Why this Doodle can not run free on our property

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

For Christmas, my son gave me a " Trophy Cam". We strapped to a Palm tree just outside the grass line and pointed up a hill on our property. It is motion activated. Here is what it "caught" the other night/morning! 5 coyotes!
I love seeing the wildlife ...but these guys make me nervous with Enzo. At 44 or so lbs( 7 months) she thinks every living being is her best friend. She'd be no match for these guys.
Now...if should catch Big Foot on the cam...I'm outta here! :p

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

The canyons here are just chock full of them. We live in a rural neighborhood and the squirrels and rabbits are abundant. Poisoning the rodents, also poisons the owls , hawks and eagles that feed on them. It's a vicious catch 22. Plus, we live on 5 acres....hard to deter anything from coming on to the property.
And yes...I agree...pretty cool! Our son knows me well, as I am always gushing about all the wildlife in the area. Just need to keep Enz safe from it all!

[Julie and Max]

That's pretty scary Rosemary. My poor Max is so confused now, when I take him out late at night or very early in the morning I put the leash on him, which I have never done in the backyard (we have a six foot privacy fence all around) but since the coyotes were looking through the fence at me, I'm a little scared. We go out, he looks at the gate like are we going for a walk now? Nope, lol. Just going potty!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh wow.....that would be so scary. 

[Heather]

WOW, this whole conversation has me NERVOUS!! We are building a house in a rural area, and our neighbors told us to be careful at night due to the coyotes in the woods behind us. YIKES!! They have two french bulldogs and they said they never take them out off leash at night. Wondering if I have to worry during the day, after reading All of these comments?! Oliver would NOT think twice about running after one. OMG makes me Cringe!!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I told my DH about this last night. He googled it locally, there was an article in the paper about the increased amount of coyotes on our side of town, and the concern to our pets and children. Do the attacks happen often, anyone know of an occurrence? I just wonder how frequent it is, and do they prefer nights, and leave adults alone.....are pups safer with us?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have seen adult coyotes out & about in broad daylight several times right here in my suburban neighborhood. This is an older neighborhood with small lots and few open spaces. They are not afraid of people or dogs, even dogs who are 2 or 3 times their size. JD and I crossed paths on the street one night with a male who looked to be not more than 35 or 40 lbs, and he held his ground. Very scary.

And JD absolutely knew it was not another dog. Most adult dogs are able to differentiate a wild animal from another dog, even at a distance. 

An adult male Labrador Retriever was attacked by coyotes in his own unfenced backyard a couple of years ago here in my neighborhood. 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We have a friend who is a Fish & Game officer who lives in the area. He said a coyote will" usually" not attack anything larger than they are. He has not seen or heard of adults ever being attacked. Obviously, the larger the dog better. He told me, much like meeting up with a stray/ loose dog, stand tall and make lots of noise. Coyotes hunt at night....dogs, no matter how big, are more at risk...since coyotes travel in packs. The single coyote we see during the day, are extremely skittish and run as soon as they or hear us.. That being said...we will never allow Enz out by herself.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Just to add...we are in wide open spaces, but our friend said never ever try to corner one. They will then stand their ground. Dealing with single coyotes is completely different from a pack. He said, then all bets are off.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We repositioned the camera last night to another section of the property. Will have to go check the footage and see if we " caught" anything.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You should also never run from them, or turn your back on them. 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Most definitely, an important piece of info.!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Oh yes, they are definitely around.  I saw something under my deck a couple of days ago, but did not even check it out because there are so many displaced animals from the road construction nearby.  They took out an entire wild hillside.  We have seen lots of coyotes, deer, and even a wild pig.  Skunks, possums and raccoons have always been around.  I feel sorry for the animals, but our backyard is fully fenced and we keep a close watch on our animals.  Coyotes (we think) have killed many chickens and geese in our area.