Mountain lion and coyotes

[horsejody]

So far none have bothered the chickens or horses. The coyotes have been extra active lately. The screaming and howling in the night have been loud and relentless. We always have coyotes, but they have been super active lately and very loud. Now my neighbor tells me he spotted a mountain lion when he was out walking his dog. It hasn't bothered anything. It was walking along a deer path. As long as it sticks, to wild prey all is fine. We live close to the Platte River and the Elkhorn River so the occasional big cat is expected. I hope the coyotes and the cougar don't decide to try horse meat or chicken.

 

[Hillbilly Rooster]

Wish I lived closer to you. My friends and I like to hunt coyotes, we take what we can in michigan it is just hard for hunters to find land anymore.

 

[Cetawin]

The mountain lion should not be a problem. I have one that walks between the house and the coop every night and every morning. It has sat in the tree by the coop several times...never tried to get in or anything and that has been over a year now. The yotes would worry me, they can be a real PITA

 

[horsejody]

We only had a problem with the coyotes once. I think the real problem was "townies" that moved in nearby were feeding them. You know, because feeding large wild predators is like putting out squirrel corn or filling bird feeders.

When the idiots weren't home, the coyotes would come to other people's back doors looking for food. Well, one got too close to my little dog and DH shot it. As for the big cat, I'm not worried. There are a lot of deer near here. It hasn't bothered anything. That's why nobody has called the authorities. The city people in nearby Omaha and the high dollar suburbs would panic.

 

[Buster52]

You know, I just read something from the OSU extension office that said as long as the coyotes aren't bothering your animals, it is actually best to leave them alone. If you kill a coyote that is not preying on livestock, its territory may very well be filled by one that does. In a way, the resident coyote population can act as a buffer to keep out hostile 'yotes.

Just something to think about.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
The only one we shot was one that was up in the yard getting a little to close to my pet dog. Once idiots start throwing food scraps to them and they lose their fear of people, I don't care how much of a "buffer" they are. They're gone. As long as they're sitting in the field howling, eating rabbits and not bothering my domestic animals, they're safe from me.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
I think that's when they are playing the "buffer" role. The point of the extension article was that it's a bad idea to go out gunnin' for 'em just because they are coyotes, even if they aren't bothering anything. Sneaking around your pets in your back yard is a different story, I should think.

 

[toletiquesbysam]

DH said we had 3 foxes playing in our backyard last week when I was gone! Said they woke him up at 5am because they were playing and wrestling with each other about 30feet from our house and about 75feet from our coop!!
Haven't seen them since and since we were both going out of town for the weekend he locked them in the coop all weekend.

Dog didn't even bark..........