Last week, a group of three showed up near the house on four separate occasions, in broad daylight. Apparently, coyote mating season is from January through March. The two larger members of this pack might be males courting the smaller female.
The last thing I need is two macho coyotes trying to impress a girlfriend by taking her out for a nice pork dinner. But I'm not too worried. My border patrol agents and a five-foot fence stand between the coyotes and Wynonna.
Burros are renowned livestock guardians, and Alan is my chief coyote stalker. I love to watch him work.
Here are the two big guys on their way out of Dodge.
The always-worried-about-my-animals part of me wishes the coyotes would stay the heck off of my ranch. But the other part of me thinks they're really cool and interesting to watch. I'll just have to trust my border patrol agents to keep us all safe. I think they're up to the task.
excellent border patrol, I saw a coyote in our front yard not too long ago, We live in an urbanized area now as the city has moved out on top of us so it was in some ways scarey to think the coyotes are coming closer yet at the same time I love seeing the wild critters come through.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos~
We have alot of coyotes around here and tons of people use burros, donkeys. I have faith they will keep Wynonna safe and happy.
ReplyDeleteA little something for you over at my place...come and see.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about burros, how interesting!
ReplyDeleteI think you might have more coyotes in the SW than we do here in the Midwest. Or they are just not as afraid of people...they are hunted heavily here in farm country. Very cool critters, fun to watch, but then again I've never had a pet eaten by one. I know people who've lost their small dogs to them in CA where yotes roam the neighborhoods, sometimes in broad daylight.
We have them in the county park near us and they routinely pick off people's cats.
ReplyDeleteMy money's on the burros!
I trust George and Alan to keep things safe. Hopefully things will stay quiet and by March they'll be less active!
ReplyDeleteI would so LOVE to have a couple of burros after reading and following your blog! We have coyotes even here in our neighborhood in the lower desert. We used to hear them a LOT at night. Now it is only infrequent! Still, they HAVE grabbed small dogs from people walking them in Palm Springs! And, on hikes in the desert, we have found animal tags, but no animals.
ReplyDeleteI'ld be more worried about Deets than Wynona, as I suspect Deets probably roams further afield. The trusty burros will keep Wynona and the goat safe and hopefully, Deets will stay close to the farm yard.
ReplyDeleteGeorge and Allen will keep everyone safe I'm sure, it looks like they take their job seriously.
ReplyDeleteAround here the coyotes don't bother the horses, as a matter of fact I think Blue has made friends with some of them. I'm more worried about the bear and big cat that was sited behind the property.
Huh...are the coyotes all moving in the same direction? Maybe they're migrating. Do they do that? They sure look healthy and it's very cool how well they blend into the environment.
ReplyDeleteI love wildlife, but sometimes it's better to watch it from afar. I think it's great that you have such fine guards watching over their herd, you included, no doubt.
Those wiley coyotes! They're even starting to stake out San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. At our place in Sonoma, I'm definitely getting some burros to keep everyone safe. Even have planned names for them: Brighty and Burrito.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am in the Tucson house, the coyotes come right up to the door (bobcats too and some say cougar but the cougar I haven't seen personally there) and it's because of no fear. Up here, where we raise sheep, I will shoot at a coyote if it expresses interest in the sheep. I know they serve a good purpose but not near the sheep. One time I saw the sheep bunched up, felt concern it was an attack, ran out without a gun as time was not to be wasted and the coyote had a lamb down but not yet bitten. When I yelled like a banshee running straight at it, it ran. I don't know that the Tucson coyotes would run as they don't have the same experiences with humans.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely watch any small pets as they will kill dogs and cats. One of our neighbors in Oregon had a small dog snatched from their yard with them right there. They didn't realize the danger until the coyote was running off with the poor little thing; so I would always discourage them from near the house. When I am in Tucson I don't let the cats out as the bobcat would consider them a nice dinner if it could get close enough and I can't shoot at anything down there as it's too near other houses. Some down there use BB guns but that's got the risk of taking out a coyote's eye and disabling it; something you don't want to do.
I love what good border patrol agents GA Burro, LLC are :) They are too cute...and the coyotes are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWe have a pack of coyotes who descend upon our little valley regularly (I call them The SWAT Team). They are hilarious and play and romp just behind our arena. I even was lucky enough to get some video of their silliness recently (http://vimeo.com/2366409)
I can understand your worries about the smaller critters in your care-thank goodness for The Dynamic Duo's presence to help keep everyone safe :)
I'm praying they keep Wynona safe, haven't seen her lately, what has she been up to?
