Yep, dogs are a much bigger problem.
One of the things they noticed in AZ back in the 60's I think, after an extensive coyote eradication program, was a degradation in the quality of the range. Turns out most of the coyotes weren't eating calves, but all the little rodents and when the coyotes were gone, the rodent population exploded and overgrazed the range. Once the coyotes came back, the balance was returned.
It's all about selectivity. Requires more effort in the short term, but better results in the long term.
Now you can get more obnoxious roosters! Aren't you glad? LOL
Only one left, that dang Roo who I have come to love
Oh boy, I'm with Jay and so glad!! Remove the ones with the dangerous habits!! Now everybody -big cats included- is better off!
OH! what a beautiful bob cat to bad it had to be killed.
I understand when it has to be done but i still hate to see such a beautiful animal dead.
I hope at least it is a testament to the health of the wildlife out there?! It was a beauty...
Yeah, fresh chicken and housecat meat makes for a nice coat... LOL
Can you imagine what a nice poodle or two would do for it?
Not precisely where I was goin' with that...sorry!! meant that there should be a healthy population NOT causing trouble...pipe dreams?
No, I don't think it's a pipe dream. There's plenty of bobcat out here, and thankfully mostly we don't see them. Which is the way it should be.
Wild animals that get habituated to humans end up in trouble. Just like this one did.
I've seen cougar tracks down by our creek. And that's all I ever want to see of that cat. As long as it's only tracks down by the creek, chances are that cat is staying out of trouble and staying truly wild. Eating deer, elk, wild turkey, gophers. And not killing horses, cattle and goats. And people.
Speaking of horses... Jestr, did you ever get yours back?
Jay
I have seen alot of people move to the suberbs then complain about the wild life Deer,Coons,Skunks.Possums Etc.
But my statement is allways the same I moved to the animals property it was already there and i invaded it's domain.
So i exspect to have to live in harmony with them and keep my animals safe without hopefully haveing to resort to killing.
I have deer eat my plums and a skunk that eats my dogs food and an occasional possum that visits.
I'm not offended by the bob cat being killed it's i love all Gods creatures and hate to see it come to this.
Harmony includes killing and death... especially when our presence throws things out of whack.
If you can stand and watch the deer in your area, you're developing a problem. Because where there are deer, there are cougars. And you can bet the lions are laying there getting used to be around humans and learning they are much easier prey.
I'd like to see rubber bullets used to make the deer more skittish, and hopefully keep the lions skittish around humans too. AND I'd really like to see the development of ex-urbia stopped.
I find it really disgusting that when a mother mountain lion kills a human mother, a collection is taken up to support the cubs, not the children. It just purely sickens me.
Jay
Did you say when a mother lion kills a human mother they take up support for the cubs but not the children.
There are no cougars here and i'm glad theres not
Yep, it happened in CA a couple of years ago. An elderly friend of mine lives out there and she was flat floored by what happened.
I think there are cougars, mountain lions, pumas in GA. Maybe just not many yet.
Throw rocks at the deer, keep 'em jumpy! =0)
My husband bought some property in WA and they were using bean bag "guns" and loud sounds to scare off the bears and mountain lions. Apparently the bean bags hit with some force and really sting. It might not deter a bear already attacking you--but it seems to work to make them less interested in hanging around humans. The problem with the mountain lions is they are stealth predators. There are some in quite suburban (e.g. Walnut Creek) areas here in CA as well as in the hills and are rarely seen until they attack someone. It is usually the juveniles or a nursing mother that does the attacking.
I hated to see it happen as well, cause like many of you I think that it was a beautiful animal. BUT it had grown desensitized to me and its other surroundings. When it just sat on the fence and did not move when I hollered at it one one day, the other morning, I beaned it with a rock, and you would think it would not come back but it did. I knew it would be a problem.
I do have Billy to think about, and he does his chores sometimes without me being right next to him. He might have mistaken it as a domestic cat and want to play with it. I would not be his fault, he is too young to know. He has thought a coyote was a dog before, and well I had to explain that it was not a dog he could play with or feed.
I felt bad when it happened, but I do take comfort for the time being that when we bring his new chickens home this weekend, that they are safe…
I want to explore the bean bag gun thing, it may be the thing to have when I am out with Billy.
I like the bean bag thing! And I was thinking, a good sling shot would be useful, too.
Yeah, the big cats are about stealth. But if the deer are jumpy, the lions may continue to think we're pretty scary beings... you know how one animal learns from another. The fact that a deer isn't afraid of us may send a pretty clear message we're prey not predators to a lion.
How old is Billy?
Jay
I wonder if the guns that shoot those orange plastic bbs would not penetrate but just sting??
Paint balls sting--maybe not enough, but at least you'd know if the same animal was coming back.
