Whoa...past your dog kennel? Boy do you live out in nature!

The only canines roaming here are 2 yellow labs who get in trouble monthly for waking up all the neighbors since their dogs start barking in the middle of the night...LOL.

Their "mom" wants to ring "dad's" neck since he's supposed to accompany them on their last nightly outdoors venture but thinks it's silly to go out and get wet or cold.

There are 2 of them because when there was only one she had a romantic encounter after "dad" let her wander the neighborhood one night when "mom" was in Florida.

They're adorable. They love the UPS guy because every delivery driver who comes to the neighborhood knows them and the UPS one carries treats for them.

Hehe! You don't have to live in the boondocks to have coyotes running around. The wild dogs have been spotted in Downtown of my city!

We have trouble with them too. Saw one not 100 foot from the house in broad daylight. And my husband shot one in the neighbors backyard. I'm pretty sure that is what got hold of my sheltie and tore her up early one morning. I wish my DH would trap them but he's afraid of getting someone's dog.

We get them in Chicago too, but they have not been spotted in my neighborhood. :-)

Yes, we are 33 miles from town in the middle of wheat country...lots of mice to keep them happy....keeps me happy too! She IS a great mouser herself and if I tell her to "go find that mouse" (indoors) she'll have a gift for us the next morning! Seen an Elk dash out from the people's tree stand across the way from us about a month ago at dawn. He must have gotten spooked because it was lickity split over the wheat field and gone. Last year winter my nextdoor neighbor had a moose eating the apples that fell from the tree.

BTW my female is a coydog and turned 10 this October:
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When we lived in the mountains above Denver a male Coyote was trying to court her thru the encloser that January. We watched thru the window as they talked to one another and boy was she ever the flirt! LOL! He hung around the entire week.

We have lots of them here in Northern IL. They are a real problem for the farmers. Their cries are just plain creepy in the night and I always worry about my barn cats. (Cats are coyote food!) The smart ones keep away but coyotes are not a friend around here!

They like to roam the fields around here, sure, but there's a lot of traffic at a nearby intersection - they never really cross over into the neighborhood area. Probably enough to keep them occupied on the other side. :)

Oh my, they scare me, I haven't seen any around here but I always hear stories about them attaking small dogs in cities not too far from me. I just worry about them getting at my boy Cocoa or some of the other dogs in the neighborhood.

proudgm, I'm sorry to hear that one got your Sheltie, is she still with you and okay? I sure hope so.

~Linda

When we lived in CO out in the sticks- they were very common to see. We had a family of them that liked to gather at a small stream less than 100' from our door, just behind the chicken and duck coop.
It was nice to hear them yipping and woofing softly to each other- and hearing the pups get a little carried away with their play- But it never failed to send a little shiver when they called out to other groups not too far away.
Several times, while walking around the place, we would spot one or two watching us- we even had one keep pace with us about 20' away, for quite a distance. Stopping when we stopped, starting back up just after we did- It was not frightening or menacing- it was just curious. I have been much more afraid of "tame" dogs than I was of that critter.
Our large dog at the time was no threat to them- nor they to it. He was a neutered male- and I suspect, he would run with them sometimes. There was never any trouble with him and them- nor with the poultry- but- we cooped them up tight every night.
We did however, have a cougar come around for a short time- and that WAS frightening!! The dog would go wild inside the house wanting to get out- but we knew better than to let him out. We never saw it- but the whole area got real quiet when it came around, day or night. We saw it's foot prints at our door step one morning. Not to shortly after that- it must have left the area because things were back to normal. Birds- bugs and Coyotes all makin noises like normal- Imagine coyote noises being a comfort!
Our wildlife here in the MPLS burbs is much more sedate- skunks are gone- a possum every other year- wild turkey- coons, hawks, eagles and owls, and a few pesky deer that found my garden last year!!