Post by Maverick on Jan 21, 2008 2:21:41 GMT -5
(I think I got it cleaned up now. Let me know if you see anything)
After almost a year of not seeing a 'coon due apparently to a distemper die out, I started seeing 'coons again in November. By December, Lucy was finding a coon at least every other time out, but was chasing not baying many times, and Kenya was not driving hard enough into the blackberries, and gave up in some tangles. Kenya certainly was excited and seemed to have desire, but was lacking in drive. She was getting better, just not as fast as I would like. I was even more frustrated with Lucy though. I wasn't looking for a replacement for the little demon 'coon killer Lady, as she was good for 1 good sized adult coon per day, and no more than 2 or 3 per week, though to be honest, I can't remember a week now that she actually got 3 full sized adults (have to start keeping records). What I am looking for out of Lucy is a dog that is good at finding 'coons, easily out run any 'coon, and then bay them solid with minimal damage and wear. She was finding them last month without any problems, and judging from the races, she could stop and bay them for various lengths-of-time, but if the 'coon really wanted to leave, Lucy could not or would not hold them at bay.
Then 2 or 3 weeks ago, super frustration! Lucy got a 'coon going in very light blackberry area (big plus for the big dogs), and all three ran it down the trail I was on towards me, and came within a stride or two of running over me. 'Coons just aren't that fast, and all 3 dogs were in striking distance when the coon spun around growling, stopping all 3 dogs as it took off into the brush beside them, quickly losing the 2 big dogs. Lucy kept up the chase with interspersed stops for a fight every few minutes for maybe 20 minutes. I was boiling mad and cursing at the dogs (which I never do), and figuring I needed to replace the lot of them!
For the next week, I pondered my options, and made some good headway on a variety of paperwork and indoor projects. I was getting ready to make some phone calls to see what other people's thoughts were on solving my dog problems, when I decided to out for a short walk to clear my head. I took them for a short walk over to a short neighborhood trail used by walkers and joggers, and where some of the neighborhood kids play war games. I had just completed some switchbacks coming up a little hill when I heard Lucy sound off at least a couple of hundred yards down the other side of the hill. It was covered with new growth of mainly 20 to 30 feet in height, and a lush understory of ferns, being a steep northern slope. It was probably a squirrel, as squirrels seemed to be the majority of the animals I have ever seen there. Could be a wandering cat, I supposed. Kenya had shot off at the first sound out of Lucy, and due to the lack of blackberry vines, had gotten there very quickly. Lucy had never quit vocalizing, and now her voice was moving fast. I thought, "Par for the course, some feral cat had whipped their sorry asses off, and now they are going to chase it up a tree.". After the previous outing, my expectations of those mutts were considerably lessened.
Imagine my surprise as a coyote exploded out of the ferns about 15 to 20 yds down the trail from me, doing a 360 midair as it spun around to snap and growl in Kenya's face, who was reaching in flight for the coyote, the coyote landing the 360 aerial perfectly and diving into a 1/4 acre blackberry patch in one smooth motion (actually more of a blur)! The dive into the blackberry vines was a good one for the coyote to put distance on Kenya, but Lucy was on Kenya's heals, and was not hampered at all by the vines. The coyote turned towards the center of the vines where they were the thickest, apparently not realizing that although she was losing Kenya, Lucy was overtaking her. Coyote's big mistake, #1.
By this time, I had pulled my jaw off the ground, and was running back down the trail towards the switchbacks I had just walked up on the other side of the hill trying to follow the action by sound as best I could. Maybe the coyote was planning to circle around me, and head back down through the trees and ferns on the north side; maybe it planned on losing Kenya completely in the blackberry vines growing thickly on the south side of the hill. What it did do as I approached the switchback on the top of the hill where the switchbacks began cascading down the south side, and the blackberry vines came to a point on the hilltop, was to turn to a small area where the vines thinned a bit. I suspect the coyote's plan was to get enough room to do something about that little demon Lucy that was putting a lot of hurt on it, though little damage (those coyotes are put together TOUGH). The other option the coyote had was to take advantage of the running conditions to leave Lucy, run through the less dense vines faster than Lucy can move and too tight for Kenya to keep up. Coyote chose wrong, big mistake #2.
