Homestead mailing list

["Frank Fries" <frank.fries AT imagewireless.ca>]

Hi all,

> Hi Frank, Wussie Southerner here(of course, from your perspective, we
> are all Southerners..lol)

That was actually Ray's phrase - I would never have labelled "y'all" as 
Wussie Southerners......  (wussies perhaps, or maybe southerners  but not 
wussie southerners - just sounds like too much - lol)

> Trapping is illegal and risky for your own  dog and other dogs/wildlife, so 
> I don't recommend that or poisoning.

Trapping is legal here (with a license and following a number of laws, most 
of which are meant to limit unnecessary suffering for the trapped animal), 
but nobody does it anymore - poisoning is illegal.   I am well aware of the 
danger to my dogs  and my neighbour's dogs as well  (spelling = neighbor in 
the US).

PS - I may not catch all the differences in Canadian/US spellings - did you 
all (y'all) know that there were spelling differences ?? - check = cheque, 
color = colour, etc).

>  I only lost one lamb, I think, to a coyote, but that  was before I got my 
> Pyrs.  Here, coyotes can jump and clear a 4 ft fence
> like a deer.

Same resourceful, athletic creatures.. I have not lost a lamb yet, but 
another fellow who has a few sheep about 3 miles (5 kms ) south of me has 
seen them come right into his yard and help themselves - he lost a few of 
them.

> .  If you already have a Pyr, he is well capable of  taking out a coyote, 
> but they are almost invincible in pairs.  An  Anatolian would be another 
> good choice.   If your sheep are lambing this> time of year, those coyotes 
> can smell it...make sure your dog(s) is out > there and bonded to those 
> sheep!(less to you, more to the sheep)  A good > LDG will also guard 
> poultry should you choose to add it.

I usually lamb in April (when it is warmer and fresh grass is easier for the 
lambs to start on than hay) - easier on the lambs and ewes and as a bonus, 
it is easier on me as well.  I am thinking of eventually getting another Pyr 
to help this one....  We didn't raise her to be a LGD - we thought she would 
help protect the other dog.

In fact, with the two they would be nearly invincible together because they 
would each have someone to guard each others back (and most importantly, 
hamstrings) - as you suggested.

However, while neither of them will leave home by themselves, once the Pyr 
grew up, the two of them would leave together... the Pyr has to go to the 
top of the next hill, and the shepherd cross has to go along to protect that 
stupid puppy (the shepherd is much older and "raised" the puppy - she is 
still the dominant dog even though the Pyr is quite a bit bigger - the Pyr 
lets her be the boss).  The Pyr was always attracted by instinct to the 
sheep - at night she would go down and sleep next to them (on the other side 
of the fence)..

So when they started roaming, we either had to get rid of the Pyr, or 
something, so we cautiously tried her in with the sheep..

Both dogs had been in with the sheep when we were doing chores before, but 
never stayed inside when we weren't there.  The sheep were always less leary 
of the Pyr than the shepherd cross.   The shepherd cross is a hunter and 
catches rabbits - she is a predator and looks a little like a coyote - she 
moves quickly and does not seem as calm as the Pyr.  The Pyr moves slowly 
near the sheep...

Anyways, Frosty was always drawn to the sheep and is bound to them....The 
sheep adapted to her quite quickly.. At one time, one of the older ewes kept 
bunting and chasing the Pyr when there were new lambs in the pasture - 
Frosty just took it...I called her and she actually ran and got behind me 
for protection..kind of interesting, because it was a ewe that didn't yet 
have her own lambs yet, but she was helping protect the lambs for the rest 
of the flock.....

Now nearly all the ewes were born since Frosty was there and they don't even 
seem to care about her being there when they have new lambs.

> As to the reason for the increase in numbers, I think it is
> simple...less people hunt..there are a lot of deer, a lot of squirrels,
> raccoons, etc.  Good Luck!

That is also true here - less people hunt all the time (political 
correctness, etc).  Likely also a contributing factor.

Frank