Clearly coyotes are nothing new around here, but in the pasture? Yikes.
Well, we were coming back from town one evening a few days later ... and by golly, there was a coyote in the pasture. I couldn't pull my camera out in time to photograph him sitting smugly and calmly, literally right in the middle of the cow herd. The cattle, rather to my surprise, were not perturbed in the least, despite six small calves among them. I guess they figured they were more than a match for a single lone coyote.
Once we got into the driveway, I grabbed my camera and visually followed this wily critter. He was waaaaay at the other end of the pasture (plus it was dusky), so the photos aren't the clearest.
The cows followed his progress with interest but not alarm.
He slipped under the fence onto the neighbor's property...
...and soon disappeared from view.
As I returned to the house with my camera, Don returned to the house from another direction with his rifle. The coyote was out of range and the light was too dim for a successful shot.
Knock on wood, we've never lost an animal to predation. Around here we have coyotes, bears, and cougars, but we've been fortunate beyond belief.
The Herefords we used to have would have driven him from the field! lol
ReplyDeleteHe'll be back. Tell Don to stay ready.
ReplyDeleteHuggs..
There's a school of thought that there are "good" coyotes, those that vastly prefer to scavenge or hunt small game over taking on larger prey like calves or sheep or goats. And having a good coyote hanging around would be ideal, because if they've claimed the territory other not-so-good coyotes will live elsewhere. I've a friend that claims some of these good coyotes lives at his place, and in that past 6 years he's not had a single instance of livestock being attacked from them. It might be something to consider, if the cows didn't seemed concerned and the coyote paid no attention to them.
ReplyDeleteWe live on 20 acres out in the boonies of northern Arizona and we also have coyotes, bears cougars and even an occasional bobcat. The coyotes will occasionally come close to our house, yapping and yipping away. Drives our dogs nuts! So, I just calmly and quietly step out on the porch and fire off a round or two from my trusty Makarov pistol. It's quite loud! (I think you know that, Patrice, because you once said you own a Makarov.) The coyotes take off and aren't heard from again for a LONG time. If and when they come back, I repeat the process. Haven't had to do it too many times! --Fred in AZ
ReplyDeleteNot good. But wait !!!--There's more !!!! just wait until you have the wolves !!! Coming soon.-- I've been down that road. ken
ReplyDeleteI thought you folks lost your rooster to predation some time ago Patrice? We have the same problem here, neighbors have lost some small pets and I watched one take a feral cat a few weeks ago. I got my .25 06 at the ready...
ReplyDeleteBuild the wall!
ReplyDeleteMontana Guy
Get a donkey.
ReplyDeleteThere are good and bad coyotes. We have a coyote that has been around for 10 years and has never taken a calf. We run around 150 pairs. She comes in for the cleanings from the cows. Coyotes do a great job on rodent control. The only thing that they do have a tendency to be hard on is cats (we don't have a lot of trees). If the cows are okay with it .. they know. Give the coyote a warning shot but I wouldn't kill it unless you don't have any rodents that need taking out.
ReplyDeleteI've got a major problem with raccoons killing my chickens. They can break into almost anything. Judging by the size of their droppings, they are big too. They broke into my feed box and were able to drag a 50 lbs bad of feed 30 feet. They did this 3 times.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone offer some advice on preventing raccoons from coming around? It's impossible to hunt them because they always operate under the cover of darkness.
I guess we only have the bad coyotes here in Georgia. We have way too many. My neighbor lost a heifer and calf a few weeks ago. Folks in Atlanta are losing little dogs and cats. We don't fire warning shots anymore.
ReplyDeleteAmmo is too expensive to waste on warning shots.
ReplyDelete22-250 500 yards no problem..
ReplyDelete