G:
How can you say "scavenger" and then say "eat your cat"? Those are contradictory. Predators eat other animals. Coyotes will eat whatever animal that they can manage.
My Great Pyrenees isn't that interested in escaping. I kept it in the backyard in the winter as a puppy with my lab/sharpei mix dog to keep it protected and teach it how to scrap.
Once the Pyr was too big to squeeze through small fence holes, I let her out in the pasture and she immediately turned into a guard dog. She walks the fences at night and the only time you can sneak up on her is during the day when she sleeps. Not to say that coyotes couldn't sneak up on her - she isn't infallible. 2 of them would be better - they'll tag team situations. Ours came from a breeder that has 60 alpacas, and the puppies are treated like working dogs from day one. Its grand sire stood off with a big bear in Denver for 20 minutes until the bear figured it just wasn't worth a fight.
True story: Neighbors of ours when we lived in Norco, CA(They lived in Karen Carpenter's old Ranch) had 2 Jack Russell Terriers - male and female. The female got sneak attacked by a coyote. The female busted loose out of the jaws and limped home while their male rushed in and fought the coyote. These were the little JRTs that are little balls of fire. 2 more coyotes came in and the male JRT fought all three in a tmbling fight that went up and over a hill. The owner had run out there with a shotgun but the distance + hitting his dog kept him from shooting. They figured their JRT was doomed. It came back 4 hours later UNSCATHED. The irony is that a year later that brave JRT died by an owl figuring it would be a good dinner. The owl grabbed it from both sides puncturing both lungs, coudln't lift it (those things are small but made of lead!) and left it as the female came out to help the male.
I talked to a neighbor yesterday and he thinks they know where a pack is building up that is causing problems. I'm going to see about getting 4 or 5 neighbors together (I doubt that any neighbor I have doesn't have at least a rifle), and clean things up.
I have 6 lambs right now and right now they are in a pasture 50' x 500' that is surrounded by area the Pyr can get to, and 3 male alpacas in there with them. I sleep soundly knowing the coyotes will have a **** of a time. Those lambs can do 20 mph UP A STEEP hill to escape, the Pyr is a tank, and the un-neutered alpacas won't welcome the thing either.
The coyotes did NOT steer clear with just my pet dogs in the backyard, but I have yet to see one on our property since the Pyr has been out there. The worst thing that has happened is 2 racoons tag-teaming the pyr to steal all her food from a self-feeder (I feed her daily now and the coons have moved on).
We also have a Pyr - she sleeps outside, but due to her escaping habits she has to be on a zip line over night - she is a very good girl, but Houdini and an idiot in the same time. I can sneak on her at night and hear her snorring
