Asking for ideas on how to "manage" coyotes

babsbag

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I hear the coyotes almost every night and I see the scat on the road all of the time and in the un-fenced areas of our land; even right near the house. I have two Border Collie x house dogs and I won't leave them in the fenced yard at night if I am not home. I don't trust those coyotes to stay on their own side of the fence. Fortunately I have my LGDs for the goats...they let me sleep at night.
 

Pastor Dave

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@Latestarter you are right. I wouldn't want someone shooting in the direction of the church or parsonage. That being said, I DO shoot behind them in the small field. My background is as an outdoorsman, hunter/angler from an early age.
Boyscout from 10-16. Judged dairy cattle in FFA and also did forestry competition. I wanted to be a game warden and actually went and earned a two-year AS degree in Conservation Law Enforcement. I have had back issues and a couple surgeries since age 18. That kept me from law enforcement or farming/ranching for that matter. It was ten more years before I would earn my bachelor's of ministry.
Wildlife management should involve taking care of overpopulation of species. Hunting helps with the whitetail population, but the coyote population is booming. Indiana allows year-round and nighttime hunting of coyote. My nearest neighbor and congregation member has had lambs this season killed and had to watch his calves dropped out in pasture very close. He is the farmer that mows and bales my field, and I help him with his other fields. He started paying a guy that does a "monthly management" of varmint/predators for huge bucks. They couldn't afford to keep paying him. If I see one on his or our properties, and of course it is safe, I will take that shot.
The person that goes out and buys a gun and scope to haphazardly take out all the coyotes on his property would be the danger to the community and neighbors. I do know Indiana mandates a hunter's ed course for all high school students, or at least used to. That may have changed. I believe that is a good idea.
 

samssimonsays

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Sadly, any animal can become a nuisance and it is usually humans at fault for it one way or another. Whether it is lack of population control, running them out of their habitat or even as much as feeding them from the kind hearted people out there who don't want the wildlife to go hungry. We no longer feed any wildlife what so ever due to a situation I was put through because of others doing so in our area.
I was attacked by a wild turkey Tom a couple years back. He attacked my car and wouldn't let me out. He actually chased my vehicle out of the driveway so I left and came back at which point he was gone. I made the decision to run for the house when he came barreling back at me from in the woods. I made it into the house but he continued to scream and flap at the door, he was actually throwing himself against the door and pecking it. It is a wooden front door so no reflection of himself was on it. I was home alone. I grabbed the gun, went out the back door on the deck, and all it took was the sound of the door and he came racing around the house and flew up at me. This was a shock for me because I knew they could fly but had never witnessed it nor did I imagine they could be so fierce! I shot him once, he got up again and I shot a second time taking him down immediately. I should add that I opted to use my husbands pistol instead of the shot gun and I am still unsure as to why other than I was more comfortable with aiming and shooting the pistol. I took care of him before anyone could even call me back with advice as to what to do. Come to find out, He had become unafraid of humans due to people feeding the wildlife and had been attacking people at the local dump in the previous weeks as well. He had a 6.5 inch and weighed in at around the 50# marker. His talons were like spears and his wing span was longer than my arm span fully extended, i am not a tall person but I do stand 5 ft 5 1/2 in tall so I am not terribly short either. He could have done severe damage to me or anyone he got his talons on including the small children that are in the area. No one would expect a TURKEY to attack like that in my area. I usually carry the gun with me to the barn even though it is not far from the house because you just never know anymore. The dogs being grown and adults now help a lot but I am always aware of my surroundings and that is the best way to manage a predator problem of any kind in my opinion. If something is threatening you, your livestock or pets, you take it out. That is my motto. :thumbsup
 

soarwitheagles

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Sadly, any animal can become a nuisance and it is usually humans at fault for it one way or another. Whether it is lack of population control, running them out of their habitat or even as much as feeding them from the kind hearted people out there who don't want the wildlife to go hungry. We no longer feed any wildlife what so ever due to a situation I was put through because of others doing so in our area.
I was attacked by a wild turkey Tom a couple years back. He attacked my car and wouldn't let me out. He actually chased my vehicle out of the driveway so I left and came back at which point he was gone. I made the decision to run for the house when he came barreling back at me from in the woods. I made it into the house but he continued to scream and flap at the door, he was actually throwing himself against the door and pecking it. It is a wooden front door so no reflection of himself was on it. I was home alone. I grabbed the gun, went out the back door on the deck, and all it took was the sound of the door and he came racing around the house and flew up at me. This was a shock for me because I knew they could fly but had never witnessed it nor did I imagine they could be so fierce! I shot him once, he got up again and I shot a second time taking him down immediately. I should add that I opted to use my husbands pistol instead of the shot gun and I am still unsure as to why other than I was more comfortable with aiming and shooting the pistol. I took care of him before anyone could even call me back with advice as to what to do. Come to find out, He had become unafraid of humans due to people feeding the wildlife and had been attacking people at the local dump in the previous weeks as well. He had a 6.5 inch and weighed in at around the 50# marker. His talons were like spears and his wing span was longer than my arm span fully extended, i am not a tall person but I do stand 5 ft 5 1/2 in tall so I am not terribly short either. He could have done severe damage to me or anyone he got his talons on including the small children that are in the area. No one would expect a TURKEY to attack like that in my area. I usually carry the gun with me to the barn even though it is not far from the house because you just never know anymore. The dogs being grown and adults now help a lot but I am always aware of my surroundings and that is the best way to manage a predator problem of any kind in my opinion. If something is threatening you, your livestock or pets, you take it out. That is my motto. :thumbsup

Very nice post Samantha! Wow, I never would have imagined a turkey that mean and ornery! Glad you dispatched him! And you must be a great shot with a pistol! Must people use a shotgun for turkeys.

