Coyotes kill calf in Sisters

With all the press regarding the wandering cougar around Sisters over the last couple of weeks, it was only normal that Kathy and Frank Deggendorfer, who live out in the Camp Polk area, thought it was the big cat that killed one of their prize Mexican Corriente calves a week ago.

When biologists from ODFW came out to investigate, however, the real culprit turned out to be either coyotes, or stray dogs that got carried away with chasing livestock.

"I like coyotes; they eat my gophers," Kathy said, "but now what are we going to do?"

The answer to that question is NOT the government trapper. The sensible solution is a Great Pyrenees livestock guard dog. Two would be even better.

Developed on the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains, these magnificent animals guarded sheep against wolves and bears. Male Pyrs (the nickname for Pyrenees) range from 27 to 32 inches at the shoulder and weigh up to 125 pounds. Any coyote with an ounce of brains will stay clear of that threat.

A white ball of fluff as a puppy, a Pyrenee quickly becomes a BIG dog. Fortunately, they are gentle and affectionate to the family and low-key in the house. Unfortunately, a male's independence and strong-minded personality do not take well to obedience training, so he is completely unsuitable for a timid owner.

Kathy Deggendorfer has never been known to be a timid person and coyotes have a healthy respect for Great Pyrenees, so it should work out perfectly. Kathy can teach her guard dog(s) to let the coyotes go about the business of eating gophers, and the Pyrs will teach the coyotes to leave calves alone.

The problem with coyotes is that 90 percent of the time they are doing the right thing; it's that other 10 percent that livestock people and those who live in the outlying forest and agricultural areas can't live with. Guard dogs change all of that.

Two small dogs went missing out in the Sun Mountain area: "Dinky," a cute little Chihuahua, and a Jack Russell terrier. If there is one thing coyotes are good at it is tricking small dogs away from the safety of their homes and eating them - along with as many barn cats they can find. Marianne Fettkether, who lives near Sun Mountain, knows that all too well; she (allegedly) almost lost two of her Dachshunds to coyotes.

The good news about "Dinky" is that he made it back home in one piece, but the owner said, "I thought the little guy was coyote bait; we've lost so many cats to coyotes or great horned owls." The Jack Russell is still among the missing…

Coyotes are living proof of the process of Natural Selection at work, and it isn't a "theory," it's a fact! Over the last 100-plus years, coyotes have been persecuted with every killing tool that Man dreamed up. From snares to poisons of all kinds, to steel traps to digging out dens and killing pups and shooting adults from aircraft, you name it, we've used it to kill coyotes. Not only are they still with us, but also expanding their population and range every day.

When the livestock industry started leaning on the federal government to do something about their losses to coyotes, everyone thought it would be as easy to kill them as the wolves.

The problem was that no one really thought it through; trappers just assumed that coyotes would knuckle under like everything else they killed. Wrong!

When coyotes are killed indiscriminately they respond by having bigger litters of pups.

That soon leads to way too many coyotes in one place. To relieve the stress they expand their range.

About 75 years ago, coyotes began leaving the Southwest and Texas and started making a living in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, New York, Florida and on up into Maine and Canada. After all, the wolves were gone, why not fill that niche? They did - and all too well.

Now there are coyotes living in Los Angeles, California; Pacific City; Vancouver, Washington and just about everyplace else in the U.S. of A., and they are doing quite well for themselves.

There isn't a place in the Sisters area where you can't hear coyotes singing their song of a full belly -whether it is calf, ground squirrel, gopher or barn cat. But the presence of a BIG, (preferably white) livestock guard dog really puts the fear of God into their impudent behavior.