# Coyote sighting… ugh



## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

Yep, there was a smaller sized coyote in our back woods. Right behind the goats… I am worried that he will try to make a meal of the younger goats or the chickens. We have three Livestock Guardian Dogs with the goats, two with the does, one with the bucks. One Great Pyrenees and one GreatPyr/Komondor/Karakachan mix with the does. One GreatPyr/Komondor/Karakachan mix with the bucks. The dogs were 5x bigger than the coyote, but you know, I'm a worry wort. Would he pose a threat to my chickens and my rat terrier dog too? Do we try to set traps out, or kill him? Should I even be worried? Help please! 


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Was he just passing by? He may not bother anything at all.. If he was just passing by, I would just keep an eye out and let the dogs do their job  if he starts to be a problem, that when you either trap or kill it.. But, coyotes are smart and hard to trap so you know..


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

He will pose a threat to your chickens. Keep an eye out and if you see him again...That's a little close for my liking. Your dogs should scare him off the goats, but everything else is fair game if he gets hungry.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

we find that a scout will come up to our pasture...they seem to be scopeing out the place be for a hit lol..coyotes do not like to work for food..they want easy...that lone coyote would have smelled your dogs....unless they are very hungry...they most likely wont bother your animals...but I would keep a close watch to see if he came back. we have donkeys in our back pasture..had one coyote circle our old donkey ( shes 37) he must have either been really hungry or really dumb...our other donkeys ran him off with a beating...so they can still come...just not as likely..


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Always watch. I hate it when predators come really close to my animals, it is scary. 

You have plenty of dogs which is good.

Coyote's, if in a pack, will actually take the dogs and lure them away from the goats, as another will work on the other dog, then the others will attack, as the dogs are diverted, they are really smart and need to be watched closely. If you hear the dogs blasting off take warning.


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## glndg (Feb 8, 2013)

They will catch small dogs given half a chance. Wasn't that video of a coyote nabbing a small dog posted somewhere on here a while back? A larger dog came to rescue thankfully. And cats. You didn't mention cats, but they eat cats at the drop of a hat. I have heard of a coyote killing a full grown Nigerian.

Good thing you have dogs!


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I would be concerned. Hopefully the coyote was just passing by, but I wouldn't risk it. I would definitely do your best to eliminate any that are around the area. They are a big threat to your terrier, especially if it's anything like ours' that think they're a big dog and will go after a coyote. We lost two jack russells a few months ago to coyotes. They like to lure them away from safety and once out in the open and vulnerable, they will attack and kill. You're livestock that are housed with the guard dogs should be okay, I wouldn't worry too much about them, but anything outside of the pens or alone in a pen in which the fencing could be compromised...yes they could be at risk. If any fencing is weak or could use some fixing up, definitely get it secured. I lost a lot of chickens, a few kids, and an adult doe to coyotes. If they were in their pen or coop, they were safe, but anything that got out was coyote dinner. I feared they would find a way into my pens so ended up getting two anatolian shepherds which have helped, but the coyotes still are slowly coming around. I'm going to look into trapping.


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## caprinelivin (Mar 6, 2014)

A study was performed, in Wyoming I believe, that involved non-invasive coyote control. There is A LOT of open range free range operations out there. Anyway, in the study they used meat laced with something that would make the coyote's sick but not kill them. They put the meat into the skin of a sheep I believe, and the coyote's associated the toxic meat with sheep and would not mess with the sheep. They are VERY smart and crafty! They would leave, and would not consider the sheep as a food source and pass this knowledge on to their offspring. I learned about this study in college referring to behavior modification but I will have to dig to find the article. It is online if you can find the right keywords! I thought this was interesting and useful knowledge. We have coyotes all around us--we can hear them just about every night!--but our goats are housed near the barn and house and we have Pyranees guarding them. So far no problems!


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## Daisy-Mae (Feb 24, 2014)

I saw one today at 10 am I was on my lunch break feeding the animals when I went to leave it was in the corn field. I wish I had time and a gun on me I would've shot it. My husbands going to keep an eye out for it. 


