I finally saw it as some list-members described: a full grown coyote run up to my 4.5 foot tall fence and just scale it. It was last night after a previous night coyote attack that killed my two beloved miniature Pygmy goats and harmed my toe other pygmys. The sheep were unscathed. I know lessons in shepherding are hard-earned and I had been thinking about coyotes considering last years June attack. This year I thought I was being safer. Had the animals in the central pasture--which has no holes in the fence, the dog was in the pasture next door. I had been letting her in with the ewes and goats at night, but stopped doing it, since I have two ewes in a paddock that are ready to lamb and I was trying to "not stress them out too much".
That was a mistake. So, after cleaning up the mess yesterday and figuring out one goat has a limp and the other has a partially paralyzed tongue, I decided to move Sheila, our dog's home, permanently with the ewes and goats. I have one of those 1000 candle LED flashlights (which, while costing around $80-100, I highly recommend--they go forever and look like daylight ) and went out around 10pm as I had also at 9:00 and 9:30. This time, I was just in time to hear Sheila growl and see a fully grown coyote lope up to the fence and use just a few steps to scale it and hop over. Will simply making the fence straight and higher help? Or I was thinking of doing something like prison fencing where the fence angles at a 45 degree up higher and makes it so a climbing coyote would be almost upside down at the top. http://wolfdogproject.com/fence/leanin2.jpg Seems easier and safer than an electrical system along the top edge, which I am thinking the coyotes might not mind a shock, if there's a good meal Having the dog in there will certainly help, and I plan to try to lock the animals in the smaller gated paddocks at night and also, amend their paddock fencing so they go to the roof. Basically a box, for sleeping in. The other question, can people with a single burro or llama actually claim they have never sustained an attack after getting the larger animal? -MIchael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies Sent from my iPad _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
