I love wildlife, but...

[passiveporcupine]

17. thank you red dog

I don't want to shoot him either (except with a paintball gun to scare him off)...but fencing is not an option, nor would I want to ruin my beautiful forest view by closing in my cabin behind a tall wooden fence. And my cats (especially Hoochie, my hunter) can and will go right over a wooden fence.

I've been thinking of different fencing options (coyotes can clear most fences unless about six feet tall) and the electric fence is probably the only one I could stand looking at out here.

Both coyotes are very healthy and fully haired and when the light shows behind them as they run up or across the hill, they glow like foxes with golden hair. They are incredibly beautiful animals.

I love looking up my hill and seeing wildlife up above me...as long as it stays up there where it won't be hurt by my dogs or it won't hurt my cats. If this male weren't so bold and aggressive, I'd just be enjoying watching them travel across the hill every day.

My youngest dog, Rugby, is an English Shepherd. They are farm dogs used for herding, livestock protection, and just all around protection, and he is amazing, but he does not stay outside. He's a big baby who wants to be inside with me...so he watches through windows, but that's not as good as actually being out there where he can hear and smell and see everything. My older dog is a big yellow lab, who is a lover with people and animals, but can be pretty brave when he and Rugby are facing a predator. He's much braver than Rugby, who will bark, but not fight. He's getting pretty old though and I won't have him much longer.

We have such a huge range of wildlife visitors out here...it's why I moved here...for the seclusion, the peace and quiet, and the beauty of nature, both flora and fauna, and to be living with big trees and water again. I've even had beaver visitors on my creek once and have had a flock of over 100 wild turkeys swarm through my yard (last summer...it was awesome). I've been a pet and wildlife rescuer and rehabber all my life. I've raised wild birds and even a tiny field mouse on a bottle and had a tree frog living in my kitchen for over six months. I finally put her out in February when it warmed up enough here that the bugs were coming alive.

I'm not asking for any help on how to kill an animal. I got a PM from someone who is "angry" about this thread, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why.