how to deal with aggressive coyotes

Was told by an old-timer in Texas..central Texas that coyotes were not common in Texas until after the 1930's. Said they were ruthlessly killed off...either by the pioneers or the wolves who would eat their prairie cousins. I believe wolves were pretty much all killed off in the 1930's which would explain the coyote explosion.....

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Hey.

From what you said, I think live trapping is the way to go. Spring traps and snares often end up killing the wrong animals around your home...it's a different story when you're out in the woods. Since you're anti-gun too:

http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page1026.html

Or, you could kill them like you do with the vampires;-) Buffy the ....

RF

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It's not good enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. - Winston Churchill

I seldom heard coyotes as a child, by the time I was in college, they were heard enough not to be unusual, and they would sometimes follow me in the field as I worked on tractor. Sometimes would sit and watch me from the edge of the brush around the fields. Now I hear them most nights, sometimes as close as in the yard. Not unusual to see them crossin the road at anytime, day or night.

Neighbor and I have lost small dogs and cats, but not sure if to coyotes or owls. Had some chickens that disappeared one day. No trace, so figure coyotes got em as they were out.

Thing is those things will eat anything, plant or animal, and are opportunists to the max.
Ed

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"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness."
Thomas Jefferson to George Washington 1787

with 2 small boys IS a reason to have a gun when you have aggressive wild animals..how would you feel if they were the ones on the porch with the coyote and not the dog and chicken..and you couldn't protect them ?

I am in ND --no wolf crosses here. it might depend on where you live, but 5 or 6 LGDs eat a lot, I am not sure how things would go with 30 or 40 coyotes, I'm sure that dogs would do a lot of damage to the coyotes, but the coyotes would do damage to them also. A gun is cheaper, my son and my daughters took hunters safety as soon as they were allowed by law to and my nieces also. Here we dont' deal with 5 or 6 or even 8 to 10 coyotes, we are talking 3o or 40 at any given time. In the end if it is me or them, I am going to be the last one standing.

Agreeing with this. We have 4 small boys, and we have a 16ga that we keep in the house. The baby isn't old enough to know why a gun is dangerous, but he has heard "no touch!" enough that he won't go near it now. It does have a trigger lock and a shell is never kept in the chamber. The other boys all know that guns are not toys, we don't point guns at people (unless we're defending the women, children, and livestock), and if someone who isn't your mama or daddy is touching the gun, you come running and hollering. They are sometimes allowed to touch the guns in a target practice situation, but only if daddy hands them the gun and helps them shoot it.

If children aren't taught to respect guns, then they'll get hurt. If you teach them well, and use the strongest discipline methods to re-enforce it, you shouldn't have children who treat guns improperly. Not all parents spank, but we do. If ours ever touch the gun without express permission, they will be spanked (there is a predetermined punishment, so that they don't get abused in the heat of the moment), no questions asked. I feel strongly about this. I grew up in a home with guns, and sometimes they were loaded and not put up. I just knew not to touch them.

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Amy,
Manager of Ezekiel's Garden:
4 homeschooled boys (T, L, M, J), 1 high tech redneck dh, Alpine & Grade dairy goats, a chicken menagerie, and our garden.

Dogs are good to have around, they alert you to a lot of trouble and keep many bad things from happening. But any dog that can and will kill a coyote, I don't want around my kids everyday. I would much rather have a gun under lock and key, that I can control.

Traps catch anything that happens in them...

For what it is worth.

Funny, Seagullplayer. I would say exactly the opposite. The dogs are pack, part of our team. They will kill to protect members of the pack. They are specially protective of puppies (kids) and higher ups (us). That is how their society works. It is build in, deeply ingrained into their mindset. We have a rule, don't go anywhere without dogs. Out in the woods there are lions, tigers and bears. Worse, there are two legged predators. I have guns too, but a dog is better than a gun - it's ready 24/7.

I completely agree that traps are a bad idea. They do not indiscriminate.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

That is the Eastern coyotes that have crossed with wolves, sometime in the distant past..

I was just listening to one of our Game Commision officers who was explaining why Eastern Coyotes are larger then their Western cousins. The reason is as I stated above.

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Pennsylvania Constitution, Article 1 Section 21 "The Right of the Citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned"
www.pafoa.org
http://www.45thpacok.com

Two Great Pyrenees should be more than sufficient. They work as a team - and are very efficient at dispatching coyotes. We live next to 15,000 acres of timberland teeming with coyotes, mountain lions, and bears. Our dogs have handled them all and only one vet visit after two got into it with a mountain lion.

