Coyote Problem

[danielle]

My husband and I just bought a new house. The day we closed on it we drove over there and laying in the backyard was a coyote. When it saw us it just jumped over the fence like there was nothing there. Living in Arizona I know that we have coyotes but we have never had an issue at our current house. The new house has been vacant for serveral months. Speedy and Flash live outside 24 hours a day. We have a secure place for them to sleep at night but during the day they have total access to the entire yard and this is how I want to keep it. I was wondering if anyone has had an issue like this and what you did to fix it. We are looking at several different options that we can add on to the fence and was hoping to get some insight on what others have used before we drop some major$$$$.
Speedy is about 11 lbs and Flash is about 14 lbs. So they are not tiny but in my eyes they are still little dudes.
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[tortadise]

I have coyotes, bobcats, and cougars out at my facility. I put up a 5 1/2' fence with heavy gauge wire around the tort coral (300 x 80) and then the buildings and outdoor Pens are inside the fenced area. I do have a Australian Shepard that guards the torts. But in the 8 years there I've never had any problems. The smallest torts I have outside are about 5" . Coyotes are leuring predators. You shouldn't worry too much, as long as there's a good fence around there pen at least 5-6' tall.

 

[Katherine]

I could have written this post myself. I literally thought this morning about asking this network of TFO people about effective predator fencing. I have a similar problem, but have yet to develop an ideal solution. Although they have never shown interest in my tortoises (it feels like a ticking time bomb) we also keep chickens, and have yet to construct a property boundary that will keep them out. They jumped a 5.5 ft hogwire fence and dug under/burst through a very sturdy well made chicken coop earlier this month and injured 3 of our birds before we got outside to run them off. They are strong and persistent predators and I hope you are able to keep them off of your property. We too, are curious about the most effective fencing options, and I am hopefully someone will have some sound advice for you that I can borrow : )

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I have coyotes, bobcats, and cougars out at my facility. I put up a 5 1/2' fence with heavy gauge wire around the tort coral (300 x 80) and then the buildings and outdoor Pens are inside the fenced area. I do have a Australian Shepard that guards the torts. But in the 8 years there I've never had any problems. The smallest torts I have outside are about 5" . Coyotes are leuring predators. You shouldn't worry too much, as long as there's a good fence around there pen at least 5-6' tall.

Do you mind me asking where approx you are located? Maybe I just have especially limber coyotes here in Louisiana : (

 

[Neal]

Do you live in an HOA? You might want to check with the board or your management company to see what they might recommend or allow you to do about keeping out the coyotes.

Those things can jump fences like they were nothing, as you saw. Sorry, don't have much I could recommend here. Maybe plant some cactus along your fence line. That MAY deter them if you plant it thick enough, and also give you lots and lots of good tortoise food.

 

[tortadise]

North Texas. I suppose my dog does a good job then. Ive seen packs of 100s before pretty scary when you see that many. But they must stayed well fed here because they've never tried to jump my fence. I guess I'm lucky. But I still close the doors at night when they tuck themselves in. And the biggens ram it open at dawn . I will take a photo of the fence and maybe start a thread on it.

 

[Jacob]

Congrats!
Theres coyotes out here where i live as well, Maybe a Guard dog?

 

[Tom]

Once they become desensitized, like the one you saw, there is really no hope. It's the coyote or your animals... Sadly, that is the reality. Efforts to drive them away or keep them out have never succeeded long term for anyone I know.

 

[Laura]

if the house is vacant, he might just be hanging a bit.. once you are there he might decide its not where he wants to be.. OR like Tom says....
Sometimes.. trouble or problem animals needs to be removed.. :-( Our fences are 5 foot no climb horse fencing, and Ive seen them hop right over like it was not there, and they also dig under.
I lost all my geese and ducks to them.. but they have not bothered anything else.. knock on wood..... They did kill and eat the small dog across the way tho.. we had the County trapper come out and lower the numbers a bit when that occured.. problem is.. did he get the 'right' ones? or just make the problem worse?? so far all is ok..
you can look into installing rollers on the top of a fence to help prevent them from going over. it can be done with PVC pipe.. google it.. Coyote Rollers i think....
CONGRATS on the new home!!!

