Asking for ideas on how to "manage" coyotes

[Bossroo]

Babsbag... be very carefull of what you wish for regarding the eucalytus, as they are very brittle in the wind and regularly let their branches fly willy nilly to hit your car, structure or your head. Some friends cut down their 5 acre eucalyptus wood lot to cut down on liability issues ( friends and family car dammage and their auto and HO insurance saying they will no longer cover such dammage ) then had to spray regrowth to kill them regularly . Then have tons and tons of fun in removing the stumps.

 

[Bossroo]

Soarwitheagles... I used to live in Davis, Cal. Just NW of Sacramento then moved south to the Fresno area . I often visited the Jack Tone Ranch near Lodi and their famous Arabian stallion Fadjur... beutiful and very productive peat lands all along the Sacramento River. I would get the 5 foot tall fence rather than the 4 ft. then put the electric wire at the top (2) ( for 5 1/2 -6ft. tall fence ) and bottom. Many coyotes will jump the 4 foot fence just as fast as going under one.

 

[soarwitheagles]

I have never been to Baum lake but I know the general area it is in.We have been here about 8 years and haven't really done much camping. Goats have kinda taken over my life and now I am building a dairy.

I wonder if goats would eat eucalyptus? I always wondered why there were so many trees planted here. I used to live in Fairfield and they had 100s of them lining I-80 and it was just so naked looking when they took them all out to make way for more road. I know they grow fast but DH won't let me plant any as they do burn HOT and we are already in fire prone country; no need to add to the native fuel. I wonder too if they planted the wrong variety of tree, that often happens with some well meaning import. I would love to have some growing here to harvest for firewood.

That is a lot of fencing. Are you getting the 2x4 no climb or the 4x4 sheep and goat? I have a little of both and it seems the coyotes were going over both quite regularly until we put in the hot wire. Zareba has a new charger that is a 2 joule and will run off a 12v battery. Ours is a 1 joule DC and it has a bite. (Ask me how I know) We use a solar panel to keep the battery charged. I can't even imagine what a 2 joule one feels like to touch. We have no power in some of the areas so this charger works well for us.

We use the Zareba poly wire. We tried a more inexpensive wire and it started to rot after a year. This wire has been installed for at least 4 years and it is still doing well. The metal wire is a lot harder to install but you might think about that on the bottom so if you end up using a weed eater to clear the fence you won't cut the wire. I also hear that it is a better conductor.

One little trick I wish I had learned a few years ago is using those step in fiberglass poles in places that I need to go around a tree or if there is a slight dip in the ground. You can also use electrical strip ties to wire these to the woven wire and make the hot wire taller. I did that in an area where I was afriad my LGD was going to go over the fence to engage a neighbor's dog that kept charging my fence line.

Good luck with the fencing project. I am looking at buying 16 acres and the thought of fencing all of that is daunting.

babsbag,

We decided to go with the 2x4 non climb for the lambing area and we installed it two days ago. Getting ready to purchase a total of 7 rolls [2230 ft.] of the field fence due to incredibly high costs of the 2x4 no climb fence. I was planning upon purchasing the 4 ft field fence, but you are the second person today to recommend the 5 ft. fencing.

Front end of the property here is fairly level and cleared of trees. The back acreage is solid Eucalyptus forest and there is an existing woven wire field property fence along the entire perimeter.

4 years with the Zareba poly wire! That sounds like the winner!

 

[soarwitheagles]

Soarwitheagles... I used to live in Davis, Cal. Just NW of Sacramento then moved south to the Fresno area . I often visited the Jack Tone Ranch near Lodi and their famous Arabian stallion Fadjur... beutiful and very productive peat lands all along the Sacramento River. I would get the 5 foot tall fence rather than the 4 ft. then put the electric wire at the top (2) ( for 5 1/2 -6ft. tall fence ) and bottom. Many coyotes will jump the 4 foot fence just as fast as going under one.

The Fabulous Fadjur was one heck of a beautiful Arabian. Glad you were able to see this horse!

Yes, I hear you on the 5ft. verses 4ft. fence. We had dinner tonight with a good friend who is a successful sheep rancher here and he said the exact same thing! I will go tomorrow and see the price difference at TS. Thanks again!

 

[Scooby308]

Not sure about CA, but in KY for every one coyote you see, there are 10 more. They've become quite the nuisance. Back in the day, trapping and hunting kept game and predators to a manageable level. Back in the 80s you never even saw a coy. I trapped one of the first in the state in 87. Now there are tons.

From what Ive read in your post here, you seem to know outdoors stuff. Just remember the leg traps catch the neighbors dogs too. I luckily never trapped anyones dog, but it was always a fear.

