Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

He's got a nice white belly and legs, his sides and back are well furred but are pretty dark, the mane is a little course not the really fine fur of a sandhills nor the silvery color of the Montana pale coyote but not a darker blackish or a rusty reddish color of a lot of the red desert or higher mountain coyotes. The legs are a whiter color than most of the coyotes from this area, which are pretty brownish or rusty color. If I had him skinned washed and stretched, he would be a little lighter but would probably still be a mid-range coyote. The one that Zip pulled the fur out of was getting closer to a pale coyote of the average coyotes from this area with the reddish rusty legs, when washed and stretched both of the other coyotes would be closer to pales, but not quite Montana pales and in the lower range of the pales, with fine fur but not as fine as the sandhills coyotes, courser than the fur of a nice red fox.

Dave ,
My Spud dog turned 15 August 14th.
He is flat worn out. His hips are shot and I think everyday is his last.

I can't even imagine 18 years old.

Wow.

My Airedale, Purdy, passed at 14 in 2021.

John

It seems like the bigger dogs are the shorter their lives are. I've had a couple that lived to 16 but they were as you say worn out, they had earned their place and my respect, so I kept them at home with me till they were in pain and suffering, then out of respect for them put them down. I always shake my head at your having Alec Baldwin teach a gun safety course we all know for a revolver to go off the hammer has to be cocked, or it dropped and not have a drop bar! I have seen some horses as well as dogs that will form a tight bond with their humans and it has always impressed me as to what they will do for each other.

A well-used coyote trail about 20 feet from the fence line to the pasture, the marker for the boundary line by the fence. The scat tells a story, it's not just one coyote nor is it only coyote scat. The white bone chips say it has been eating on a larger animal. The crows fly over told me where there was a dead heifer that had been being fed on at an earlier date, traps in the area set as flat sets with some good red fox gland lure back away from it so you aren't bothered as much by skunks and things like that. If you look at the trail it goes up a hill where they can look down into a brushy valley of sorts. Slipping over the fence and up the hill then down under the top so as not to be sky lined is a good set up for calling when the wind isn't blowing 30 - 40 mph like it was today. Our weather was in the upper 50's with a steady 20 mph wind and gusts up to 45, sunny but Walt and I enjoyed it.

I was on the west side boundary fence and the south border is only about 20 feet to my right. The scat was just past me about 4 feet from the fence I was standing by. Going north the fence runs a mile and has a lightly used trail running by it with only two crawl unders.

Hey Dave,
any idea about Zip's lineage?

I don't have any idea about Zip's lineage I will ask Gene I think he has some heeler in him.

I ask Gene about Zip, turns out he's a full blood Rat Terrier. I had mountain curs, southern black mouth curs, a mixed breed heeler border collie mix and now Walt a rough coat jack russell terrier. Gene said that Zip loves to dig out gophers and hunt as well as decoy coyotes.

Dave, I also have a rough coat Jack Russell who is 11 years old. How old is Walt?

Walt is three years old now, he came out of Texas. My wife's sister-in-law had a couple of litters she was selling to pay for her vacation and Walt was a left over, so she dropped him off on her way to see her oldest daughter in South Dakota. It was a fad thing to have Jack Russell's a few years back till people found out that they are kind of hyper, my vet calls them Jack Russell terrorists or ping pong balls on steroids. Around 7 or 8 years ago the shelters were full of them around here because people didn't do the research before, they got them and then couldn't handle them, kind of like the labradoodle thing, the beagle, Irish setter, or various other breeds of dogs. Some of the breeds were over breed, inbreed and ruined by greed and will never be the same again.

When Jack was younger Gene stopped by and I said bring Jack in the house for some water and where it's cooler. Gene said no you don't want him in your house he isn't neutered, and he'll just run around ****ing on everything to mark his territory, because you have a neutered dog and a spayed female. He waited in the truck while Gene and I visited.