Awakened by coyote

[Clipper]

I awakened up this morning about 6:30 by the loud, close by, howling and yipping of a coyote. Our little dog came out from under the covers and huddled next to my head whimpering. It sounded like it was just across the road In the little glade along the creek that my neighbor and I keep mowed. I haven't heard or seen a coyote around here in several years. When we first moved here in 2002, we were in a relatively rural setting with the houses fairly widely scattered up and down the road. There were all sorts of wildlife in the fields and woods across the road. We even had two bear cubs up a dead tree one morning about 200yds up the road. Almost any night you could hear coyotes howling and yipping in the distance, and the farmer that pastures beef cows across the road lost a couple of calves to coyotes.

The area around us, and up the hollow has slowly grown up with new homes and more traffic, and that naturally drove away most of the wildlife, and in turn, the predators that preyed on it. I will be calling the farmer that leases the pasture across the road. The last time we had coyotes in the area that killed a couple of his calves, he trapped and shot them. They are considered vermin and can be hunted at any time of the year. They carry all sorts of diseases, ranging from rabies to parvovirus.

I looked out the living room window but it was too dark to see it, and my rifles are too high powered to shoot with the houses in close proximity, not to mention it is illegal to shoot within so many feet of an occupied dwelling. I guess semi-rural can also be semi-wild. I love watching wildlife. We have turkeys, squirrels, possums, and deer, but coyotes? Not so much. I am glad that we have a fenced back yard and that I don't let our dog out in the yard without supervision. I have a small bench in the yard that I usually sit on and read my newspaper while she wanders and does her thing in the morning

[Clipper]

I called the farmer and he is going to come over and set a couple of large, baited live traps to try and catch the coyote. He sill has the traps that he used the last time. He doesn't have any calves or cows due to have any calves in this particular pasture but says he definitely wants to get rid of the threat. He farms a lot of leased and rented land, plus has one hundred or so acres of his own and raises two or three hundred cows at a time. He says he occasionally has to trap a rogue coyote. He has pasture land all over the area. Beef cows don't need to be milked or dealt with on a daily basis. They can be trailered to a spot and left to graze for days or weeks without any need for tending by the farmer.

[Deleted]

I remember those( coyote ) in Missouri. Some Brothers who hunted would take care of them...............

I also remember the Mountain Lions. That cry of their's. 

[Deleted]

Your little dog should like this:

[Clipper]

The coyote woke me up again this morning. I opened the bedroom window and I could hear another coyote answering the yipping and howling of the one closer to us.

I talked to the farmer that leases the land across the road, and he says he has contacted the Wildlife Resources Agency in Johnson City and they are going to have the wardens set a couple of live traps for them. I wonder if caught if they will be relocated or if they will be killed. They have obviously wandered in from somewhere as there hasn't been any seen around here for several years. With the increased development and all the new houses, they create a danger to small pets, and other domestic animals and could even be a threat to small children if they become too bold. Our little dog would be but a light snack for a coyote. I don't let her in the backyard and come back in the house. I always stay out there with her after reading a few months ago about a person's silky terrier being carried off by a hawk. We have hawks, buzzards, and the occasional bald eagle soaring around here, although I haven't seen the eagle in a while.

Sadly we are slowly losing the peaceful rural atmosphere and the quiet less traveled road, but thankfully the build-up seems to be staying farther up the road and not in our immediate area, but it certainly has increased the traffic and cars are speeding by all times of the day and night. The speed limit is 25 but I doubt that many of the vehicles going by are doing any less than 40.


I got up at 6:30 and it was only 38 degrees. I abandoned the quilt-lined flannel and broke out the winter jacket and stocking cap. My hands were cold while sitting on my bench to read the paper while the dog wandered the back yard. I guess the days of sitting comfortably in the warm morning sun to read my paper are numbered and are coming to a close. It is only going into the mid 50's here today for a high.

[clarencebunsen]

I put away my shorts and most of my Ts and got out thelong sleeved Ts to wear under a long sleeve shirt. We also took the A/C units out of the windows.

In another thread you asked if I had put my scraper into the car. I learned to drive in Minnesota and live in NY. I never take my long handled brush/scraper out of the car. There is a 5 month period when I move it from under the driver's seat to the rear storage compartment. I have already used it once this season.

[BHU]

Yep, won't be long now. Went to Boscov's today & bought a new winter jacket. I may mow one more time then pour some Sta-bil in the gas tank & put the rider to bed till spring. Then it's time to give the snowblower a tune up & get it running. Brought the truck into my mechanic & had the fluid changed in the transfer case, he told me it was due, the fluid was brown but he found no metal. Whew!

WalMart has had rows of Christmas decor out for at least a week.

[Deleted]

Yup will be putting away my shorts for the winter as soon as I wash them. I wear short sleeve T Shirts all year. Just put on two or three of them. I was at Walmart today checking out the Xmas decor. I wait till the day after Halloween then put the stuff out. Although last year I had it all out at once. LOL.

Reminds me time to mail the Christmas cards.

[Clipper]

CB, didn't mean to hit edit on your post. I meant to click on "like" and had to save the post, unedited my me. Sorry about that.

[Clipper]

BHU, I just changed the oil in the tractor, the push mower, and the tillers and put Stabil in the gas cans when I filled them last. I will still be mulching and collecting leaves with the tractor for another month probably, but I will have a jump on the oil change. I allowed the tiller and the push mower to run until they were out of gas and then filled them with stabilized gas and ran them for a few minutes. We don't normally get winter weather for a while yet, and I have mowed as late as the second week in December, but we have so damned many trees and so many leaves that I have to run the tractor around about once a week until all the leaves are down in order to mulch them and collect them with the bins on the back of the tractor to be dumped in a compost pile I have across the street in the woods.

I really can't complain about the cold mornings and cooler days. It was so darned hot and dry here that I could not work outside for about a month, and a lot of the lawn needs attention. It dried up so badly that it just plain died and will have to be dethatched and overseeded before winter.

[clarencebunsen]

Feels like this today.