Who are your garden helpers?

Pixy... I am SOOOO happy for you that Crookshanks was found! There is no sorrow like losing one of your furry friends. I lost my Hunter for three days before he was fixed, and I was beside myself. He has my heart more than any other animal I have ever owned, and is simply irreplaceable (long story). He had followed my folks down our hill in their motorhome, and kept running after them until he couldn't keep up any more. As they had been going slow on our windy roads, he was over a mile away when he was found. My "have you seen me" signs were what finally brought him home. Needless to say, we are all very careful to make sure that he is not following us when we reach the street now.

Ginger...Your goat and dog pics are priceless! It is sweet that they still play together!

Beth, Willie looks like an enthusiastic helper! What is is about the plastic pots.. especially the six pack ones...that they like so much? I think it must be the crinkle when they chew them!

Pixy... Again I am VERY happy that you found your baby! There are no words for what it feels like when you lose one of your furry friends. It is good he found a sunbeam, rather than hitting the BAD side of town. Just look what happens if they go THERE......

My friend Linda's SASSY....

Poor kitty. Beautiful leaf.

I had a black and white part siamese once and due to several things I was thinking of having her put to sleep. Everytime I did that she would disappear for several days. When she was sure I would be glad to see her, there she was.

Boy you guys have been busy while I have been cleaning house and getting ready for grandchildren. Lots of good stories and wonderful helpers in your lives. Kathy you need fewer children and when some Man follows you home there might be room for him.
rarejem yes the araconas are the friendliest girls. They never bother me when I collect eggs. Though I do bribe them with scratch feeds when ever I go out there.
Melissa I agree with Kathy keep them separate to become used to them and then introduce them. Rubbing towells on each one and then rub the other one with that towell repeat it both ways that helps. Sharing scent (face is the best) helps them get along.

Thanks for the tips. Crookshanks and Cleo live in the garage with a kitty door which we now lock at night, considering the local racoons can get through it. They have a heated bed for when it gets cold and that's what I couldn't understand - why he didn't come home to his warm bed. He must have been out all night, even though we left the cat door open just in case he returned.

The Admiral (one of the coolest cats I've ever met) does not cause our allergies to act up. He evidently doesn't have the protein in his saliva that causes them. So he can be indoors more. Cleo has checked him out some, but then goes back out to her domain. Crookshanks has seemed oblivious. We're happy to keep them separate until they show natural curiosity. I will do the scent thing Soferdig recommends, and I do have a pen that could be used to keep them separate if necessary.

Here is my dd with Admiral Kitty. She's really going to miss him but maybe it will light a fire under her hind end to get home.

I had to post this photo from this morning. These are not exactly garden helpers, but they could be if they wanted to be. What they really want is to swim in my pond and cause a great deal of destruction and yucky water. This is the third year in a row that we've been visited by this pair of Mallards. Last year we were worried that the mamma duck would drop eggs as they flew over the fence. They cannot nest here because of our dogs and because the pond is not a good place for ducks. We have a ton of lakes around, so I'm sure they can find a better place.

Oh my gosh, does she look like her mother or what? Maybe Crookshanks just spooked himself or got confused.

Steve, I got tired of waiting!!

Pixy-- Ducks make a mess, but they are the only bird I know that eats slugs! Have them clear out your yard before kicking them out! I would love to have ducks hang in my pond long enough to clean up the slimey buggers!

I did notice the ducks in the garden yesterday and I encouraged them to do whatever they liked in there. I do wish I could have ducks due to their slug eating habits. Alas, my australian shepherds would never leave them to their devices. I fear they would herd them hither and yon. Also, the pond would be a holy disaster. Last year before I knew I had ducks in the pond, almost every plant I have growing in there was uprooted and the fish were traumatized.

Katie, you think Claire looks like me? Amazing. Some people say that, but I just don't see it most of the time. She looks just like her dad to me. Absolutely none of her features are like mine. My son, on the other hand, is the spitting image of me from the nose up. It's wierd.

Melissa yes she does look like you.

We get a visit or two every year from a flock of about 60 mallards in the back of the horse arena when it floods. They stay for about 5 days then they are off. It is a lot of fun to watch them come and go.


Ginger

This is what they really want to do. Don't they look pastoral? I was nice and allowed them to see that I was opening the door, BEFORE letting my dogs out. They flew off really ticked off at me as usual. They are so pretty I wish they could stay. But it's them or my pond.


Yesterday my son and I were driving home and I saw something underneath the tree in my neighbor's pasture. It was a very large and sleek coyote! I knew there was one around here, but this was broad daylight. He was really bold! This was a very nice looking animal - nice shiny thick coat and well filled out. He's eating good somewhere. All the more reason to make sure the cats are inside safely at night.

pretty ducks Pixy. great pic!! i would have to agree though. I would say the ducks or the pond.

