I've got two likely candidates on the chicken killers.
1) I came knee to eye with a raccoon on my back porch a couple of nights ago (Not pleasant, I screamed like a little girl) There's a cat door from the back porch to the mudroom where coats and boots are stored and also dog & cat food. The food is in food safes, those big containers with screw on lids. Obviously they don't contain the food odors. No more cat door, and one pissed off kitty. She's a tomboy and enjoys (enjoyed?) her freedom.
2) Night before last the coyotes came up into the drive way. No surprise here, we've seem them before. Bear, the dog has always been under tight control and never allowed to wander outside alone so it wasn't a problem. He's a big boy and has always been able to 'hold it'. Poor kitty's going back to the cat box. (edit: hadn't seen them since long before we had kitty and thought she was safe - dumb huh ?)
When Bear hears the coyotes he goes ape-shit. (They must make a noise too low for humans to hear because he always warns me when they're coming.) Imagine a frantic barking golden retriever racing to every window he can possibly see out of to find them.
According to Bear they were here around about 25 minutes ago, so they must be getting hungry as food gets more scarce for the poor guys. I googled "coyote deterrent" & such today for about an hour and found squat.
In urban areas they have no natural predators and of course you can't hunt or trap them. So if you live on a green belt, with chickens and dogs and cats all you can really do is control/secure your animals. Which is of course a good idea but we've had the luxury of space and the cat has always been good about staying in the yard. It was foolish and naive of us.
Live and learn.
The real rub ? - My guy has been wanting to get pygmy goat for over a year. I relented and agreed last month. He found two and fell in love. He's paid for them and is madly working to convert a shed out back into a manger? goat kennel? so we can bring them home.
I'm starting too feel like Lisa from Green Acres. I think I want to move back too the city.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Chicken Killers
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2 comments:
Yep, either one could easily be the culprit. I have heard so many stories about racoons using the dog/cat doors to pop into people's houses around here.
Every summer when we start sleeping with the windows open our dog, Bitsy, goes insane at about 2am because the racoons start parading through the backyard. She does just what you're saying about Bear, but I'm pretty sure ours is just racoons and not coyotes, because we have a 6 foot fence in the backyard. I hate racoons. They get up on the birdbath to wash off their food and then POOP in it! Gah!
Well I'm glad you're taking precautions. You're right, there's not much you can do to keep mother nature out.
i hope you are feeling better.
speaking of racoons, i just two in my pool three mornings ago. they were so loud that they woke me up. they were huge. twice the size of my largest dog.
you don't want to move back to the city. how would i get my goatfix? :)
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