Very sad - we were on a trip to NYC and a cruise to Canada last week and my 71-year-old mom was housesitting. It was too much for her to shoo the ducks in and out of the chicken coop each day, so we let the ducks free range while she was housesitting. Well, two days into our trip, she called and said that one duck was missing. The next day, a henpecked chicken that we were letting free range disappeared as well. She started putting the remaining duck up at night, since obviously something was attacking our flock. Sure enough, upon our return, we found remnants of our white pekin duck spread on a path from our barn down to the fence line. It seems that the poor thing struggled, but couldn't win a fight with a coyote. Still haven't found any trace of the chicken. So sad...we really liked that duck. She was quite a character, standing under the running hose and taking a "shower" and enjoying herself doing silly things like that. We are going to the Ky Chickenstock this weekend and we're going to buy a drake so that she'll have a partner again. But man...I always talk about how we all need to share the same space/land with coyotes, etc, since we're infringing on their turf. But I suddenly have a great urge to go coyote hunting...
awww I know what you mean about the coyotes. There's a den down in the ravine from our house, and I've always thought the same way about sharing the land. We've lost two cats to them, but still I hold onto the sharing the land thought, though sometimes it's very difficult.
I'm so very sorry about your duck. Like you say, we are infriging on their land, but it doesn't stop us from being darn mad at them for taking away our babies!
It is a heartbreaker to lose these guys, but it seems inevitable at times. We've lost two cats to coyotes when they've strayed beyond our protective fence. And we would hear the coyotes on a regular basis very nearby after they had killed rabbits (or other prey). One coyote got so bold as to fight with our collie through the fencing and so I called the State wildlife people to see if I should be concerned. He immediately said that THERE IS a problem with those of us who think "we need to share" the land, because coyotes quickly fill all the niches when there are 'zero' threats against them and, when they start actually squeezing each other territorially, they become especially emboldened towards humans and their pets/livestock. Though you could tell he wasn't a particularly enthusiastic hunter, he said that coyotes, all across the country need to be kept under control. He actually suggested hiring someone to attract a few coyotes in and shooting them (which I just can't be a party too), but he said that even just shooting 'at' them makes them less bold or more leary (and we've had several life-long rural neighbors verify that philosophy). However, we and a few of the neighbors (also gun shy) decided to just clear some large swathes of land around our properties and make it harder for the coyotes to establish dens so close by and that seems to have helped immensely, but I realize that's not an option for many. The wildlife guy wasn't convinced that would make enough difference, but we don't see and hear them nearly as much. Our collie really seems to effectively keep them out of our fenced yard, but the neighbor has lost her sheep to them in broad daylight. But, regardless of how safe we try to make them, the ducks really are predator magnents. And it is just heartbreaking when we lose them. We lost one of ours to a hawk or an eagle while the neighbors were watching them while we were on vacation and we all thought that the top of the pen had significant cover to keep them out, but it didn't.
My mom just lost a young goose to those darned coyotes. Speedy Gonzalez was hatched quite a bit later than the others, so Mom put him in a separate spot with some young chickens. Speedy "fell in love" with a white hen and followed her everywhere -- white chicky led him to an outbuilding next to the soybean field .... no more Speedy. I've lost a goose, MANY chickens and 5 cats (out of 8) in the 3 yrs. that I've lived at my 6 acre place. Pretty hard on the heart. Gwen
Yes, it's sad, I do agree with those of you who believe in "sharing the land"; I think that's part of why we all want to live in rural areas and have lots of different species of animals around us. Peace, Deanna
thanks for the thoughts, everyone. it is so hard to lose an animal. I feel so guilty. if I hadn't gone on vacation, our duck wouldn't have died. (or the chicken. but I wasn't as attached to that particular chicken as the duck.)
