I live in Southern Ca on a private, extremely manicured golf course that backs up to a protected wilderness reserve. (Sorry 4 the novel but the details are important)
The “food” chain here is plentiful. We have rabbit, duck, fruit trees, fish, etc plus various domestic pets for the coyotes.
Basically- when they don’t want to hunt, they just “pick up groceries on aisle 9” aka someone’s back patio.
They stroll the golf course at all hours. From early dusk through out the night and til - sometimes mid day. They are NOT afraid.
I realize they were here first. I simply want to ensure my dogs safety. I have lost one dog already. They jumped my fence - and got her.
Now my new dog wants to make friends with the coyotes!!! (My Bichon is cute - not smart)
I feel it is a matter of time b4 tragedy happens.
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.
I won’t use poison and guns are out.
Given that you are next to a protected area, the only real hope is to keep your pets indoors.
There are steps you can take to make the coyotes hunt elsewhere, but unless all your neighbors help out, it’s mostly a waste of time, and one of those things is keep pets indoors (or at least not unattended when outdoors).
You, and your neighbors, have to harass the coyotes whenever you see them. Toss rocks, yell, etc. Not that this will hurt the coyotes, but you’re trying to keep them afraid of people and civilization.
Other than keeping your pets inside, or having a service trap and relocate them, I’ve got nothing.
Hmm. If you dont keep dog food on your back porch and get a btter fence, they will stay out. We do keep cat food on ours, and there are coyotes, but they dont get into our backyard. yet.
Let your dog out only under supervision. Likely day time is safe with moderation watchfulness.
*Odor Deterrents
Smell has been used for a long time to keep coyotes away and their numbers from increasing. Most commonly used is wolf urine, moth balls and rags soaked in ammonia. *
You can actually buy wolf piss online. Ain’t the internet great?
Even being outside with yours is not necessarily a deterrent. There are lots of stories of pets being snatched while with their owners.
Stay right with your dog and never, ever leave her outside alone. If you are permitted, consider better fencing. You don’t need to have fencing that ruins your view in order to have something that is more likely to keep coyotes out of your yard. We had metal mesh that was buried and then run between 4x4’s and up 8 feet to a 4x2 cross rail. You could see through it, but it was hard for critters to get in, and my dogs, goats, and the occasional horse to get out.
Bring this up at your HOA meeting. If you live on a golf course, I’m assuming that you have one. If you don’t, try to organize a neighborhood meeting. It sounds like something the entire neighborhood should tackle.
I know you said guns are out, but would you consider an air rifle/pellet gun? They are quiet, accurate, legal to use in many places where firearms are not, and animals do not like to be struck by the pellets.
I used to live on the edge of a protected Civil War battlefield, which was rife with equally protected coyotes. The realities here are harsh, don’t shoot the messenger.
If “guns are out”, as you say, then “supervising” your dog only guarantees that you’ll know what happened to him.
In order to put up a fence good enough to keep them out, you will probably have to get a waiver from your HOA. You’ll need a barbed-wire bend out, or electrification, which might stop them.
An outdoor run, with fencing on top and bottom as well as sides, is the only safe way to give your pet outdoor time.
Sites that recommend a six-foot fence are just trying to sell six-foot fencing. They don’t know coyotes. See Wiley jump!
Never use those pull-out leashes. Keeping your dog near you and under complete control signals to the pack that he has a pack too. It won’t guarantee safety, but it makes you a less juicy target.
If you are going to fight for your pet, you’ll need a weapon. Any stick you raise to hit them, they will dodge. They will move faster than your eyes can track, and from several angles at once. I recommend a cattle prod. Jab with it, like a rapier.
How to haze a coyote. Again, talk to the HOA about installing as many of these ideas as possible.
Finally,don’t waste money on regular motion detector lights. You need ones that are meant to startle, that blink, change color, and even make noises. Further, they have to change up; if a coyote can learn to predict what it will do, they’ll become comfortable with it.
Having a bichon in coyote territory (which is most everywhere) is pretty much providing snacks. I’d suggest a completely fenced/covered dog run. It is not like a bichon requires room to roam.
Curious why, after losing 1 small dog to coyotes, you chose to get another.
And yes, I would ensure that the coyotes knew that whenever they got within throwing distance of your property, a rock would be headed their way. Maybe a slingshot…
We have a lot of coyotes in our neighborhood. Our policy is to never leave our dogs out after sunset without humans around. Even during the day, we make sure that they are not outside for very long unsupervised.
I plan on building a fully fenced dog run so the dogs can go out to “do their business” without adult supervision.
As an aside: I was out in our pasture with our three dogs - an elderly Lab, a young, blind Chocolate Lab, and our Bichon/Poodle mix. The Little Dog suddenly started making his “I’ve found a cat” bark, and the next thing I knew, he chased a large coyote out from under some bushes to the fence, where the coyote made his escape. I suspect that the combination of two big dogs and me was just too unfavorable to the coyote attacking the Little Dog.