We have a new worker on trial. As I write this, I’m monitoring his progress on the patio in the bright sunshine.
Sitka is a BIG black dog descended from ancestors in Bulgaria and Italy, Karakachan and Maremma, respectively. He is a two-year-old neutered male. He wasn’t fitting in well in his previous workplace, so we are trying him out. He came for several afternoons to meet and greet. Last night, he stayed over.
Sitka is huge. He makes Monkey, our 55-lb black dog, look small. In the picture is DJ, our 27-pounder.
Sitka is bred to hang with flocks and herds and protect them from wolves, so 25-lb coyotes are small fry. He is very chill. When our dogs try to dominate him, he just lets them bounce off. The Chihuahuas trying to dominate him are crazy.
Unfortunately, the sheep have been attacked by coyotes and dogs so many times that they are pretty leery of him. They are keeping their distance; he pays little attention. Miss Piggy is indifferent. Tonight is his first night out on duty in the pasture.
Monkey is determined to catch coyotes, but they are fast! He has chased some well over a mile. Unfortunately, he also likes to chase other things and can’t be trusted out alone all night with sheep or poultry.
We lost Good Mama, an ewe who successfully raises twins and triplets yearly, to coyotes two nights ago. Two of her near-adult ewe lambs I was keeping for breeding were killed in the past few weeks. The last of the triplets is still with us. We are indeed reminded of the circle of life when living on a farm.
Coyote predation is difficult. They come in the wee hours, so unless there is snow on the ground and a bright moon, you can’t spot them. They are smart! They can find any hole in a fence, and with their fur, they are relatively immune to electric fences.
We appreciate their predation on rodents most of the year. The pickings are slim after orchardists around us mass-poison voles and ground squirrels hibernate. Most of their scat now is apples—they eat a lot of fruit! It’s not a balanced enough diet to raise babies, so family groups get together and go after large animals.