This morning was absolutely terrifying I just came in from the barn and doing chores and our neighbors above texted my husband to tell him that his wife had just seen a coyote off of their back porch. I was intently watching the goats when my husband saw the coyote behind our chicken coop. I ran downstairs and threw my boots on and made a split second decision. I did not want to scare the coyote off, and I did not want to leave any of our goats in harms way by taking a few to the barn, so I crouched down in between our truck and trailer. All of the goats came running over to me and were asking for scratches and love, but they were all close ans safe! In just another moment I heard Rob whisper from the front porch, he's in the front yard! I hadn't even heard Rob come out of the house! My heart immediately started pounded ferociously, what would I do if the coyote came over towards me and stared attacking the goats? Could I fend it off with my hands?
Time stood still as I heard the shotgun go off, was that Rob? Did he get it? Did he shoot towards the pasture? Are my horses OK? Is there another one? I yelled to Rob, did you get him? Thankfully, he did! I cannot even imagine how devastating that could have been. This coyote was less than 25 feet from our house and even closer to where I pasture my bucks for the summer! Our goats are part of our family and we enjoy everything about them, this just ensured that we take additional precautions for our goats. Not only do we continue to lock everyone up from at least dawn until dusk, anytime we leave we will be locking our goats in the barn for their safety. We are planning to put no climb goat fencing in this year, and potentially getting a livestock guardian dog. What have you all done to effectively deter coyotes and keep your goats safe? How difficult are LGD to train effectively? Can they get along with our house dog if they live outside 24/7? This is the third time we have seen coyotes very close to our house, and we do not want to risk the safety of our goats! For now we are thankful that we were home, and our neighbor saw the coyote and we were able to prevent the situation today, but we know that is just one of many that live nearby and we need to be prepared for the next one.
Stay safe and Happy Goating!
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