This weekend was cold. I mean COLD! And on one of those cold nights, when the wind was still, I got up in the middle of the night to put wood in the stove. As I stood there waiting for the fire to catch up, I heard the most awful sound coming from outside. Coyotes!!!!
I looked out the door. Standing on our pond dam were two HUGE coyotes! Howling and yipping and making all kinds of sounds. Some people might say,"So?" Well, our pond dam is not more than 25 yards from our house! And with it being that close to the house, they were even closer to the goat pen. They were less then 5 yards from the goat pen!
Since it was so still outside and the wind was not blowing at all, I left the goats' door, to their house, open. That way they could move all night if they wanted. And now, there were two big coyotes standing really close to them.
I opened the door and yelled. They didn't do anything. I went outside and waved my hands and yelled. They looked at me and still nothing. It was like I wasn't even there. You know that saying about them being more afraid of you....? Well, someone lied! They were not a bit afraid of me. After a few minutes of yelling and waving and jumping up and down, they finally just trotted off down over the hill. It was like they were saying, "Well okay, I guess we will move."
I saw the goats were watching them with a LOT of interest. I don't blame them. I was watching them with interest too.
So at 3:00 a.m. in the morning I went out and closed up the goats in their little goat house. No goat food for you coyotes!
So until next time,
Small Farm Girl, coyote scarerer.
13 comments:
Glad your little goats were okay. We have coyotes here too and like you said they are NOT afraid of us, well until you get really close( within 10-15 ft) then they'll run, by then it's typically to late for at least one of them( catch my drift*wink*)
Again glad your goats are okay
Kelle
They are afraid when you have a shotgun.... My dad would take a spot light out and shine at them and it would chase them off. You can get a decent rechargable one from Wallyworld or just about any store that carries things like that.
I personally keep the barn lights on.. They have one hanging off the front of the panel barn that has a flourescent(sp?)light bulb in it so they dont get to hot and it compares to a 100watt bulb.
Also with having little goats liek yours I would probably be locking them in at night epecially right now as its colder and food gets a little scarce for them this time of year.
I remember that my lab would kind of lay unusually quiet in the house when the pack were active at night. But when it came to the black bears in the apple trees she would go nuts...go figure eh?
I am so happy that you saw them and your goats are safe too! :)
Oh my! Glad you scared them away! I agree with Tonia...a shotgun would scare them! Maybe they wont come back!
Glad to hear the goats were okay. We have coyote`s here as well and hear them in the spring and summer when the windows are open. Nothing like a shotgun to get everyone`s attention!
Where were the dogs?? Don't they bark at night at strange animals lurking about?? Probably in the house curled up by the fire. lol Hope they don't come back. Goats BEWARE!!...debbie
Glad it all ended on a happy note. Your my second blogger friend this week to post about coyotes. I don't know if you read Karen's blog at Life on the RoughString, but her little terrier got attacked by 2 coyotes this weekend. Pour thing is chewed up pretty bad but she's going to make it thankfully. I admire coyotes for their resourcefulness and adaptability. They are truly an amazing animal. And as sheep ranchers...enemy #1!
Yikes! You sure don't want to deal with coyote kills or injuries. I'd keep that rifle handy, sad to say :-/.
The coyotes do get very brave. Here in Arizona they just walk right up the street with houses on both sides without a care......and in Washington state they're constantly parked just yards away from my chicken and turkey pens,
Even though we lock up all the animals at night, the sound of coyotes that close still raises the hair on the back of my neck! Yikes!
We have had a coyote come up near our house, by the time I got the rifle out, he was gone...Now, I keep my .410 right by the back door with half a dozen shells at arms length...I would NEVER hesitate shooting a coyote, they will definitely do some harm to your critters...Good luck and aim straight!!! Ha!
Yikes!! Good thing you were observant or your little goaties would be Coy dog chow (that's what coyotes are called here, coy dogs). Glad everyone was safe! Stay vigilant, the fact that they weren't bothered by you in the least yelling at them makes them that much more dangerous. Best of luck to you! And have a great visit with your hubby this weekend! Safe travels to him.
~Vonnie, NH
That's scary!
I'm glad your goats were ok.
Nothing tries to attack our goats with our llamas on guard. In fact we used to have coyotes close by, but they stay away now....and focus on the chicken coop instead. I wish our llamas had free range so they could protect our chickens, too. They are wonderful protectors. I never worry about our 3 goats anymore.
~Lisa
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