ReplyDeleteLove it! That's weird though. We do see a few this time of year. Right now we're under a Rabies watch, a horse less than 2 miles away died of rabies recently. BIG hoorah over it. So any coyotes seen during the day, I'm reaching for a rifle. I hate to do it, but can't take the chance...
ReplyDeleteI need Alan over here :)
I have a jenny, we call her Jenny! Right now she's penned because a section of our fence is down. But last night I sure do wish she was at my side. I got hollered at by a pack and it made me jump out of my skin! It is really creepy when you see them during the day though. They'll become sparse once breeding season is over.
ReplyDeleteThose two in your pic are huge though. They don't look lacking for a meal! Good thing you have the two donkeys, it's nice to have a little piece of mind.
Oh, we live in the DFW metroplex and yesterday, my husband and I saw a coyote on the side of the freeway in broad daylight. I have seen them before at night, but not during the day.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me so sad to see them, I know we have taken over their hunting and living spaces and they are doing what they need to do to survive, it just makes me sad for them looking for food in the city. They are such beautiful creatures.
Looks like your bunch have things under control. Cute post.
Great shots of the coyotes and also of your border patrol! We have coyote sightings around here and can hear them at night on surrounding mountains ... what an eeie sound!
ReplyDeleteGood pics of the coyotes. Yay Border Patrol!
ReplyDeleteJoanna, and anyone else who's been wondering where the porcine princess has been, come back on Thursday afternoon for "Wynonna does Skywatch."
ReplyDeleteAnnL, Deets has a bazillion juniper trees at his disposal to run up, should he ever get caught off guard, and when he is out in the pasture, he's with the boys. So I'm really not as worried about him. Wynonna and Willie are sitting ducks if a coyote should decide to scale the fence, since they live separately from the burros. But they're closed up in a stall at night, and the coyotes would have to scale two fences then to get them.
Heather, these coyotes are huge - jackrabbits must have a lot of calories.
Mikey, there is so much wildlife out here that I take no chances - George, Alan, Hank and Lyle are all vaccinated against rabies.
Coyotes are back bigtime in the northeast too. They're all around us here. On the occasional summer day they'll sit and watch us as we walk through the fields. One pretty horrifying midnight the dogs (all indoors) went bananas and when I looked out in the yard there was one coyote, and as I ran out in the one ran away, to be followed in short order by two others coming around the house. I had nothing to make noise with and was reduced to beating my fist on a snowbank and yelling.
ReplyDeleteA year or so after that, Angus got beat up very very badly. We thought at first, "coyote," but the vet seemed to think that it was more likely a fisher, which we have in abundance as well.
The wild things are out there, for sure. It takes a certain amount of vigilance combined with que sera sera to live in the wilds.
Hmmmm...very interesting, because I too have been seeing coyotes on the move during the day! (And we both know that I live nowhere near you!!!)
ReplyDeleteI always pay attention when I see a primarily noctural animal, out during the day. I wonder what is up??? What do they know that we don't??? Teeheehee!!! :0
In that last picture, I see your junipers are doing their mating thing too. Does the pollen bother you?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you have the donk duo to keep watch over the place. It is amazing how big the coyotes grow on jackrabbits. A couple years ago, I was sure the one I saw close to the house was too big to be a coyote. It was as big as a German Shepherd.
CeeCee, the pollen doesn't bother my nose, just my mental health. As we get closer to spring, on windy days, all the pollen will release from a tree at once. I immediately think "aack! fire!" But what I think is smoke is actually pollen.
ReplyDeleteCoyotes can be such a nuisance but it looks like your patrol have things under control.
ReplyDeleteI agree about worrying about Deets....
ReplyDeleteNothing is going to get past those guys!
ReplyDeleteHope the coyotes stay where they belong and out of your animals pens. I have always heard donkeys make good livestock guardians. We raise goats and the coyotes are thick here, not to mention neighbors dogs which can be even worse.. so we have to have guardians. We use Great Pyrenees dogs, I love them, they are also great livestock guardians.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind having a donkey though. Long before we got into goats I was at a horse auction and a gelded donkey came through the ring. They said he did everything and the only thing "wrong" with him was he hated dogs. I still wish I would have bought that donkey, didn't know at that time someday I would have goats and need livestock guardians. I bet he would have been a darn good one!
Very enlightening and beneficial to someone whose been out of the circuit for a long time.
ReplyDelete- Kris