One Less Coyote and Grazing Ewes

We finally were able to get a clear safe shot on the coyote that's been hanging around. Generally we try to leave the coyotes alone. If they respect the fences and dogs and don't bother us or the sheep we don't bother them. The last time we had to kill one was in the fall of 2000. After that the pack moved on or changed composition and we had a number of years with no problems. We could hear coyotes nearly every night and there is a den on our property. But the coyotes never came in near the sheep, never tried to lure the dogs away from the flock and never caused us any problems. They left us alone and we in turn left them alone.

This coyote was different. I suspect the older animals died and the new ones that moved in were much bolder and more aggressive. This male was ignoring the dogs and being way too bold, coming up and checking out things during the day and looking in at the sheep and ignoring the frenzied dogs just inside the fence. With lambing about to start we cannot afford to have a coyote like this in the area. We've been trying to get a good shot at it but until today they were all unsafe shots. The coyote finally got into a position where we could take the shot. 1 round : 1 less coyote. Hopefully this will be the last of the problem for another decade.


The pregnant ewes are finally out on pasture and ready to lamb.

More Construction & Farm News

Construction is proceeding at a rapid pace. All the rest of the windows and doors got installed. The stairs got roughed in and we can easily get up and down to appreciate the views from the upper floor. I sure like going up the stairs rather than climbing the ladder!


The siding got delivered and already a lot of it is installed. We are using a concrete composite board siding with batts over the top so it will look like the old red barn but be more fire resistant. We will have to wait until spring or summer to paint the building. It's much too cold to do any painting now. Eventually it will be red like the old restored barn but for now it will remain grey.

The heating contractor was up to measure for the heater and we'll also have a swamp cooler for cooling in summer. While the actual furnace may not get installed for a while we need to size it and get the vent pipes out the top before the metal roof is put on.
Electrical wires have to be run and all lighting installed. We haven't even decided what we want where. I know that we'll need a lot of electrical outlets. Every construction project we add more outlets and we still never seem to have enough where we need them.

Our weather has been very cold, we haven't gotten above freezing for the last 10 days. This makes it really hard to work outside so construction starts after the sun comes up and the wind dies down and ends early, before the sun goes down and it gets really cold.

Our sheep are eating a lot of extra hay to keep warm but otherwise seem happy. We have some ongoing problems of keeping the water heaters plugged in and water tanks unfrozen. Bored sheep like to play with the heaters.

Our biggest excitement was coming home one morning after taking 4 sheep to butcher to find a coyote inside the new elk fence. We tried to shoot it, but missed and it actually climbed up and out the new fence! Our guard dogs aren't able to run the entire area because that is where the horses are. It was discouraging to know the coyotes can climb such a tall fence. I thought they only dug or climbed smaller ones. It proves the point that predator protection has to be multi-layer in our area. Even really good fences are not enough to keep our stock safe.

St. Nicholas Day - Rain and Progress

December 6th and the framing of the roofline on either side of the dormers is nearly done. It's a bit hard to see from this picture but in spite of the constant drizzle a lot got finished today.

Larry was back with the last of the elk fence wire and got it hung and started stretching it. I didn't get any pictures, it was really raining when we went out. We put temporary gates up after chasing the deer out of the orchard. We are back again to deer proof, or at least we think so. Not coyote proof by any means but that's why we have so many guard dogs and with the sheep in the winter corrals they are not at too much risk.

Off to Wool Festival & Bears

Heading out today to attend part of the Taos Wool Festival. I'm taking my second revision of a Monmouth cap and the start of a scarf from a chart that I am having problems reading in hopes I can get some help from some of my knitting friends who will be there.

The Monmouth cap is interesting. My first one followed the many on-line patterns fairly well but when it was done, although a very nice knit cap, it doesn't look at all like the one in the Nelson Museum. So I started another of my own design but am stuck on the double knitting part for the brim. I think I have a plan to finish it but want to run it by someone else first.

About a week ago we had bears visit us very close to the house. I keep meaning to put up the pictures of the tracks but just didn't get around to it until today. There were at least 2 bears one larger and one a bit smaller. The first track was a small distance from the house as you can see. It was fresh, we back tracked and found fresh scat too.
Bears can be very serious predators of sheep. They will go into a killing frenzy and just keep killing sheep without eating any of them. So far our guard dogs have managed to keep them away but I am anxious to get the bears off the mesa and hiberbating. The next morning we found more tracks very close to the house. Right by the porch as a matter of fact.

There is a huge overpopulation of bears. When Colorado got rid of the spring bear hunt we started having many more problem bears that come in where people are and learn about domestic stock as food animals. We are allowed to protect our stock but the increased density of houses in rural areas make it harder to find clear sight lines to shoot the offending bears. Predator protection costs add a lot to the cost of our wool and our meat. Each guard dog puppy has nearly $2000 invested before he or she is deemed a reliable guard animal.

Sometimes I wish the urban folks who think predators are cute would come see the devestation they can cause. But no one wants to see the bears shredding sheep and guard dogs, or the coyotes dragging still living lambs off while their mothers try to save them, or worst of all, wolves first attacking and killing all the guard dogs of a flock before decimating the poor sheep.

So far we have been very lucky, we have not lost any sheep to predators once we had enough guard dogs, 4 for our small 20 acres of land. We have lost geese and many chickens and had sheep injured who survived. I hope we can keep enough dogs on hand to protect our precious animals.