- Nov 12, 2013
- 2
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Hello I'm new to the site and made an account because I could really use some advice in ending an ongoing problem that is threatening my entire flock of hens and ducks. Yeah the title basically says it all, but I'll go into detail.
I live in an active neighborhood pretty much enclosed by dense woods near the main beach in Rhode Island. We have a large and open backyard with chickens, pigeons, and a nice garden. Half of my backyard is easily visible by all of our neighbors, which are constantly outside. My father and I own chickens illegally so before I explain to you the problem we're faced with, keep in mind that I can NOT call Animal Control because they'll most likely take away our 15 hens. I had 25 hens a couple weeks ago......
So I got home from school at around 2:45 on a Monday, which is my dad's only day-off from work. I could see the chickens were out happily free ranging in my large backyard. I went upstairs for a little and then cam down five minutes later. I looked out of the windows overlooking my entire backyard to see a Coyote ripping apart a Rhode Island Red in broad daylight. This Coyote is as big as an adult German Sheperd. Anyways, wthout thinking, I ran outside barefoot and lunged at the Coyote but it ran away, leaving behind feathers and three dead chickens. I ran back inside to grab a weapon and then counted all of the other chickens that retreated into the garden or into the chicken coop. Three chickens were dead and two were missing. Our beloved Jumbo Pekin which was the size of my 12yr old Jack Russel, was also missing. My dad came outside and we found Daisy bleeding to death in the neighbors yard. The coyote had killed six animals within five minutes and dragged half over a two feet rock wall and into my neighbors yard. The duck died overnight which really upset me and my family.
So the rest of that week I sat up on my roof with my 22. Caliber rifle for hours, waiting for the Coyote to come again. It did, but unfortunately I was downstairs grabbing some Ritz crackers when It came. Smart son of a b*tch was watching me. We ran outside but weren't positive if he had gotten one, as our count was still looking funny from the previous attack. This is when stuff started getting crazy. Listen to this. He didn't come back for weeks. We started letting our chickens free range again and he kept coming back. Luckily I scared him off in time but we would always lose at least one chicken...
A couple days after that, he came back and dragged another chicken into the woods and wounded another within 30 seconds. By the time I got outside with my hunting knife and/or rifle, he's gone with at least two hens. He came back last week and killed a Rhode Island Red juvenile and two Ameraucana adults in about a minute. He drags them away into the woods in that time span as well! How can anything kill and be so fast? That was the latest attack.
My family and I are infuriated and want this coyote dead. We had around 24-25 chickens. No roosters. All are/were laying eggs and now we have half of that. Now that it's winter, we're getting less eggs but we can't exactly breed/purchase other chickens or ducks with this stubborn blood-thirsty dog lurking around our coop. I know this sounds unreal but I have seen in ambush a small pack of chickens outside the coop. I'm guessing it's really stealth and quiet and then lunges. I've actually only seen it pounce out of the foliage and snag one, that's it. It's so sad I feel bad for my chickens and want this thing dead so they can free range again. It may even be a threat to humans now, even me. It is larger than a German Shepard. I wish I could snap a picture of it to show you folks how menacing this thing is. I've actually stopped chasing after it because I'm afraid now..
Again, Animal Control and buying a larger dog are off the board. Please people give me a hand here and share some advice, experiences, and everything from A to Z. I would love to kill the coyote but I'll do whatever sounds reasonable, humane, logical, or whatever. I just want to end this now because It's getting really annoying. It's like an everyday routine. My dog starts barking, I hear the chickens squealing, and off I go chasing after a dog that can most likely injure me now. Thanks for reading and please help!
I live in an active neighborhood pretty much enclosed by dense woods near the main beach in Rhode Island. We have a large and open backyard with chickens, pigeons, and a nice garden. Half of my backyard is easily visible by all of our neighbors, which are constantly outside. My father and I own chickens illegally so before I explain to you the problem we're faced with, keep in mind that I can NOT call Animal Control because they'll most likely take away our 15 hens. I had 25 hens a couple weeks ago......
So I got home from school at around 2:45 on a Monday, which is my dad's only day-off from work. I could see the chickens were out happily free ranging in my large backyard. I went upstairs for a little and then cam down five minutes later. I looked out of the windows overlooking my entire backyard to see a Coyote ripping apart a Rhode Island Red in broad daylight. This Coyote is as big as an adult German Sheperd. Anyways, wthout thinking, I ran outside barefoot and lunged at the Coyote but it ran away, leaving behind feathers and three dead chickens. I ran back inside to grab a weapon and then counted all of the other chickens that retreated into the garden or into the chicken coop. Three chickens were dead and two were missing. Our beloved Jumbo Pekin which was the size of my 12yr old Jack Russel, was also missing. My dad came outside and we found Daisy bleeding to death in the neighbors yard. The coyote had killed six animals within five minutes and dragged half over a two feet rock wall and into my neighbors yard. The duck died overnight which really upset me and my family.
So the rest of that week I sat up on my roof with my 22. Caliber rifle for hours, waiting for the Coyote to come again. It did, but unfortunately I was downstairs grabbing some Ritz crackers when It came. Smart son of a b*tch was watching me. We ran outside but weren't positive if he had gotten one, as our count was still looking funny from the previous attack. This is when stuff started getting crazy. Listen to this. He didn't come back for weeks. We started letting our chickens free range again and he kept coming back. Luckily I scared him off in time but we would always lose at least one chicken...
A couple days after that, he came back and dragged another chicken into the woods and wounded another within 30 seconds. By the time I got outside with my hunting knife and/or rifle, he's gone with at least two hens. He came back last week and killed a Rhode Island Red juvenile and two Ameraucana adults in about a minute. He drags them away into the woods in that time span as well! How can anything kill and be so fast? That was the latest attack.
My family and I are infuriated and want this coyote dead. We had around 24-25 chickens. No roosters. All are/were laying eggs and now we have half of that. Now that it's winter, we're getting less eggs but we can't exactly breed/purchase other chickens or ducks with this stubborn blood-thirsty dog lurking around our coop. I know this sounds unreal but I have seen in ambush a small pack of chickens outside the coop. I'm guessing it's really stealth and quiet and then lunges. I've actually only seen it pounce out of the foliage and snag one, that's it. It's so sad I feel bad for my chickens and want this thing dead so they can free range again. It may even be a threat to humans now, even me. It is larger than a German Shepard. I wish I could snap a picture of it to show you folks how menacing this thing is. I've actually stopped chasing after it because I'm afraid now..
Again, Animal Control and buying a larger dog are off the board. Please people give me a hand here and share some advice, experiences, and everything from A to Z. I would love to kill the coyote but I'll do whatever sounds reasonable, humane, logical, or whatever. I just want to end this now because It's getting really annoying. It's like an everyday routine. My dog starts barking, I hear the chickens squealing, and off I go chasing after a dog that can most likely injure me now. Thanks for reading and please help!