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http://www.coyoteroller.com/coyote_roller[hr]
http://thepoodleanddogblog.typepad....-continueis-the-coyote-roller-the-answer.html

read the comments.... coyotes flying over 8 foot fences.. rollers may not work... ;-/

 

[Yvonne G]

Laura voiced my thought too. I think because the house was vacant for so long, the coyote had a nice quiet, safe place to live. Once you start moving around in the house and cleaning up the yard, I'll bet he'll go find a more quiet place and leave your property alone.

 

[Tom]

If he's not completely desensitized to humans, you might be able to save his life by teaching him to avoid humans. Effectively "re-sensitizing" him. Paintball guns, bb guns and loud firecrackers work well for this. If you can make him afraid of humans and human areas by inflicting some minor pain on him, it might teach him to stay the heck away from those awful scary humans and their dwellings. It might sound harsh, but the alternative for "problem" coyotes is death. I'd rather shoot one in the butt with a paintball and save its life than have to kill it.

Just be aware that these measures almost always fail, because they are too smart and the drive to get easy food and water in such a harsh environment is too strong.

Also, if any problem coyotes must be killed to protect the lives of the neighborhood pets, there are still PLENTY of them in the world. It's not like you'd be wiping out the last members of an endangered species.

 

[fishera79]

I have coyotes. Buy an electric fence system that's designed to keep out wolves and run barbed wire around the bottom outside out a ways and a foot up. That'll stop them.

 

[HonuFonu23]

Well, technically the coyotes were there first lol. But with all jokes aside, you gotta protect your family and your pets. Have a fence built... make sure it's a brick fence.

We have coyotes wandering around our neighborhood late at night. If it wasn't for the man made walls/gates/fences, our animals would be dinner. I've lived in AZ for 16 years. So I can understand your dilemma.

If you have any other problems, you should contact that AZ Humane Society and see if they can offer any advice.

*I'm pretty sure our wall is nearly 6 feet tall.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Once they become desensitized, like the one you saw, there is really no hope. It's the coyote or your animals... Sadly, that is the reality. Efforts to drive them away or keep them out have never succeeded long term for anyone I know.

 

[danielle]

Thanks for the all the advice. We have looked at the coyote roller but have not yet priced it out and I have contacted some fencing companies to see what we can add to the top of the fence.

 

[Itort]

I also had coyote problems. Running electric wire along bottom of fence 18 to 24 inches high and along top of 6 ft fence will help. Of course this option may not be possible as some area forbid it (kid might stung ). If your property is over an acre in area a donkey works great.

 

[Zamric]

As everyone has said, these guys are GREAT jumpers! But physics is still physics.... In order to reduce the height of there jumps you must lengthen it. is there any chance you can plant a row of bushes around the outside of your fence? If you have a 6' fence, they will need to get close to the fence to make the heighth, a row of Holly Bushes could be all the extra barrier you need.[/font]

 

[Tom]

I also had coyote problems. Running electric wire along bottom of fence 18 to 24 inches high and along top of 6 ft fence will help. Of course this option may not be possible as some area forbid it (kid might stung ). If your property is over an acre in area a donkey works great.

Ooh, very true Larry. Donkeys HATE coyotes and charge them on sight with teeth bared and hatred in their eyes! Careful though many of them will do this to dogs too.

Emu will also work. Ostrich will do the job, but they will try to kill you too...

 

[ascott]

Okay, tortoise-check, tortoise yard-check, fence-check, donkey and emu-check and check....LOL ..

Loving this thread.....



(don't get me wrong, I live in the high desert and they are all about up here as well....I notice that they will opt to eat rabbit, squirrels, birds, dogs and cats (apparently easier to get to the good stuff) before they will go for the torts---if you are in an area with good shopping list items for them then you will LIKELY have less of a problem---but it is absolutely a valid concern)

I personally love the noise donkeys make when they get all worked up so I would vote for the fun donkey...lol

 

[EKLC]

wow you guys in the wild west have some crazy problems

 

[dmmj]

Donkeys hate coyotes? I never knew that, any particular reason? or is it just blind hatred?