This message was edited Dec 18, 2008 2:30 PM
I was thinking along the same lines. Freeze the paint balls.
Now, there's a.....The Thought Plickens!!!
How to tell if someone is a DGer--the rainbow wildlife surrounding their chicken compound.
Heeeere, foxyfoxyfoxy....heeeeere fox....
My luck I'd be asked why I was painting the house and yard in rainbow colors....
I've seen in the news, several times over the years, where someone has been bitten by a fox because they wanted to 'pet' it. And these were adults! First of all the animal most likely has rabies.
This message was edited Dec 18, 2008 1:39 PM
Jeesh. We had someone spend Christmas with us once, Japanese. You should've seen my brother dragging her away from the cute possum...Amazing what people don't know. And the process whereby they miss learning it! I'll never figure it out!
Paintballs! What a great idea! What kind of range do they have?
BB's probably wouldn't sting enough, a deer's hide is pretty thick. My dad used to use regular BB's to keep the horses going on the hotwalker and never penetrated their [sorry] hides.
But a paintball might just do it... a frozen one would for sure, but then we wouldn't get the pretty colors... =o( My place could use some perking up today, grey windy and drizzley, with nothing but browns.
Gosh, just imagining a tecni-color deer out there perks me right up!
lol
Half frozen then. We have fools down here feeding the gators, and at the park up in the swamp north of us(DO NOT ASK ME TO SPELL THAT!!!) they have even sit on one large and I mean very large old bull gator-luckily the park people keep him full.
I have some BB guns that shoot the colored BB's, but I dont think they are powerful enough for the cats...
Paintball's frozen would do, and would bring some color in the winter... LOL I have seen the bright orange and bright green colors. They would not poison the wild life either as they are non toxic and there are some wildlife that are welcome on the ranch as long as they stay away from the chickens and horses.
A sling shot would be ok, but I can huck a rock faster than put it in a sling... May have to do some practice with that.
Jay, Billy will be 3 in January and his chores are to Feed and water the chickens, get the eggs, and water the horses... He also pours grain into the hay for the horses. I believe in starting him out young with chores so that he has an idea about responsability when he gets older. I dont get him up early in the AM for chores, those are my responsabilites, and I love that time in the morning by myself, his chores are in the afternoon.
Luckily?
If they stopped feeding him, maybe the poor swamp lizard could teach folks a thing or two about real life... chomp, chomp
"Do not play with dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
LOL
Maybe we oughtta borrow that gator and loan it to the horse thief, Jestr.
Billy sounds like a good boy, gonna be a good man. I don't think enough kids learn responsibility and caring for other life any more.
Heck I was thinking the same, but since she lives in town, I would be afraid of what the gator would do to the children
The old gator at okfenokee swamp past away this year or last year. He was huge.
It is my hope that Billy does grow up to be a good man. He is horse savvy at his age, and loves all animals.. I figure starting him in horses now will be a life long passion for him and will keep him out of most troubles... Well he does try to get into the bar when we go roping, I think it is all the cool lights and games they have in there that attracts him, not the beer.... LOLOL (Ok that is what I am hoping)
Offer to take the kids to the movies....
Too bad about the big gator. Guess we'll have to come up with another idea.
Combining a couple of themes here... How about you challenge her to a paint ball duel. Just don't tell her you froze yours. eh-eh-eh
How about a large female gator with a next of eggs to guard????
I don't know... sounds like maybe he's an embryonic rough stock rider to me... Yikes!
Bad wardrobe and busted bodies... what mother could want that for her child!?
What a cool idea Jay... cept, I would deep freeze mine and make them extra hard... LOLOL
Wren, sounds promising... oh no, wait. We already got one of those (Lady Jestr)... no, wait again... she doesn't have the big teeth, just the reptilian glare.
So, you offering your momma gator? =0)
Sniper attacks at the shows....
ping ping ping
What's her event? Or does she just ride the bleachers?
I know where there are a couple big moms. But you have to catch them your selfs---I may be crazy but I am not stupid!!!!!! nearly lunch for one gator was enough.
This message was edited Dec 18, 2008 4:51 PM
Oh, now therein lies a tale, I can tell. Gator lunch?
Was canoeing Very Large gator drifted only a couple of feet across in front of us. The 2 women in the front and middle froze. As you know canoes do not have brakes. To keep from hitting the gator which would not have been good I tapped the side of the canoe, the gator lashed the water with its tail, Jirked that huge head around at us. Just missing the canoe by inches with both and took off. I thought the other two where going to try to walk on water. Of course they would have had to catch me first.
The adrenalin high was almost as bad as when I walked 20 feet up on high wire. Oh I am scared of highs. LOL
Hooo-haaah! That'd start your heart for sure!
Note to self... stay out of canoes in FL. No brakes, dangerous cross traffic.
LOL