I've turned the corner, and moving up a tight semi-trail between some evergreens and the blackberry patch. It is obvious that Kenya has caught up from the noise and has most of the coyote's attention, leaving Lucy to dash around making darting attacks on the coyote's rear-end. Seems like the alligator and swamp draining problem for the coyote, lol! Anyway, I can see them all clearly now. The coyote is squatting low protecting its hamstrings from Lucy which if damaged would eliminate the coyote's only hope for escape. The squatting coyote is trying to keep track of Lucy's location, Kenya's muzzle, and evaluate my threat (would of panicked if it weren't a suburban coyote). Lucy is a little black demon dashing around keeping the coyote between her and Kenya, always withing striking distance; and Kenya working for an opening. As I start crawling my way through vines with needle sharp thorns, the coyote is starting to look real nervous. Kenya is still looking, and Lucy is either feeling braver or feeling like I am going to steal her coyote. Lucy goes for the neck and the coyote instinctively snaps around chomping down hard on the top of Lucy's muzzle in a motion to quick for my eyes, causing the only squeal of hurt I have heard out of Lucy in any fight. Kenya sees her opening. Coyote's big mistake #3, and final.
Kenya grabs the coyote, not by the back of the neck, nor the side of the neck, but by the throat and has picked the coyote's front quarters off the ground, and is shaking it like a rag doll. I'm not sure how I missed Kenya's move. Maybe it was all of the needles sticking me from all angles; maybe it was memories of stories of coyotes breaking 90 lb Staghound jaws with a single bites and my little Jagd's muzzle firmly clamped in an adult coyote's jaws. Anyway, I take a breather watching Kenya thrashing the coyote's now limp body about while Lucy is trying to punish any part of the coyote at her level. Kenya stops shaking the coyote, pauses a bit, then drops it to the ground. Lucy quits ragging the coyote about the same time, and both dogs turn towards me, panting heavily, as I tell them what good dogs they are! I take a leash out of my pocket and make a slip loop in it to drag the coyote out. I just need to push a few feet more into the vines to reach a leg with my loop. In the moments it takes to cover those last 3 or 4 feet, I see the coyote's eyes begin to blink. As I am reaching out to drop my loop on a leg the coyote raises its head slightly, looks at me, and goes from lying limply on the ground to a run in an instant. Lucy who had been watching me, is instantly in pursuit, and Kenya is right behind her. The coyote is retracing its trail, but gets caught, I presume by Lucy. As I back out, both dogs begin to bay! A bit disappointed in Kenya for baying a coyote, but I give her slack for not being in as good of condition as I should have her in, and her letting down after an apparent kill. It suspect that this is when she suffered her only wound: 2 canine punctures through the cheek on both sides of the lower jaw, just ahead of the joints. As I get back around to where the coyote first dove into the blackberries, I hear the bay slowly moving back the other direction again. Then, they are slowly "pushing" the coyote out of the blackberries towards me. Finally, movement stops. Both dogs are still baying as I start to move in. I can see the coyote before going a yard in, and it has tucked in to a pocket in thick vines. Lucy is keeping a bit more distance, probably due to the earlier muzzle bite, and isn't trying to work her way "around back" either. Kenya is quieting down and snap sparring with the coyote. The coyote is doing its best imitation of a big bad fresh coyote in posture, if lacking a bit in action. I have to start crawling again. The coyote sees me coming, and has a much more worried look on its face as I inch towards its rear-end. The blackberries are much thicker here than the previous bay I crawled into, and it is slow going. After I get within 4 or 5 feet of the coyote, the coyote can't take it anymore, and bolts forward. It is really hard to follow the action an instant after the coyote commits, so I won't try to describe it. Before you can say "one thousand one", all 3: coyote, Lucy, and Kenya; have performed some number of movements and counter-movements, with the end result being Kenya once again with a throat hold and shaking the coyote with determination not seen in the first shake, and without any sign of fatigue in her now. This time when she drops the limp coyote, she stays focused on the coyote. Lucy walks very slowly next the coyote looking for any sign of life returning. I slip a leash over the coyotes back legs, and drag it out. No movement seen since Kenya last dropped it except for a couple of blinks. A couple of good raps to the head and the coyote passes the forced blink test. Satisfied, I stretch, leave the coyote beside the trail, finish the walk with the dogs looking hard for another varmint, and pickup the up the coyote on the way home. Maybe my dogs are worth feeding after all!
Kenya's and Lucy's first coyote. Kenya couldn't have caught it in the berry vines without Lucy's help, and Lucy probably would have been a coyote casualty without Kenya being there.
