Predator mystery/ coyote question

[dannifer]

hmm.. so that's two people who thinks it sounds like a coon - what about it makes you think that? Wouldn't a coon just climb the fence instead of crawling under? Something definitly went under. I thought it was just too coincidental to have the coyotes back so much right after this happened. And btw, we are seeing them during the day - many times a day (when we are home to notice). One is our resident neighborhood gray coyote. Animal control tried to trap him last year to no avail - after my neighbor's chickens were eaten by something. Nothing left that time but feathers strewn across the yard. They figured it was the coyote. (Don't coons leave messy parts?) Anyway, the other one that's new is a black coyote. We are in the city limits and not sure if it's the same other places, but here it's illegal to shoot them in town.

So to update - my chickens are still alive and no more attempts have been made against them. We had blocked the hole under the fence and also have been moving the coop more often. We have also kept our back patio light on some nights. I've read that doesn't really help, but I've been hoping that it combined with moving the coop will be enough change going on to deter critters from risking an attack.

On another note, yes we know that coyotes can easily take out our dog if they want. We are careful with her. She is always inside at night.

 

[Tala]

Any trapper would jump at that chance. A black coyote is worth mounting whole for your living room. And yes, you can snare a yote at a hole under a fence just bigger than your fist (I don't know how they do it). Animal control only uses cage traps and that's no way to catch a coyote. A real trapper could catch them for you without too much effort since we know where they are.

Dog scent attracts other dogs, yotes are wild dogs. I use coyote urine to trap domestic dogs. A domestic dog will mark/pee where a yote has so I assume a yote will pee where a domestic dog has as well.

Nix the chicken wire, or at the very least cover it with welded wire. I believe hardware cloth would be best for the size coop you describe. Please fix that coop. Chicken wire is not adequate

 

[centrarchid]

Since you are in town and predator density is higher than most people suspect, I recommend ugrading the wire / cooping materials to more effectively resist predators such as racoons and coyotes trying to chew through. Cost of materials and labor should be minimal. Be considerate of possibilities predator may try to dig under coop or force open door (racoons very bad about this).


Place hardware cloth over existing wiring.

 

[aprophet]

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[aprophet]

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[chickened]

Call vector control you pay for the service through your local taxes.