Coyotes and Fencing opinions

[EddieWalker]

Thank you. I'm still comparing prices and the pros and cons of different methods. I like the idea of chain link. I don't think it ever rusts out!!

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie
My dad had a dog pen for his hounds when I was little. They would climb out and be gone for days so he added a 1 ft. Can't figure how to tell you. Picture an upside down L. The L went out over the dog pen one foot and the hounds could not get over it. If you can't see what i am saying I will try again. Ed

One of the things that I've been told is to never have a sharp inside corner. A deer can run into it and get one or two feet onto the wires, which is enough for it to climb over an 8 foot tall fence. All my corners will be rounded. I lose a little bit of land doing this, and there is more material and time, but in my opinion, worth it.

 

[TractorGuy]

Your plan sounds sound to me.

I did a pen for beagles years ago and trenched the perimeter. I used chain link and concreted the base to keep them from digging out. Ended up with one dog that was a climber. Had to put a shelf around the top of the fence to stop her from getting out. She would climb up to the shelf, hit it, and go back down.

 

[TractorGuy]

Another coyote deterrent is donkeys. My daughter has 3 of them and they get along fine with all the cats, dogs, horses, and other critters but let a coyote or stray dog come on the property and they will catch and kill it if it can't outrun them.

 

[EddieWalker]

My concern with donkeys, or llamas or Great Pyrenees dogs is that they all have their pros and cons. Donkeys are just as likely to kill livestock that is new, then protect it. My goal is to buy and sell a few different types of deer and antelope species. I'm nervous about Donkeys because of so many stories of them turning on fawns, or new animals that where just introduced into the herd. The different species I get will hopefully be spread out over my land, so it is also impossible for a protection animal to protect all of it, or even know what's going on inside the fence. In my mind, I think I have to really put a lot of extra effort into the fence and get it right the first time. Over kill, super duper and whatever else it takes. Money is always a factor, but if I don't have enough, I have patients and will wait until I do have enough to buy what I need. I also expect this to be spread out over time, doing what I can, when I can.

 

[roadhunter]

That sounds like a lot of work to go to unless you are losing calves on a regular basis or somethign else that is of high value.

Hunting pressure can certainly move coyotes away from small pieces of property like what you are dealing with. Allowing some trapping as well as some night hunting will deter coyotes from your property. For some reason when it's dark they lose all their timidness and will come right in even with a spotlight in their face.

Wild animals don't' respect fences. I've seen elk jump 8 ft fences to get in a buffalo pasture and countless times I've seen deer inside fences that are supposed to prevent animals from getting into the hay. Also seen evidence of Lions jumping over 8 ft fence on elk pens. They always figure out a way to get in it seems.

 

[houstonscott]

I'm still clearing my land for my fence, but it's raining today and I'm taking the day off, so I'm researching ways to keep coyotes out of my land. The most common way that I've been told is to install a predator fence on the ground outside my fence and tie it together like shown in this picture. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=462975"/> The problem that I have with this is that I have to put my fence inside my land 3 feet, or whatever the size of the fence is that's flat on the ground. That's really not that much in the grand scheme of things, but I really hate the idea of doing it. Where my fence is going, there is a gas pipeline on the other side, which is constantly mowed and kept clear of any trees for a 50 foot width. Nothing is going to fall on my fence along the pipeline. What I'm thinking and wondering about is if I can bury the fence. I own a diesel ditch witch riding trencher with a blade on the front. It goes through the ground like butter. If I trenched down 2 feet the entire length of the fence, used longer poles so I still get them several feet into the ground below the trench, then put a 3 foot 12.5 gauge galvanized fence 2 feet into the ground with a foot of it sticking up, then installed my fence along the side of that with a foot of overlap, will the fence in the ground last? I've seen old cyclone fences buried in the ground for decades and all they had was surface rust on them. Still very strong and able to be used as a drag behind my tractor for years and years. I finally got rid of it because I came up with another drag that didn't catch every stick it went over. Coyotes are a huge problem. Keeping them out is my number one goal. Maybe more important then keeping my animals in. I know guys who have lost 40 fawns in a week from coyotes!!!!! Others deal with a dozen or so losses a year. I want to take the time and spend a little more to make my fence 100% coyote proof. I don't think they will dig down 2 feet, then go farther under the fence and dig back up again. That seems to be too much for me to believe it will happen. The question is will the fence in the ground last and be able to stop anything from digging through it down the road?

I have exactly that on my property, and I have zero coyotes. Mowing the fence line is a issue but well worth the security. I have goats and no guard animals. Seems to work good. HS

 

[EddieWalker]

Do you spray the fence line with roundup? I'm thinking that's going to have to happen a couple times a year, but wonder if it will cause more rust to the fence, or speed up the growth of rust on the fence.

 

[the old grind]

.. Might be better to bury the fence horizontal along the edge of your vertical fence to deter digging altogether. ...

... To stop the digging I put down chicken wire on the ground around the fence. The grass grew up through the wire and one could not tell the wire was there. ...

EDDIE: your fence design (as shown) is what you need. Dogs,coyotes, armadillos etc all start to dig under a fence right at the fence line so by laying your horizontal fence 2-3 feet back from the fence, they stop digging when they find the wire that they cant get thru. If you are concerned about rust out, put in chain link fencing which might last a lifetime. ...

:thumbsup:, :thumbsup:, :thumbsup:

If you bury the fencing deep, critters will leave you lots of holes to patch or mow over before they give up on several tries (we've all seen that) so always go horizintal where possible.

We've buried chicken wire, chain link, or plastic lattice rolleyes, always horizontally and never more than 2" below the ground. (Keeping Beagles in their pens for over two decades, others out of the garden and coops.) Critters dig at the fence bottom and stop when they hit the wire. Haven't seen any step back and begin tunneling after that. ('yote, 'coon, skunk, GH, etc)

Chain link when you have, it but rolls are a bit wide & cutting to narrow it is a bit of a chore. Poly lattice 4' x 8' panels sawed lengthwise x3rds makes 16" x 24', lasts the longest w/o service and stays put, but costs the most. (good inside pens) 24" chicken wire is cheapest and easiest to install/patch/tie to vertical fence. Service life much less than chain link, drier and less fertile soils benefit either metal.

 

[Ed of all trades]

One of the things that I've been told is to never have a sharp inside corner. A deer can run into it and get one or two feet onto the wires, which is enough for it to climb over an 8 foot tall fence. All my corners will be rounded. I lose a little bit of land doing this, and there is more material and time, but in my opinion, worth it.

I was talking about a shelf around the top outside of the fence about one foot wide. Just like JD855guy talked about. Ed