The first explanation offered is urban sprawl. While we have had a population
influx from the north, all of the construction has been close to town or along
major roads.
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| We are located where the red star is, just north of city limits. |
So it could be urbanization, but I find it curious that coyotes would migrate toward populated areas rather than toward increasingly unpopulated wooded areas and the mountains. Food perhaps? One benefit of semi-rural areas like ours is that a lot of people keep chickens. Plus the area is plentiful with small game, not to mention people who let their pets roam. Another explanation might be that there's been an increase in the area coyote population and they're spreading out.
When I wrote Prepper's Livestock Handbook, I did a lot of research on livestock predators, including coyotes. I
learned helpful things such as coyotes hunt in packs, hunt between
dusk and dawn, prefer to hunt in isolated areas, and can jump five-foot
fences. They are also known to dig under fences and bite through chicken
wire. A tell-tale sign they've been in the area is that they tend to
leave scat on elevated surfaces such as a log or rock.
Coyote game of choice includes: squirrels, possums, raccoons,
groundhogs, poultry, rabbits, pigs, goats and kids, sheep and lambs,
calves, and small pets. They've even been known to eat skunks plus
choice garden produce such as melons.
We've been hearing them, but often the first sign on coyotes is the
remains of the prey they leave behind. Signs of coyote attack include:
attacking the throat, puncture wounds on head, neck, or shoulders,
intestines or rumen may be dragged away from the carcass, carcass may be
dismembered, calves tails may be chewed.
Being shy, they prefer hunting away from humans, but if they are hungry,
they get bolder. This came up when Dan and I were assessing how safe our
goats are, and Dan said, 'well, when was the last time we saw a possum
or skunk around?' This struck me because Dan has caught dozens and
dozens of these critters in the past couple of years. We used to catch
them nightly on the trail cam and he's made numerous trips to the park
outside of town with one he caught in the live animal trap. Lately,
we've seen none. That may explain why I've been able to harvest all my strawberries. And come to think of it, we hear fewer roosters crowing in
the distance.
Australian Permaculturist Bill Mollison tells of being asked once by a
student, of how to deal with slugs in the garden. His response was that
they didn't have a slug problem, they had a duck shortage. His Austrian
counterpart, Sepp Holzer, says the way to deal with predators is to let
nature do it with a predator's predator. This thought is only comforting
up to a point. What kind of predator would it take to decrease the
coyote population?
The poultry are shut up for the night, as are the does and kids. Our
bucks, though, aren't closed in and often graze at night.
Their shelter
is three-sided with pony wall and an overhang. There's only a gate for a
door. Even so, Dan has taken to closing them in at night. Even though
our 4-foot fences could be jumped, we have a rather intricate fencing
arrangement due to our rotational grazing. Coyotes would have to jump
three fences to get to the buck barn.
So far, all our critters have been safe. I make it a point to go to the
lower gates in the late afternoon or various times during the day to
bang the chain on the gate. Its loud clanging sound is hopefully a
warning that humans are near.
Losing livestock and pets to predators in just one of those things, and we've had our share of loses. The only thing for it is to be good stewards in protecting the animals we're responsible for and continuing to remain vigilant.
Our Coyote Shortage is Solved © May 2025
