Coyotes (Atlanta, Roswell, North Atlanta: house, live, fences)

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

I'm a bit concerned because we do have a cat that's indoor/outdoor. She was feral when we got her 15-16 years ago. I think she's too old now to adapt to being strictly indoors. Our neighborhood here is intown, so while we have rabbits and an occasional raccoon (and a family of hawk--fabulous), we don't have coyotes. I might have to get a burro, myself.

Roslyn - Do your best to be careful with your cat. We moved here with a cat like yours. He was a stray before we adopted him years before; an indoor/outdoor cat with us and clearly unlikely to adapt to indoor-only living. Sadly, we lost him here, and we're pretty sure it was to the coyote problem which is notorious in our area. Our replacement cat (a kitten from the Cobb County shelter) is indoor-only.

[cool_mommy]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Roslyn - Do your best to be careful with your cat. We moved here with a cat like yours. He was a stray before we adopted him years before; an indoor/outdoor cat with us and clearly unlikely to adapt to indoor-only living. Sadly, we lost him here, and we're pretty sure it was to the coyote problem which is notorious in our area. Our replacement cat (a kitten from the Cobb County shelter) is indoor-only.

I love to hear about it when people adopt from a shelter. Bless your heart. Sorry about the loss of your other kitty.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by cool_mommy

I love to hear about it when people adopt from a shelter. Bless your heart. Sorry about the loss of your other kitty.

Thanks, cool_mommy. Actually we have a shelter dog too. A year after we adopted her, my job was transferred down here and my employer paid to have her (and our other dog, and the cat) flown all the way down here by a pet relocation service. So she went from death row to airline passenger (well, baggage). Cool, eh?

[AtlantaPro]

Coyotes populate the 48 contiguous states. Fortunately, coyotes in the eastern U.S. are smaller than their western counterparts but still pose dangers for small pets and small children. Coyotes were drawn to urban and suburban areas due to readily available food sources like garbage and feeding by humans.

Ensure your outdoor garbage containers are sealed tight and if you have fruit trees, keep fruit off the ground. If you feed any wild animals such as rabbits, possums or deer, these animals will attract coyotes. Fortunately, most coyotes are fearful of humans and keep their distance but look for this to change as more well-intentioned but ignorant folks feed them. Just like the alligators in Florida, coyotes will begin to associate humans with a food source.

[cool_mommy]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Thanks, cool_mommy. Actually we have a shelter dog too. A year after we adopted her, my job was transferred down here and my employer paid to have her (and our other dog, and the cat) flown all the way down here by a pet relocation service. So she went from death row to airline passenger (well, baggage). Cool, eh?

Wow! Now that is what I call relo service!

[RoslynHolcomb]

We're thinking about going to the shelter and getting a dog. Are they a good defense against coyotes? Obviously, I'm talking about a larger dog. We have a screened-in back porch and our cat is older now so doesn't prowl as much. With any luck she'll prefer to sit in the sun on our porch on the nice cushy furniture. Unfortunately, in the summertime she really hates to come in the house. We think the air conditioning hurts her joints a bit. I've been giving her fish oil and that seems to help, but I doubt we'll ever be able to make her an indoor-only cat.

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

We're thinking about going to the shelter and getting a dog. Are they a good defense against coyotes? Obviously, I'm talking about a larger dog. We have a screened-in back porch and our cat is older now so doesn't prowl as much. With any luck she'll prefer to sit in the sun on our porch on the nice cushy furniture. Unfortunately, in the summertime she really hates to come in the house. We think the air conditioning hurts her joints a bit. I've been giving her fish oil and that seems to help, but I doubt we'll ever be able to make her an indoor-only cat.

If you have a large-breed dog, then it might keep coyotes from encroaching on your yard, but keep in mind even if it comes down to a 100lb dog and a 30-40lb coyote, the coyote will win. Domesticated dogs are no match for the ferocity and battled-tested nature of their wild cousins. I've heard of coyotes taking down rotties, pits, and ridgebacks, and it's hard to get much more valiant a dog than that.

[lolamom]

Coyotes sighted here as well.....one at twilight with an animal in his mouth; another one early in the morning. We live in Buckhead.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by spacelord75

If you have a large-breed dog, then it might keep coyotes from encroaching on your yard, but keep in mind even if it comes down to a 100lb dog and a 30-40lb coyote, the coyote will win. Domesticated dogs are no match for the ferocity and battled-tested nature of their wild cousins. I've heard of coyotes taking down rotties, pits, and ridgebacks, and it's hard to get much more valiant a dog than that.

I have two large-breed dogs and a fenced yard. I don't think the local coyotes are much motivated to break into our yard and contend with my dogs. This didn't save our late cat, however he was a roamer and was doubtless nabbed somewhere well beyond the confines of our property.

[mbrionb]

When I was a kid we used to watch this guy on TV get rid of coyotes every week. This was way before Steve Irwin and the like. Anyway, sneak up behind them and say, "Meep, Meep!"

It seems to work better if you're near a cliff, or the coyote is working with tools, but it might be better than discharging a firearm in Gwinnett.

If you did use a paintgun, you would be able to tell if the same one is coming back or if you have a larger population you're dealing with. If you could get together with your neighbors and discuss motion sensors for a larger weight that may have an audible alarm. You could probably find an inaudible dog fence that might work on motion also.

Good Luck.