Sometimes we have three packs triangulate on our property. Never lost a goat or a chicken or a steer (bottle calves). And most importantly, my children are always safe. Because unless you are always going to be packin' - and the coyotes are this aggressive - you need someone/something on duty 24/7. Preferably something that can hear and see in the dark, knows how to handle themselves, can move swiftly and will willingly die if necessary to protect their charges. did I mention that with you and your children they will just be fluffy bundles of love?

And they don't eat that much - more like what a medium sized dog eats. (Not that they don't earn it!) I sure sleep great at night!

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Camille
Copper Penny Ranch
Copper Penny Boer Goats (home of 4 National Champions, 4 Reserve Champions)
Copper Penny Pyrenees
Whey-to-Go Saanens


www.copper-penny-ranch.com

Put some posion baits out at night. Just lock your stuff up. Or find a dead deer or sheep and put it out. Alot of teenagers around here like to sit out and pick them off when they come in for a free meal.

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Its not my job to feed,house, and insure the lazy and the illegal.

They ought to have a couple donkeys with those horses. Do they have enough land to get a livestock guardian dog? Can you ask local hunters if they are willing to hunt the property?

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

Odd, I came in here to do a search on coyotes,& found this thread! I have noticed them geeting a lot bolder here (eastern Kansas) lately,too. A few weeks ago I had a BIG male in my front yard (about the size of a GSD) going after my chickens that were pecking about, I ran out on the front porch when I heard the guinea screaming wildly (can't beat a guinea for a security alarm!!) & screamed & yelled at it till it took off. Never have seen one that big,or bold.
Tonight I went out to the front porch to make a call, & there was a pack of them surrounding the house, I could hear a few out by the driveway, barking like a dog, some near the road, and more behind the house, up near the woods.... it really seemed as if the one by the driveway barking was trying to lure my 2 dogs (a Labradoodle & a Pomeranian) out! It would bark a bit, then lapse into yiping/howling! It was really erie, as I could tell they were stationed all around the house! My 2 boys weren't budging, thank goodness.
After picking up my 14 year old daughter from church tonight, I had a long talk w/ her, as she tends to like to wander around the yard at night, listening to her MP3 player. After the killing in Canada, & the size of the male I saw in the yard, I told her NO night-time wandering! My Labradoodle is big, and a great guard dog, but he's no match for a pack.
I grew up in the country, coyotes were always around, but they never came IN THE YARD, like this pack has been doing. Someone said they may be coy-dogs, & I tend to agree, this big dude just had more of a wolf or GSD look to it, than your run-of-the-mill coyote. Scares me. as my dog is usually in the pen during the day (chicken killer) ,& I guess I need to get rid of the chickens, or NOT let my son play outside alone (6).

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0mrs4fpRv8

Yup, kill all the coyotes then complain about the rabbit and rat population.

Fence, fence, and double fence if necessary. Add large dogs inside the fence along with a gun for emergency use only. 4 foot field fencing works well... A 300 ft. roll is not expensive and if this lil' ole lady can pound t-posts & put it up, you can too.

I have a coyote pack nearby (that run my fence & tease my dogs), fenced 5 acres, a donkey and dogs. We co-habitate nicely. Only chicken I've lost is to my wolf-dog & that's 'cause I wasn't watching.

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Only she who attempts the absurd can achieve the impossible

This used to be coyote country until the big wolves moved back in and ate or drove them out.

My turkey farmer friends were able to raise thousands of turkeys without much loss using field fencing with an electric fence on the outside. The electric fence was put on liftable boards nailed to the base of the field fence posts. It was about 18-24" out from the post and 6" off the ground. That kept the 'yotes from digging under. The coyotes learned to sit a hundred yards away from the fence until a turkey with it's poor eyesight got curious and flew over the fence for a closer look.

In order to reduce the coyote population you need to kill more than 50% each year. Otherwise they just increase the number of pups born to compensate. That takes a lot of time and effort. It's much easier to beef up your fencing.

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

In the field, 3/4 Anatollian with 1/4 Great Pyr, 1 full Great Pyr. Inside the fenced in yard, 1 full Great Pyr and a Dobie, hound mix. That gives me almost 400 pounds of dog. I go through 40 pounds of dog food a week along with lots of dog biscuits. Have not lost a goat. Have lost chickens, but mostly to coons and such, plus hawks when the chickens are smaller. My backyard Great Pyr is about 140 pounds. Have the firearms to back up the dogs.

I am more worried for my dogs that pigs will come up from the creek and come through the fence.