(Last minute pictures taken when original "photographer" didn't show up. Not enough time to switch Lucy for Kenya.)
Pete
After almost a year of not seeing a 'coon due apparently to a distemper die out, I started seeing 'coons again in November. By December, Lucy was finding a coon at least every other time out, but was chasing not baying many times, and Kenya was not driving hard enough into the blackberries, and gave up in some tangles. Kenya certainly was excited and seemed to have desire, but was lacking in drive. She was getting better, just not as fast as I would like. I was even more frustrated with Lucy though. I wasn't looking for a replacement for the little demon 'coon killer Lady, as she was good for 1 good sized adult coon per day, and no more than 2 or 3 per week, though to be honest, I can't remember a week now that she actually got 3 full sized adults (have to start keeping records). What I am looking for out of Lucy is a dog that is good at finding 'coons, easily out run any 'coon, and then bay them solid with minimal damage and wear. She was finding them last month without any problems, and judging from the races, she could stop and bay them for various lengths-of-time, but if the 'coon really wanted to leave, Lucy could not or would not hold them at bay.
Then 2 or 3 weeks ago, super frustration! Lucy got a 'coon going in very light blackberry area (big plus for the big dogs), and all three ran it down the trail I was on towards me, and came within a stride or two of running over me. 'Coons just aren't that fast, and all 3 dogs were in striking distance when the coon spun around growling, stopping all 3 dogs as it took off into the brush beside them, quickly losing the 2 big dogs. Lucy kept up the chase with interspersed stops for a fight every few minutes for maybe 20 minutes. I was boiling mad and cursing at the dogs (which I never do), and figuring I needed to replace the lot of them!
For the next week, I pondered my options, and made some good headway on a variety of paperwork and indoor projects. I was getting ready to make some phone calls to see what other people's thoughts were on solving my dog problems, when I decided to out for a short walk to clear my head. I took them for a short walk over to a short neighborhood trail used by walkers and joggers, and where some of the neighborhood kids play war games. I had just completed some switchbacks coming up a little hill when I heard Lucy sound off at least a couple of hundred yards down the other side of the hill. It was covered with new growth of mainly 20 to 30 feet in height, and a lush understory of ferns, being a steep northern slope. It was probably a squirrel, as squirrels seemed to be the majority of the animals I have ever seen there. Could be a wandering cat, I supposed. Kenya had shot off at the first sound out of Lucy, and due to the lack of blackberry vines, had gotten there very quickly. Lucy had never quit vocalizing, and now her voice was moving fast. I thought, "Par for the course, some feral cat had whipped their sorry asses off, and now they are going to chase it up a tree.". After the previous outing, my expectations of those mutts were considerably lessened.
Imagine my surprise as a coyote exploded out of the ferns about 15 to 20 yds down the trail from me, doing a 360 midair as it spun around to snap and growl in Kenya's face, who was reaching in flight for the coyote, the coyote landing the 360 aerial perfectly and diving into a 1/4 acre blackberry patch in one smooth motion (actually more of a blur)! The dive into the blackberry vines was a good one for the coyote to put distance on Kenya, but Lucy was on Kenya's heals, and was not hampered at all by the vines. The coyote turned towards the center of the vines where they were the thickest, apparently not realizing that although she was losing Kenya, Lucy was overtaking her. Coyote's big mistake, #1.
By this time, I had pulled my jaw off the ground, and was running back down the trail towards the switchbacks I had just walked up on the other side of the hill trying to follow the action by sound as best I could. Maybe the coyote was planning to circle around me, and head back down through the trees and ferns on the north side; maybe it planned on losing Kenya completely in the blackberry vines growing thickly on the south side of the hill. What it did do as I approached the switchback on the top of the hill where the switchbacks began cascading down the south side, and the blackberry vines came to a point on the hilltop, was to turn to a small area where the vines thinned a bit. I suspect the coyote's plan was to get enough room to do something about that little demon Lucy that was putting a lot of hurt on it, though little damage (those coyotes are put together TOUGH). The other option the coyote had was to take advantage of the running conditions to leave Lucy, run through the less dense vines faster than Lucy can move and too tight for Kenya to keep up. Coyote chose wrong, big mistake #2.
