Terrifying night

[IamRainey]

I woke up around 3am last night to the sound of coyotes howling. It was not the typical occasional solitary howl. It was a pack of at least 4 and possibly more. They kept up a constant din that sounded celebratory. And it was VERY close! Possibly at my backyard neighbor's (who just put up a 7' fence so I can't tell, by day, if they were in fact there) yard.

I think there may have been a dog barking along with them. Fighting with them? Attacked by them?

Anyhow, my chickens are just within feet of where I think the sounds came from. And my husband was out of town last night. (He'll be home tonight, thank god!)

I turned on a very bright flashlight but couldn't see anything. I checked on the dog to see if she was safe inside. But I was too scared to check on the chickens and didn't know until this morning if they were alright. They didn't say if it was as terrifying for them as it was for me. Whatever their reaction, they're keeping it to themselves.

 

[Kiki]

Glad they are safe.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

There aren't many documented coyote attacks on people, relative to other wildlife. Also, while some coyotes can be very bold, the ones where we live tend to be very skittish.

Like, a quick holler or smash of a broom or shovel on the deck or against a tree or rock is enough to frighten them off so we can safely approach the chicken coop.

We have a resident coyote who took our dear cat Kuma, and then a few weeks later she grabbed our rooster, who's now in recovery with an uncertain outcome.

For the last few nights we've heard the coyote howling just across the road in the large meadow on BLM land, where she took my rooster. The other night she had a howling companion.

Last night the coyote howls we heard were quite some distance from here.

I've actually seen her twice during the afternoon. So they're not always on the hunt at night. An attack can happen any time of day.

I think there's comfort in learning about coyote behavior.

It's the bears and cougars that freak me out. But coyotes don't concern me too much as I roam around our property doing security checks. A bright flashlight and a large stick for noise and maybe a dog on a leash should do it.

Although dogs have been grabbed by coyotes right in front of their owners. The few incidents I've read about were in more suburban areas where habit was disappearing and drought was ongoing.

I'm wondering if my comment is more a hindrance than a help? Sorry about that.

 

[IamRainey]

Glad they are safe.

Me too! But I'm not so reassured that the pack won't be coming back. They've been much more active and aggressive in my area all the hot dry Summer long.

We're in a suburban area of 1/2 acre lots in the Los Angeles area. And the whole extended neighborhood has been discussing the coyotes online for months and months. The combination of the CA drought and wildfires is leaving them with less and less habitat and wild prey so they're leaping 6' fences and going after pets.

I dug my hardware cloth well into the ground. But I'm not sure it will hold up to a determined assault by strong claws. Wish I had been more conservative when we built the coop and run. Wonder if we'll eventually be replacing the hardware cloth with something that will be harder to get through. Of course, that will be harder to wrap around the construction too. ...and we just got through the relatively major expense of building the coop as no one at my house was skilled enough and we had to hire a carpenter.

 

[IamRainey]

There aren't many documented coyote attacks on people, relative to other wildlife. Also, while some coyotes can be very bold, the ones where we live tend to be very skittish.

Thanks for that reassurance. That's what I'm hanging onto. But they're getting pretty desperate and bold in our suburban area.

I'm hoping you're right and our luck holds out.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

glad that your chickens are safe, we have pack around our place, there pretty shy animals the ones i see all the time run when we talk/yell at them. how ever i will be trapping them this winter.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Me too! But I'm not so reassured that the pack won't be coming back. They've been much more active and aggressive in my area all the hot dry Summer long.

We're in a suburban area of 1/2 acre lots in the Los Angeles area. And the whole extended neighborhood has been discussing the coyotes online for months and months. The combination of the CA drought and wildfires is leaving them with less and less habitat and wild prey so they're leaping 6' fences and going after pets.

I dug my hardware cloth well into the ground. But I'm not sure it will hold up to a determined assault by strong claws. Wish I had been more conservative when we built the coop and run. Wonder if we'll eventually be replacing the hardware cloth with something that will be harder to get through. Of course, that will be harder to wrap around the construction too. ...and we just got through the relatively major expense of building the coop as no one at my house was skilled enough and we had to hire a carpenter.

I'm sorry to say one of the dog grab stories happened in the LA area. The coyotes are indeed becoming bold there, out of survival necessity.

We were going to install 1/2" hardware cloth as our only fencing material for the chicken run, and then I snapped a weld and realized it just wasn't a good choice as a first line of defense. So we bought a 6' tall roll of 2"x4" welded Red Brand wire. Very strong. Not all 2"x4" welded wire is the same. That's why I mentioned this particular brand.

We trenched down to about 10" where we could to install 1/2" hardware cloth, secured to the primary fencing material with wire; other areas we could only get down maybe 6". And we're burying hardware cloth five or so inches below the surface, flat. We also have a large collection of heavy iron railroad plates used to make tracks. We'll evenly space them around the fencing to further prevent digging.

And for the fencing itself, we're adding a layer of 1/2" from the trench up to three feet so no one can reach in and strangle a chicken. It also helps keep the snakes out.

With all that said and almost done, it's the aerial predators we need to worry about next. And bobcats and other predators can climb up and over. Honestly at this point I don't even know if a bomb proof fallout shelter would be enough to keep predators at bay.

 

[IamRainey]

I'm sorry to say one of the dog grab stories happened in the LA area. The coyotes are indeed becoming bold there, out of survival necessity.

Yup! It's becoming less uncommon. And the last I heard on the neighborhood grapevine was a German Shepherd.

 

[CntryBoy777]

If ya wish to keep them at bay and ya live in a suburban setting, putting up so.e hot wire will keep them out....it is easy to put up and won't cost ya an arm and a leg. If I am outside here on our 20acres day or nite I'm toting a 30-30 it'll take care of anything that may be confronted. You can get solar powered electric fence chargers at a very resonable price...it may be worth a look-see on google about it....

 

[micstrachan]

So glad your flock is ok. Very scary!