I am interested in your experiences with coyotes. We have a ton of them in our timber. Beginning about 5 or 6 years ago, I would lose a late calf or two unexpectedly each year and usually never find much of them. The calves were observed getting off to a good start. I started shutting the cows close to the buildings two or three years ago and haven't had problems since. When the calves are two or three weeks old, I turn them out. About a month ago, I had a calf and turned him out with his mother at just under two weeks of age. I found him about 1/3 eaten 4 days later. Another calf, about 2 months old, had a severe wound across her left shoulder and still hasn't recovered. My best guess is that coyotes have gotten the calves in previous years, but dogs may have done the damage this year. I have seen coyotes within 20 yards of our house, but they don't seem to bother the calves with the cows in very close proximity to them in the yard. It seems to be only when the calves are left alone at a young age that there's a problem. I have had people tell me that it would be very rare for a coyote to kill a live calf. Is this true? I don't know the habits of coyotes other than it seems that a mother with some pups might go after anything handy. It is very common to be awakened by the sounds of numerous coyotes howling in the middle of the night. We have way too many deer in the area, so there should be plenty of coyote food. By the way, according to a Des Moines Register article several years ago, there were confirmed sightings of mountain lions in Polk, Webster, Marshall, and Hardin Counties. We are right in the middle of them. In fact, my sister saw one in her backyard several years ago on 63rd Street in Des Moines. Her friends were warned by police not to jog in Waveland Cemetary because of all the deer carcasses (left by the mountain lions). They seem to be around the Iowa and Des Moines Rivers.