I've turned the corner, and moving up a tight semi-trail between some evergreens and the blackberry patch. It is obvious that Kenya has caught up from the noise and has most of the coyote's attention, leaving Lucy to dash around making darting attacks on the coyote's rear-end. Seems like the alligator and swamp draining problem for the coyote, lol! Anyway, I can see them all clearly now. The coyote is squatting low protecting its hamstrings from Lucy which if damaged would eliminate the coyote's only hope for escape. The squatting coyote is trying to keep track of Lucy's location, Kenya's muzzle, and evaluate my threat (would of panicked if it weren't a suburban coyote). Lucy is a little black demon dashing around keeping the coyote between her and Kenya, always withing striking distance; and Kenya working for an opening. As I start crawling my way through vines with needle sharp thorns, the coyote is starting to look real nervous. Kenya is still looking, and Lucy is either feeling braver or feeling like I am going to steal her coyote. Lucy goes for the neck and the coyote instinctively snaps around chomping down hard on the top of Lucy's muzzle in a motion to quick for my eyes, causing the only squeal of hurt I have heard out of Lucy in any fight. Kenya sees her opening. Coyote's big mistake #3, and final.
Kenya grabs the coyote, not by the back of the neck, nor the side of the neck, but by the throat and has picked the coyote's front quarters off the ground, and is shaking it like a rag doll. I'm not sure how I missed Kenya's move. Maybe it was all of the needles sticking me from all angles; maybe it was memories of stories of coyotes breaking 90 lb Staghound jaws with a single bites and my little Jagd's muzzle firmly clamped in an adult coyote's jaws. Anyway, I take a breather watching Kenya thrashing the coyote's now limp body about while Lucy is trying to punish any part of the coyote at her level. Kenya stops shaking the coyote, pauses a bit, then drops it to the ground. Lucy quits ragging the coyote about the same time, and both dogs turn towards me, panting heavily, as I tell them what good dogs they are! I take a leash out of my pocket and make a slip loop in it to drag the coyote out. I just need to push a few feet more into the vines to reach a leg with my loop. In the moments it takes to cover those last 3 or 4 feet, I see the coyote's eyes begin to blink. As I am reaching out to drop my loop on a leg the coyote raises its head slightly, looks at me, and goes from lying limply on the ground to a run in an instant. Lucy who had been watching me, is instantly in pursuit, and Kenya is right behind her. The coyote is retracing its trail, but gets caught, I presume by Lucy. As I back out, both dogs begin to bay! A bit disappointed in Kenya for baying a coyote, but I give her slack for not being in as good of condition as I should have her in, and her letting down after an apparent kill. It suspect that this is when she suffered her only wound: 2 canine punctures through the cheek on both sides of the lower jaw, just ahead of the joints. As I get back around to where the coyote first dove into the blackberries, I hear the bay slowly moving back the other direction again. Then, they are slowly "pushing" the coyote out of the blackberries towards me. Finally, movement stops. Both dogs are still baying as I start to move in. I can see the coyote before going a yard in, and it has tucked in to a pocket in thick vines. Lucy is keeping a bit more distance, probably due to the earlier muzzle bite, and isn't trying to work her way "around back" either. Kenya is quieting down and snap sparring with the coyote. The coyote is doing its best imitation of a big bad fresh coyote in posture, if lacking a bit in action. I have to start crawling again. The coyote sees me coming, and has a much more worried look on its face as I inch towards its rear-end. The blackberries are much thicker here than the previous bay I crawled into, and it is slow going. After I get within 4 or 5 feet of the coyote, the coyote can't take it anymore, and bolts forward. It is really hard to follow the action an instant after the coyote commits, so I won't try to describe it. Before you can say "one thousand one", all 3: coyote, Lucy, and Kenya; have performed some number of movements and counter-movements, with the end result being Kenya once again with a throat hold and shaking the coyote with determination not seen in the first shake, and without any sign of fatigue in her now. This time when she drops the limp coyote, she stays focused on the coyote. Lucy walks very slowly next the coyote looking for any sign of life returning. I slip a leash over the coyotes back legs, and drag it out. No movement seen since Kenya last dropped it except for a couple of blinks. A couple of good raps to the head and the coyote passes the forced blink test. Satisfied, I stretch, leave the coyote beside the trail, finish the walk with the dogs looking hard for another varmint, and pickup the up the coyote on the way home. Maybe my dogs are worth feeding after all!
Kenya's and Lucy's first coyote. Kenya couldn't have caught it in the berry vines without Lucy's help, and Lucy probably would have been a coyote casualty without Kenya being there.
(Last minute pictures taken when original "photographer" didn't show up. Not enough time to switch Lucy for Kenya.)
Pete