It's good that you got to see the proof of your suspicions about the coyote. Definitely a great plan to keep the kitties at bay.

Really, he was an astounding animal to see in this area. I wonder if he lives alone? I also wonder if someone is feeding him. I've known for awhile that there was a coyote living in the area. I've seen him on occasion on the road, but always at night, never in the daytime. Our neighborhood has very large lots, and there are several elderly people on the road who have quite overgrown shrubby areas of mostly native and invasive plants. We have two horse pastures on the street, the only ones in town. It feels almost rural, but it's really close to town. The neighbors whose pasture he was sunning himself in have found him in their doghouse before. I feel rather sorry for him.

Yeah... We took the cat food bowl off the porch when our neighbor found a cougar eating out of it.

Ginger

Coyotes thrive in cities. There is a thousand more things to eat than in the wild. Also they don't need to pack up to hunt and can hide very well. Here in Montana when coyotes are around everyone knows with all the communication they need to survive the hunt.

A couger? Youzaa! Hopefully he started finding his dinner other places. I would love to see one of those magnificent creatures, but likely I would not want it on my porch.

Sofer, that's why I think that this is a lone coyote. We never hear any yips. So he probably has no one to talk to during the hunt.

I can go out at night and hear a chorus of howling. Dogs and coyotes together. My little girls go crazy. Amber tries to talk to them.

Pix so glad to hear that Crooks came home and that you are locking the kitty door. Keep that coyote out!

I love all the goat pictures! The white LaMancha kid is darling!

thanks, Rachel. It's hard to imagine life with Crookshanks interfering with my gardening! LOL!

Willow, We have a regular coyote chorus here as well. I love to hear them in the distance, but sometimes (this week in fact) they are right in the yard, and I fear for my cats and my mother's small dog. I think that they are beautiful, but if it came to protecting my mom's Gigit, the coyote would get the short end of the stick. I am hoping that the one that was doing the challenge call in my front yard was just passing through.

Pixy... We have had cougar (not lately thank goodness) and bear in the yard as well, and that's why I am so thankful to have my wolfpack garden with me. I learned the hard way that the big cats can do a real number on your dogs..even if there are several dogs to one cat. Pretty they may be, but they are mean! After the learning that the hard way, I pay close attention when the dogs sound the alarm. If they bark and give chase...everything is good. If they bark, growl, and hide under my legs...it's time to go inside!

Part of the price you pay for making your home in the woods, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Anything like that sets the donkeys off and I know to run out and check on goats. A scared donkey can sit you right up in bed...

Ginger

The yipping is often one coyote acting as bait to attract a domestic dog so the others can attack him. I hear it here every now and then. I wouldn't feel sorry for them - they are well protected in the city and have no natural predator there. And there are lots of slow, trusting kitties for them to eat. This is a subdivision, even though the lots are from 1-5 acres. And we lose lots of domestic cats every year. I had a coyote come into the fenced yard at dawn 9 (your pets are most vulnerable at dawn and dusk) and kill and eat my cat. He was less than 50 feet from the house and a window. We see him walking up and down the street every summer.

Yep. When we lived in San Diego one came right in the yard and ate Coco Puff..*snif*

Ginger

I get coyotes all the time, we had a pack a few years ago, you could hear them and they were close by. I lost one of my favorite kittys, she was special cross eyed and frail. I had my Bros 22 rifle at hand, and was going to kill it if it ever came in my yard again. it did, but the rifle jammed. It was not 4' away and took off. I have no qualms about killing something that will hurt my animals. So I bought a 25 pistol, and am pretty good with it.

My most recent coyote experience was a new one for me. Had to search on line to find that the noise I heard was a "challenge call". The only ones that I found on line incuded barks, and when the one was in my yard there was no barking involved....all sounding like a squeal...really freaky at 4:00 in the am. Fortunately, the coyotes in the distance were talking back, and the dogs did the same thing. Just talking back, no chasing. My brother's kitty was eaten in front of his kids a couple of years ago, so I know that they are hard on domestic animals. Nothing would stop me from protecting my animals...they are my children. Cute or not, it is my kids over wild creatures any time.

Ginger--I can't imagine waking up to a donkey noise on top of a coyote scream! That is a creepy sound all in itself... I would have nightmares for weeks!

I think I need a llama. I was at my neighbor's house today with her newly adopted adolescent dog. She has llamas living kitty korner to her place and the fence at the corner is somewhat makeshift. Tigger (45 lbs of doberman/rottie mix) got through the fence and charged the llamas. They were intially startled and ran a little bit, then came forward to investigate him. Scared him half to death and he came back through the fence pretty darn fast.

