My wife & I saw a coyote on the way home tonight. Nice healthy looking animal. Didn't seem very disturbed by our car.

Wondering how well established they are in N Al & Tenn. Anyone know of anything that will tend to repel them? (okay, I know the clear answer to that one but anyone have other solutions?).

thanks!

j

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), June 15, 2001

Answers

Hey J! Sure I know---besides the obvious! Get an AIRDALE dog. Them raskels are meaner'n a snake. Ole jeep has one [Grizz] and he'd fight a buzzsaw I suppose. Always digg'n out groundhogs and anything else that just happens to "tread" on Jeeps property. They are well known as a good bear hunt'n dog. No coyotes around Jeeps house either! Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), June 15, 2001.

Yes they are really established here all over the place We live on the tenn/al line just east of Florence and hear them every night.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), June 15, 2001.

We are kind of between Birmingham and Gadsden and there are coyotes everywhere around here! Especially along the creeks and rivers. At night we can hear them running up and down our creek.

A few months ago a pack of them came right under our bedroom window! They have gotten really bold!

Lots of the farmers here keep donkeys in their pastors to fight off the coyotes, and a few have llamas.

I just have my bunnies and chickens as secure as possible!!! And we don't let our cats outside the house. Coyotes love to kill (eat?) house cats!

About two weeks ago a HUGE coyote ran across our field in the day time!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), June 16, 2001.

We know a cattle rancher that had to get the help of animal control to help eradicate a pack that was taking down his cattle north of Huntsville.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 16, 2001.

Thanks for the input. We're just outside Huntsville. I assumed that they were established around here but hadn't not heard of anything in the news.

My parents are in NW Florida and they have mentioned a number of times seeing them in their area.

I too, have heard of coyotes killing & eating domestic cats. I am courious whether that is a 'meal' of choice (that is they *actively* find the cats) or if the cats just happen to be an easy catch.

j

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), June 18, 2001.

they are also in the tuscaloosa area. i saw a very large one a week ago

-- larry jarvis (ljarvis.afc@shelton.cc.al.us), June 18, 2001.

Here in central Tx they are really bad. Ranchers and weekend farmers have to watch their livestock closely or run the risk of losing them. When we moved here from Houston we let our old blind poodle out to do her business. She never left the house because she could not see well. She would just keep one shoulder to the house and do her job and come back. Well we thought we would run to the store while she was out, she had never wondered off. When we came back she was gone! Not a trace, a hair, nothing. We searched everywhere and I cried for 2 weeks. We had heard coyotes in the area but never thought about them coming and taking our pets. Well a few weeks later 2 of our cats dissapeared. Our vet and neighbors finally clued us in. Since then we have lost close to a hundred chickens, ducks, geese to coyotes. You can always tell it is a coyote because if at all possible they leave nary a hair behind. We are not above using a gun, I have poisoned ( after waring the neighbors ) and tried to trap them. Some years they are worse than others. As a animal lover I hate killing them but when you hear of them eating calves as they are being born it sorta changes your mind. So far, we have not killed many (if any) for coyotes are smart and skilled in living around humans. I am not sure what the answer is but I don't want them to ever take one of my pets off again! The weird thing is, I love to hear them howl at night it touches something primal in us all. Of course the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I know they were here first, I just can't think of a good solution to the problem.

-- Linda Wernecke (lmwernecke@medicine.tamu.edu), June 20, 2001.