Thanks for making the world a safer place!
 

babsbag

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I have 2.5 LGDs that guard my goats and they used to guard my chickens but the chickens had to be moved to a field of their own because of the dairy. The chickens field is fenced with 2x4 4' tall no climb and they get locked up at night and let out at sunrise. 6 months ago I added ducks and they follow the same routine as the chickens. Now I have a lot of chickens, they come and go in and out of their field and they sometimes disappear to go broody. I do not count them but I have over 50 hens.

A few weeks ago I was missing a duck. I thought that a little strange since they are safe at night. I didn't really check the fences as I was pretty sure they were tight. Well, I found duck feathers about 600' from my land so I knew it was a predator so I checked the fence and found a place where they could come under; it is in a gully and had probably eroded this last winter and the coyotes took advantage of that. Patched that up and that night there were some really mad coyotes at that fence... :lol:.

While I don't count my chickens I have few that are obvious and I noticed that I was also missing 2 of my 3 Polish. In the 8 years that I have owned chickens I have lost one to a predator that I know of, and that was a hawk. So this is new territory for me.

A few days later I lost another duck so again I checked the fence and didn't see anything as obvious as before but still tightened up a few potential spots that they could go under. I also changed the timer on the coop door to open at 8 AM instead of 6:30.

All is good for about a week and another duck is gone. Now I am mad. I started looking at the chickens again and I am also missing 4 of my Black Copper Marans. :hit This is out of control. The coop door now opens at 9 AM.

I put up a trail cam and all I see is a squirrel. But I found scat in the chicken yard and outside of the chicken yard and all too close to my goats. My bucks are in a pen with hot wire but no dogs, I need to change that tomorrow. I spent the day putting hot wire on my chicken fence but I am not getting the reading I would like but I ran out of daylight. More to do tomorrow. I also reinforced some fencing that was not as tight as I would like it to be. Our ground is everything but level so getting tight fences with no gaps at the bottom is tricky.

These coyotes are very bold, they are coming in the morning and granted 6:30 was early, but 8 isn't all that early. They are also having to come within 7' of my house to get into this area to begin with and they may very well be crossing my deck. I can't let the dogs into the entire area as I don't have good perimeter fences and I have a cat that is out all day and on a rare occasion over night. (bad kitty) My LGDs know nothing of cats. The area is too big and too broken up for the 2 adult dogs to guard successfully anyways and they have never been anywhere out of the goat pen so that really isn't an option. I could possibly let them into the chicken area at night but if the chickens ever got out the dogs know nothing about ducks and I know that they don't like the guineas that are often in the field too. So I am not counting on the dogs.

Does anyone have any experience with the electronic deterrents? I am hoping the hot wire will give them a reason to move on, but I think that they have found a smorgasbord.

Any ideas?
 

Baymule

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@babsbag I would suggest long term, train a dog to your chickens. With that many and that big of an area, you need a dog for them. In the mean time you could build extra cover for the poultry as a hawk deterrent. And you could close them up at night and allow the dogs access to their area at night. If your dogs are ok with the chickens, it's not a far stretch to get them used to the ducks too.

Check the rescue sites for a LGD that is good with poultry. You might find just what you are looking for.

You could have foxes. They are small, smart and like poultry.
 

greybeard

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One thing I know about coyotes. Dead ones don't get hungry and they don't re-appear. If you don't want or cant do it personally, there is no shortage of people that will be glad to come do it for you--put up a notice at the local feed& seed. "Coyote hunters wanted"
 

babsbag

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@greybeard Maybe a dumb question about hunting coyotes...do they just sit out there and wait for them or do they call them in ??? I am certainly not opposed to doing it, I have they ways and the means. I thought about a trap but leghold traps are not legal in CA, (no surprise there) so not sure how to trap them.

@Baymule I am wishing I had kept a puppy from my last liter a few years ago. When I get the dairy done and the new orchard planted I would love a dog in that area too to keep the dear and raccoons out of the orchard. My girlfriend has an intact female from my litter and she was planning on raising some pups but either the dog is defective or very stealth as she has never caught her in heat. :\ It will be years, maybe never, before Mia is safe around poultry. Maybe I need to check the rescues but in CA they are weird about letting them go to a working home. :he
 

greybeard

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@greybeard Maybe a dumb question about hunting coyotes...do they just sit out there and wait for them or do they call them in ??? I am certainly not opposed to doing it, I have they ways and the means. I thought about a trap but leghold traps are not legal in CA, (no surprise there) so not sure how to trap them.
Both means are used here. I do not call them in tho--just never leaned to o it and never needed to--I hear them coming or my own dogs alert me to them as they approach and I go by foot to the yelping, and I leave the dead ones laying where they fall--usually only got off one shot on any night, but it's been a long time since any came inside my perimeter fences (barbed wire). When I first cleared this place to pasture, they were here every night. I started thinning the packs out, one at a time. They aren't stupid animals--they learn quick to avoid areas fought with danger. I did find one on the county dirt road leading to my house last week--shot thru the neck by someone, so I know they are still around.
 

NH homesteader

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I've heard of people using recordings of rabbits screaming or whatever that noise is referred to, to call them in. My husband used to bait them with gut piles when he was a kid. I have no idea if this is still legal! It was then, but he grew up in the middle of nowhere. If you shoot a few they usually get the message. Every time I hear them come to close for comfort I hear my neighbor shooting to scare them off. Or we go do it if he's not home! They know what guns are. They don't like them!
 
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