as if we have cleared the area in perpetuity. More predators will move in because that is the way of things. A good habitat with a food supply will always be occupied!

 

[Buster]

We had government trappers come down when the coyotes were really bad, but all they ever caught were skunks and porcupines. That's why we shoot em now instead.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I have a rather large revolver on my headboard to deal with human intruders. As for outside animal intruders I follow a few ground rules. I am alone here on the nights my SO is on duty and the neighbors are far away. I never leave our fenced in yard (except in extreme emergency) and I never go outside at all without Charlie dog. She's large enough and protective of me enough to handle everything to the size of a coyote (she's killed them before, but not in defense of me, she just did). This land and house have been occupied for more than 40 years by my SO's people and they never had a problem with anything bigger than a opossum. In addition, there was a commercial chicken operation on this farm for more than 20 years and the biggest problem they had was with skunks and the occasional aforementioned opossum. That's not to say a bear or other large creature wouldn't wander up here, but I'm going with the odds. If I felt there was a danger outside that I couldn't handle I would call dispatch and have an officer out here, while I waited inside. If the farmer that has leased the pastureland here for the last 10 years hasn't lost a single calf to large predators, I feel that I am being safe without being overly cautious.