Come to find that they "play" with their dog all the time. They were never afraid of Tigger and actually came up to the fence to smell me after the incident. They've never gotten that close to me before. I think they would do just fine keeping the coyotes away. LOL

Llamas are used here in Montana to keep the bears away. They are an animal they have never scented and Grizzley and horses all freak out on the trail when a Camilid is scented. You never want to get under a llama attack. They will stomp you to death with those front feet!
I have sewed up one and posted the other horse that was attacked by a Mountain lion. They go right up their back and start chewing on the neck to disable the horse. The little ones they just rip out their throats and sit for tea before beginning the feast. I had one brave little schnauzer that ran to where the children were playing when a lion was nearby. That little thing was ripped to shreds and still lived fighting that lion while the kids ran into the house.

Soferdig...

Brave little critter your schnauzer! I can't imagine what shape he was in when the cat was through, but I bet he had the royal treatment for the rest of his life in your home!

My dogs that got torn up were protecting my father. There were three of them at the time, a shorthair and two dobermans. They all started chasing the cat, and got it away from Dad. The shorthair was smart and stopped when they had put the run to the cat....but the dobies were not going to give up. I heard from someone later that if they had been a different breed of dog that continued to bark as they were chasing the cat, that they probably would have been better off. Apparently according to this hunter, dobies don't bark when they are chasing prey, and that lack of "voice" caused the cat to turn around and challenge them. All things considered, they got off lucky. Both were sliced to the bone in several places, and a gash on my male's face almost took his eye out. The happy ending was that we were able to sew them up and they both had a few bad scars but they lived to fight another day. Fortunately, that was the last we saw of the cat in our immediate area.

It is becoming more common for the farmers to have a couple of llamas with their livestock in our area as well. Bears aren't as much of a problem as the coyotes and the cougar. I have never seen a critter beat up by a llama, but we have friends that raise alpacas, and their hooves do quite a bit of damage...I can imagine a llama would be twice as bad as they are bigger and stronger!

He wasn't my dog. I am a veterinarian. All the animals were ones I treated

Soferdig... That's what you get from the new kid who doesn't know people very well! I still bet that the schnauzer was treated like royalty at home...that's one of those moments that you will never forget-parent or child.

I can imagine that being a vet is a very challenging vocation. It makes it very difficult to treat someone who can't tell you exactly where it hurts! Just like a doctor though, it has to be very rewarding when you can save someone's loved one. I know that there is the down side as well, but I try to keep myself in denial of that part of the life cycle these days.

I'm off to bed. It's been a long day.

I feel I have the best vocation for me. It feeds my need to challenge my mind, relate to people, and help a creature who long ago commited to domesication for survival. Some do thrive and some only suffer their choice. It depends on their human care giver.

I keep wondering if there were a way to relocate this coyote. I am aware of the danger to the domestic animals in the area and know for a fact that the neighbor's cat got away from him by the skin of his teeth, so to speak. Do they ever relocate coyotes that are in suburban areas? I hate to think of someone's pet being attacked right in front of them. That's just so sad!

Coyotes are everywhere and if you were to be lucky enough to catch him another would replace him over night. Keep him full with dog food behind you least favorite neighbors fence.

LOL! i wonder if that is what my neighbors are doing. They have found him eating their dog's food before, and also have seen him sleeping in their dog's doghouse! Their dog is now deceased, not due to the coyote, but due to old age. I wonder if the coyote is taking his place!

Now that would be a surprise.

Once I bent down to pet the kitty at the front door food dish...and realized the black & white markings were in the WRONG place...before I touched...WHEW.

Ginger

I went and dumped the remains of Thankgiving dinner one afternoon and when I went by again the garbage can was turned over. So I sat it upright, put stuff back in and closed the lid. I went out at 10:00 PM with the dogs and the can was making noise. Went and got DH and he took it down the drive and turned it on its side. Out walked a beautiful skunk. Now I tie the lid on.

OK.. Have to tell the bear story!

My dad & his wife live in the mountains in Washington near Idaho...Last year dad was getting really tired of whoever's dog was getting into his trash so he waited out in the garage with a pellet rifle. NOt a real do damage one, just a go away and don't come back load. Imagine his surprise when out popped a BEAR. He started keeping the trash in the garage. The next week on the back deck something was getting into the deer food cans....yep. you guessed it..THE BEAR. sooooooooo..he put the deer food cans in the garage.

The next morning he was in the kitchen and he heard this POUNDING on the sliding glass doors on the deck.
Guess WHO!

He left out the front and called the SSSSSSHERIFF..........who came and took the moocher away.

Ginger

LOL! That bear had no idea someone had changed the rules on him! Sounds like he wanted to make himself right at home!

You should have put a recliner chair in the garage for him.