Beekissed
Herd Master
Our coyote pack came through just last night...the pup's first experience with them. They were really close to the meadow this time and Jake was barking and howling along with them. I usually go out when they come that close and I get the chance....I love to howl along with Jake as our answer to the coyotes. The pup is really too young to bark much...haven't heard him bark other than when playing. The pup has been sleeping like the dead today, so that adventure last night must have been exciting.
Now, I've had a single dog guarding these chickens this past 4 yrs here and the coyotes live here close...Mom met one when walking back from the mailbox one day(.4 mile from the house), both were surprised.
She didn't take Jake with her that time or she would have gotten to see his reaction to that 'yote in broad daylight. She has taken him every time since then, though. 
We have 4 gut piles and one huge bone pile all around the perimeter of the meadow right now, so the coyotes are having a ball with the food.
What I've noticed different about our coyotes and how folks describe their regional packs, is that ours are VERY wary of humans. Everyone has a gun in these parts and LOVE to get an opportunity to take a pot shot at a 'yote. I can't imagine one actually coming up to the house, especially where a savvy dog lives outdoors and a hillbilly lives indoors. Not even at night. Oh, they could no doubt take a dog down as a pack, but the fear of the humans here seem to work in our favor. I've lived in the country all my life and am an outdoorsy person, not to mention have traveled the roads at all hours for work but I've never actually seen a coyote. They are here, but I've never seen one. Mom has only seen one and she has lived here for 40 yrs, smack dab in the middle of a thousand acres of woodland. We hear them aplenty, but we have rarely seen them.
Jake doesn't go out to meet or confront the pack, but puts his back to the shed where he is sheltered on two sides and he barks from there. His bark is not a fear bark but a territorial bark...they have a different rhythm and tone.
Could be our system works due to many factors...the nature of the coyotes in this area, the nature of the dog that I have, the fact that they don't NEED to hunt in my meadow for food and my livestock are inside a building at night. The fact that I contribute to their food supply with the many chicken and deer carcasses and guts~ in season, and even carcasses of the stray dogs that would seek to prey upon the flock, and the fact that they have plenty of their usual prey on which to feed.
Or it could come down to the simple fact that I commit all my animals to the Lord for protection and He is answering that prayer by protecting them when I cannot. I believe that is the most accurate reason. I sleep easy at night knowing that the Creator watches this meadow and has His hand on all that live here.
Now, I've had a single dog guarding these chickens this past 4 yrs here and the coyotes live here close...Mom met one when walking back from the mailbox one day(.4 mile from the house), both were surprised.
She didn't take Jake with her that time or she would have gotten to see his reaction to that 'yote in broad daylight. She has taken him every time since then, though. We have 4 gut piles and one huge bone pile all around the perimeter of the meadow right now, so the coyotes are having a ball with the food.
What I've noticed different about our coyotes and how folks describe their regional packs, is that ours are VERY wary of humans. Everyone has a gun in these parts and LOVE to get an opportunity to take a pot shot at a 'yote. I can't imagine one actually coming up to the house, especially where a savvy dog lives outdoors and a hillbilly lives indoors. Not even at night. Oh, they could no doubt take a dog down as a pack, but the fear of the humans here seem to work in our favor. I've lived in the country all my life and am an outdoorsy person, not to mention have traveled the roads at all hours for work but I've never actually seen a coyote. They are here, but I've never seen one. Mom has only seen one and she has lived here for 40 yrs, smack dab in the middle of a thousand acres of woodland. We hear them aplenty, but we have rarely seen them.
Jake doesn't go out to meet or confront the pack, but puts his back to the shed where he is sheltered on two sides and he barks from there. His bark is not a fear bark but a territorial bark...they have a different rhythm and tone.
Could be our system works due to many factors...the nature of the coyotes in this area, the nature of the dog that I have, the fact that they don't NEED to hunt in my meadow for food and my livestock are inside a building at night. The fact that I contribute to their food supply with the many chicken and deer carcasses and guts~ in season, and even carcasses of the stray dogs that would seek to prey upon the flock, and the fact that they have plenty of their usual prey on which to feed.
Or it could come down to the simple fact that I commit all my animals to the Lord for protection and He is answering that prayer by protecting them when I cannot. I believe that is the most accurate reason. I sleep easy at night knowing that the Creator watches this meadow and has His hand on all that live here.
Knowing our government, it was their way of controlling our food supply even further, by removing the free large bodies of meat out there in the forest. 