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

caprinelivin said:


> A study was performed, in Wyoming I believe, that involved non-invasive coyote control. There is A LOT of open range free range operations out there. Anyway, in the study they used meat laced with something that would make the coyote's sick but not kill them. They put the meat into the skin of a sheep I believe, and the coyote's associated the toxic meat with sheep and would not mess with the sheep. They are VERY smart and crafty! They would leave, and would not consider the sheep as a food source and pass this knowledge on to their offspring. I learned about this study in college referring to behavior modification but I will have to dig to find the article.


If that is the old study where they filmed it....I've seen that one. I had to laugh about it tho cause the coyotes "avoiding" the sheep were setting up the perfect coyote stalking I'd ever seen. LOL

2 coyotes, 1 sheep. First coyote come behind the sheep and the sheep whirls to face IT and the 2nd coyote come up behind, etc for several minutes. They end the film before the coyotes "run" from the sheep or kill it....the 2nd being what I can see actually happening. LOL


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

Thanks everyone! We will keep an eye out for him. We are thinking about possibly putting up snairs for traps.


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## Hodgson (Jan 7, 2014)

Something to keep in mind is that coyotes have territories, so if you have some that are not causing problems and you kill them, they will just be replaced by more coyotes, possibly some that are troublesome. If it's just in the area and nothing more, I'd ignore it. Especially since you have LGD's. It was probably just passing by and will carry on to the next place that doesn't have LGD's. I have one that comes nightly to eat the apples in my yard. He's never done anything except eat apples. He comes down the driveway, eats, then leaves the same way. Usually the cat is sitting 20 feet away watching him. I have no problem co-existing with him. There are plenty of apples, and when those run out, countless mice and voles in my sparsely populated area of Alberta. And I have several LGD's and all fencing is electrified with small spacings. I see deer, moose, wolf and coyote tracks along my fence lines, but not once has anything bigger than a bunny come through, because they can't without getting a strong shock. IF he started checking out the rest of the farm, I'd take action. Thats just me though, I'm reluctant to take the life of something without a good reason.


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

Well, now I am even more worried. We went over to check on the goats, and four of the babies (born this spring) had crawled under the smallest hole under the fence… and were eating honeysuckle right near where we saw the coyote. We blocked up that one hole, but ya know, they are goats, and if there is a hole we didn't see, they are gonna find it. I'm worried that they will find another hole, and go make an easy meal for that 'yote. *sighs* 


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## Hodgson (Jan 7, 2014)

Ya I'd be worried too. Maybe a strand of electric would keep them back from the fence. I've never had a goat escape, they really learn to respect the electric fences from the time they're born. I have about 60 does so far on my 155 acres. My goal is 250 does, so good fences are a must as they will someday be kidding out on open pasture on their own. So far nothing gets through, and the LGD's are pretty good at guarding against flying predators as well.


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## harleybarley (Sep 15, 2014)

We practice "hazing" - we yell at coyotes and even chase them. It does seem to help teach them that our "food" is harder to get than the field mice elsewhere in our valley. 

Baby goats can learn to respect electric fence. But you want to train them and watch them until they "get" it - you don't want a baby stuck in electric line.


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## Hodgson (Jan 7, 2014)

I turn the fencer off when they're tiny and restrict them to the night pen, which is about 5 acres. When they're about a month old I turn it back on and let them out into the big pastures. It takes some a few times and boy do they scream and run for mom! But after a couple weeks they've all learned and stay well back from it. In fact, I have to use Roundup along the fence lines to keep the vegetation down because no one will graze within a foot of the fence. Lol


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

We got our electric wiring working again. Now they hopefully won't be able to get out


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## ares338 (Dec 23, 2014)

With the LGDs you have the coyote should not be a worry. I have 2 ASDs and a Pyr and they will kill anything that's not a goat. I found a dead coyote on my back fence line. Oh and cats do not survive on my property or birds either. You should be fine with your dogs.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

That is too scary ! Keep watch and listen for those dogs !
Here's that video.




I LOVE this video , that coyote didn't have a chance ! 
That Rotti rocks !


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