Motion sensor buzzers might help to alert you when they cross the line. Give you a chance to fire a shotgun blast.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Not sure about CA, but in KY for every one coyote you see, there are 10 more. They've become quite the nuisance. Back in the day, trapping and hunting kept game and predators to a manageable level. Back in the 80s you never even saw a coy. I trapped one of the first in the state in 87. Now there are tons.

From what Ive read in your post here, you seem to know outdoors stuff. Just remember the leg traps catch the neighbors dogs too. I luckily never trapped anyones dog, but it was always a fear.

Motion sensor buzzers might help to alert you when they cross the line. Give you a chance to fire a shotgun blast.

Scooby,

Thanks for your post. Yes, I think leg traps are highly illegal in California. But I do remember reading about trapping coyotes with leg traps if we have a trapping license and all traps are stamped with a special state issued number. I hear you on the risk of catching neighbors dogs.

For the dog problem, we have used live traps and then turned the dogs over to the county animal control agency.

I contacted US Dept. of AG today. They have a wildlife services program where state officials come out and help with the coyote challenges. So now I am waiting to hear back from the local representative.

One thing is for certain...I need to do this legally and safely. I realize California is way over-regulated, but I need to learn to work within the boundaries of the existing laws. My understanding is shooting a coyote is legal and open season all year long here, but I will have to double check on that.

I also think I heard that shooting any animal that is killing or maiming your livestock is legal...but again, I will look into that.

 

[Bossroo]

Several years ago, Cal. started a program where they would send out a State sharpshooter to eliminate coyotes if you had a coyote problem. I don't know if this is still in effect. Well, my neighbor called them and they sent out a wildlife "expert" decked out in a green uniform to assess the coyote predation issue. I was present along with my neighbor, as I too whanted to have the coyotes controlled. Result... my neighbor showed this "expert " 3 dead coyotes that he had shot while they were actively killing his lambs and showed their carcasses too. This "expert " denied that there was a predation issue and stated that " coyotes had to eat too." When pressed this " expert" became beligerant and finally admitted that she was an animal rights person and sided with the animal rather than with any predation issue even when lookng right at the dead lambs and coyotes evidense. So, I would recomend that you ask some right and pointed questions of any representative that may be involved to see if you will get correct answers to your issue.

 

[Southern by choice]

Several years ago, Cal. started a program where they would send out a State sharpshooter to eliminate coyotes if you had a coyote problem. I don't know if this is still in effect. Well, my neighbor called them and they sent out a wildlife "expert" decked out in a green uniform to assess the coyote predation issue. I was present along with my neighbor, as I too whanted to have the coyotes controlled. Result... my neighbor showed this "expert " 3 dead coyotes that he had shot while they were actively killing his lambs and showed their carcasses too. This "expert " denied that there was a predation issue and stated that " coyotes had to eat too." When pressed this " expert" became beligerant and finally admitted that she was an animal rights person and sided with the animal rather than with any predation issue even when lookng right at the dead lambs and coyotes evidense. So, I would recomend that you ask some right and pointed questions of any representative that may be involved to see if you will get correct answers to your issue.

Funny how the activist has so much "compassion" for the coyote but none for the lambs and sheep.

 

[babsbag]

I also think I heard that shooting any animal that is killing or maiming your livestock is legal...but again, I will look into that.

Unless it is the infamous "lone" wolf, OR-7 (who now has a pack of his own). He will cost you about $10,000 and some jail time

 

[soarwitheagles]

Several years ago, Cal. started a program where they would send out a State sharpshooter to eliminate coyotes if you had a coyote problem. I don't know if this is still in effect. Well, my neighbor called them and they sent out a wildlife "expert" decked out in a green uniform to assess the coyote predation issue. I was present along with my neighbor, as I too whanted to have the coyotes controlled. Result... my neighbor showed this "expert " 3 dead coyotes that he had shot while they were actively killing his lambs and showed their carcasses too. This "expert " denied that there was a predation issue and stated that " coyotes had to eat too." When pressed this " expert" became beligerant and finally admitted that she was an animal rights person and sided with the animal rather than with any predation issue even when lookng right at the dead lambs and coyotes evidense. So, I would recomend that you ask some right and pointed questions of any representative that may be involved to see if you will get correct answers to your issue.

Wow, what a shocking and sad story! Thanks for sharing and now I will be extra cautious and very careful to ask the correct questions when the Dept. of Ag rep comes to visit us. This specific branch of government is called Wild Life Services Program, and the agents are referred to as "trappers."

I will also do my best to openly share at this forum the results.

Several of our neighbors handle the coyote/fox challenges quite differently. Some of them have the $2000+ night scopes attached to a 300 Winchester Magnum. They make one heck of a loud noise, esp. when you hear it at 2-3 am in the morning.

I would give them credit for keeping the numbers of predators lower than what it could be...and I suppose this is the SSS method so many people speak about. Needless to say, I do not want to get into any trouble by breaking laws, even if some of the laws at times appear to be ridiculous.