Coyote Nesting Near Our Property - Concern for Kitties

[binzing]

Sorry but how can you all call skunks nice, peaceful, useful animals, as well as bears only to treat the coyote as it if were less then a rat? I really don't get it. Maybe its just part of growing up in the desert.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Sorry but how can you all call skunks nice, peaceful, useful animals, as well as bears only to treat the coyote as it if were less then a rat? I really don't get it. Maybe its just part of growing up in the desert.

Any animal threatening the lambs and calves would be treated the same way. I don't think I've ever heard of a bear or a skunk attacking a lamb.

Keep in mind that around here, they even shoot pet dogs if they're a problem. When we first moved here, luckily I was warned when our dogs got out. It was a personal favor that all three of our dogs weren't shot on sight. [edit: minor irrelevant correction; we only had two at the time]

 

[dlgoff]

Back when I was a kid, there were so many cyotes that the state declaired a bounty. You could get $2/ear. At $4/cyote, it didn't take long (maybe 2 or 3 years) to get the population back in check. Farmers would hang cyote carcuses on their fences. You might see a whole row of them.

 

[binzing]

Back when I was a kid, there were so many cyotes that the state declaired a bounty. You could get $2/ear. At $4/cyote, it didn't take long (maybe 2 or 3 years) to get the population back in check. Farmers would hang cyote carcuses on their fences. You might see a whole row of them.

Research has proven with coyotes that killing them in large numbers only leads to a population surge.

 

[dlgoff]

Here you go Ivan. Go get that darn animal.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1337&context=gpwdcwp"

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here you go Ivan. Go get that darn animal.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1337&context=gpwdcwp"

I would imagine that the neighbor has already taken care of things. This is lambing season.

 

[turbo]

Sorry but how can you all call skunks nice, peaceful, useful animals, as well as bears only to treat the coyote as it if were less then a rat? I really don't get it. Maybe its just part of growing up in the desert.

It's not that coyotes don't fill a niche - it's just that their niche often ends up conflicting with the wants and needs of humans who ranch, farm, or who own pets. Skunks are very beneficial animals to those of us who garden organically. They are great insect-hunters, and they have my respect and thanks for that. They are also pretty darned cute and friendly. If you don't threaten them, they will get chummy really quick. One place that my wife and I rented, there was a mother skunk and her brood living under a shed, and they would come out every evening when I had my telescope set up. The babies would trundle over and look up at me, right around my feet, because they are curious and their eyesight is not all that great.

Black bears are curious and intelligent, but they are quite shy, and you'll rarely ever see one in the wild unless you're quiet, unobtrusive, and as scent-free as possible. Neither of these animals poses any threat to domesticated animals or humans, unless you count dogs that get sprayed for being aggressive toward skunks, or people that have run-ins with bears because the bears equate human habitats with "easy food" due to poor waste-handling, etc. Coyotes are not evil or "lower than a rat" but they are incredibly versatile and exploitative, and combined with their prolific breeding, that creates lots of opportunities for run-ins with humans and their animals.

 

[Danger]

I love skunks, despite the fact that the first one I encountered had just finished eating my pet duck. If Lucy predeceases me, and W doesn't go ballistic about it, I'd like to get one for my next pet. For the value towards salesmen and traveling Jesus Freaks, I would not get it descented.

 

[turbo]

There is an animal rescue operation about 50 miles from here that my wife and I organize trips to with friends. One time, we got a half-dozen bikers to go there with us, and everybody donated money to the operation. That time, Don and his wife had an orphaned baby skunk who LOVED to be held. My wife lugged her around for 15-20 minutes as we toured the enclosures where foxes, bobcats, etc were being nursed back to health, and I had to practically demand that she turn over the little girl so I could hold her for a while. What a sweetie! I cupped my hands at chest-level, and she stood on her hind legs with her front paws on my chest to look at me, then curled up in my hands and snuggled up. I wanted to steal that skunk!

 

[OAQfirst]

I didn't know that skunks sounded like that. They're cute, too!

 

[turbo]

I didn't know that skunks sounded like that. They're cute, too!

Baby skunks are very vocal. It's a hoot to have them crowded around you in the growing darkness and listen to them. Finally, when Mama calls (sometimes more than once if they're having too much fun) they head off with her, and generally form a line. It's cute.

 

[Moonbear]

Where I'm moving, there's a big field across from me, and lots of woods around too. Apparently, there are coyotes (but I already knew there were coyotes generally in the area...it's best for pets around here to be kept indoors), and a whole bunch of deer who eat the landscaping. I'm somewhat tempted to request the coyotes help control the deer a bit. Supposedly, I'll also have an ocassional stray bear (one of my friends lives in the same area and says it's rare, but once in a while one wanders through the neighborhood), and plenty of wild turkeys (I've been seeing a lot of those all over the place lately though...a large flock of them was in one of the fields I pass on the way to work the other day, with 3 or 4 males strutting their stuff while the females cheered them on...I've never before stumbled upon wild turkeys in the midst of mating displays...they sure did look tasty).

The mouse colony in the garage has already been eradicated by the sellers. My friend tells me there are plenty of chipmunks around the neighborhood too...a few too many and they get a bit destructive, but I enjoy chipmunks too much to care.

I can't wait, just a few more weeks until I can enjoy it.

 

[DaveC426913]

Baby skunks are very vocal. It's a hoot to have them crowded around you in the growing darkness and listen to them. Finally, when Mama calls (sometimes more than once if they're having too much fun) they head off with her, and generally form a line. It's cute.

I saw the most cutest raft of skunks. Imagine an unknown number of skunk kits, all tails in the air, moving across your lawn as a single unit of black-and-white a metre square.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here is a rather bad photo [really had to crank up the brightness] of one family that was living under our utility shed. They are all babies except for mom, who is heading under the shed.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/1193/skunks009b.jpg

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Where I'm moving, there's a big field across from me, and lots of woods around too. Apparently, there are coyotes (but I already knew there were coyotes generally in the area...it's best for pets around here to be kept indoors), and a whole bunch of deer who eat the landscaping. I'm somewhat tempted to request the coyotes help control the deer a bit. Supposedly, I'll also have an ocassional stray bear (one of my friends lives in the same area and says it's rare, but once in a while one wanders through the neighborhood), and plenty of wild turkeys (I've been seeing a lot of those all over the place lately though...a large flock of them was in one of the fields I pass on the way to work the other day, with 3 or 4 males strutting their stuff while the females cheered them on...I've never before stumbled upon wild turkeys in the midst of mating displays...they sure did look tasty).

The mouse colony in the garage has already been eradicated by the sellers. My friend tells me there are plenty of chipmunks around the neighborhood too...a few too many and they get a bit destructive, but I enjoy chipmunks too much to care.

I can't wait, just a few more weeks until I can enjoy it.

Cool Moonbear! And with the bears kicking around, you can spend some time with family.

 

[dlgoff]

They are all babies except for mom, who is heading under the shed.

With their tails up like that, you should be glad they were only babies.

 

[turbo]

With their tails up like that, you should be glad they were only babies.

Even the babies are fully-armed. They need to keep that weapon ready to go, though, and won't discharge unless they feel very threatened. When my wife picked up the baby skunk at the animal rescue, she asked Carlene if the skunk was descented and was told "No, or she wouldn't be able to defend herself when we release her."