Saturday, January 8, 2011

Wild America--Take Two

I was outside getting firewood last night when I heard the dogs barking furiously at what sounded like the top of the pasture. I also heard coyotes. They sounded . . . not much farther off than the dogs. Uh oh.

I mentioned this to A. when I got back inside and he left the dishes he was doing to call the dogs. As we have learned, the dogs respond much better to a summons from the Alpha Male than they do to ineffectual me. But Mia was the only one who appeared. And the sounds of the dogs and the sounds of the coyotes seemed to be drawing closer together. So A. grabbed his shotgun and headlamp and took Mia with him up back to get the other two dogs before they got hurt.

I waited for about 15 minutes with no sign of dogs or A. before I started to get kind of nervous. I hadn't heard any gun shots, which I took as a good sign. Just as I was going out the door to go to the pasture and listen more carefully, Leda and Otty appeared. They came back on their own. Then I did have to go up to the pasture to call to A. and Mia and let them know the other dogs were back.

When A. got back, he told me he found dozens of canine tracks in the field right next to our neighbor's house, indicating that a pack of coyotes had been there when the collies arrived to, in A.'s words, break up the coyote party. And it's a good thing they did, because that field is about 50 yards from the sheep pasture.

We're glad they chased the coyotes away, but they really shouldn't be doing that without the back-up of a person with a gun. If a coyote comes to bay (that is, gets cornered somewhere by the dogs) all three dogs together could probably kill it, but they would get badly torn up in the process.

It's a useful thing, and pretty much necessary, to have fierce hunting dogs on a property with vulnerable animals, but it sure is hard on my nerves.

8 comments:

Phoo-D said...

I never would have imagined collies as fierce hunting dogs, but your three have taught me otherwise! An extra bone for all of them!

Anonymous said...

Good doggies, earning there keep. And able to babytend Cubby as well. Beth

Mayberry Magpie said...

When our three dogs bark, and they do often much to the dismay of our neighbors, it means nothing more than my son has just spread out their dinner and they want each other to stay away. Oh, the complications of country life!

Daisy said...

A pack against your three - that's scary. Stay away, coyotes!

jean said...

I agree with Phoo-D, I never would have thought that collies would be good guard dogs let alone be willing to go up against coyotes.

Kristin @ Going Country said...

I don't think most collies are very good hunters; I believe it's been mostly bred out of them. But these three all have the same mother, who, in addition to being a championship show dog, happens to have a very fierce natural hunting instinct that she appears to have passed on to her daughters. Luckily for us.

rls said...

Wow. Just...wow.

FinnyKnits said...

Yeah, sounds like you have some good instincts in those dogs, there. And, they must be fairly daunting if an entire coyote pack left the scene of a field of sheep.

Good puppies.