RE: [Alpacasite] My heart is STILL pounding!!

Oh, I wasn't worried about it doing any real damage to the alpacas... It was
that it was so brazen and un-wary that alarmed me...

If this guy starts showing up in daylight then fine... I happen to be a very
good shot with a .38.

Kathryn & Robert Coursey
kathryn@coursey.org
Chipola Alpacas
in the Panhandle of Florida
www.chipolaalpacas.com
(850) 639-6809
I am a source for weeping willow trees
and white mulberry trees.

Some folks are like Slinkies,
Not good for much,
But ya just can't help but smile
When you see one tumble down the
stairs.

-------Original Message-------

From: Flossie Carmichael
Date: 12/3/2005 7:42:27 PM
To: Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Alpacasite] My heart is STILL pounding!!

Hi Kathryn, I'm glad that turned out well for you. I have been plagued by a
fox for the last 3 years. Because of this we can no longer allow our
chickens or ducks to free range. I have seen this animal many times during
the day. Almost always it is on an overcast day or right after a rain storm.

Thankfully it has never bridged our fences but I have seen it many times
running along the outside of the fence. It is very brazen and when I chase
it, it will stop after a short sprint and glare at me before taking off
again. We have tried to trap it (actually paid a professional trapper) with

no luck. Hubby tried to shoot it but missed. I never thought about it
bothering the alpacas. I thought they were too big for it to think about
trying that. Has anyone had an alpaca harmed by a fox? Flossie

Flossie and Joe Carmichael
GentleGrangeAlpacas
Jamison,Pa.

>From: "Kathryn Coursey" <kathryn@coursey.org>
>Reply-To: Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com
>To: <Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [Alpacasite] My heart is STILL pounding!!
>Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 10:42:05 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
>
> A little background first....
>
>We have thirty acres and in the MIDDLE of that thirty acres is 3+ acres
>fenced off for us humans and alpacas. The rest was used before we bought it
>as our neighbor's cow field. We allow him to let his cows run in between
>the
>electric fence around the whole 30 and the fenced off areas for us and
>alpacas.
>
>I have trained Dobermans for many years and have received many compliments
>on their training. Today though... They proved their worth and that they
>could ad-lib and STILL maintain their training!
>
>Dober girls bark on alert.. Hubby goes to look and yells, "KATHRYN! There
>is
>a FOX trying to get into the (alpacas) girl's fence!"
>
>I dash outside to see the BIGGEST fox I have EVER seen ( and I have seen
>more than a few!) in no hurry, gamboling away. My first thought was that
>this fox is WAY too confident. So I open the gate and call my dober
>girls...
>They sit at my feet and I say, "GO WATCH' EM!" they TEAR off after the fox
>but NEVER stray out of my sight. They obey EACH verbal command instantly
>and
>came back when called. The fox had gotten away but with a healthier respect
>(I hope!) for the ability of my dogs to REACH them outside the 2+ acre
>fence
> And BTW... I never INTENDED my girls to catch the fox.... I wanted
>several
>things at the time. I figured that the fox has come around enough at night
>to know where the dogs could reach and where they could not. I needed to
>put
>a true SCARE into the fox as to those ideas. I also needed to know that the
>fox (that could be diseased) was not really within my girl's reach. It had
>enough of a head start to get away. But MOST important... I needed to test
>my girls in a situation I had not tested them in before.... To obey known
>commands when there was a KNOWN threat.
>
>As I began to write this I heard a pistol shot from the neighbor's (who
>have
>horses) and a quick phone call to them tells me that two COYOTES were in
>THIER pasture and they'd shot one of them. We carefully compared notes on
>descriptions of the animals and exact times... It was TWO separate
>incidences with TWO separate breeds... Mine was definitely a FOX and theirs
>was DEFINATELY coyotes.
>
>This tells me that the local predators have eaten WELL this summer but NOW
>the food has gotten scarce and they are getting desperate.. And brave.
>Neither specie are known for showing up in daylight hours. Neither the
>neighbors nor we have seen this kind of behavior before.... But you can bet
>that my dober girls will be taking regular trips around the whole 30 acres
>this winter........
>
>MAN! I'm so proud of my girls I could danged near CRY!
>
>Kathryn & Robert Coursey
>kathryn@coursey.org
>Chipola Alpacas
>In the Panhandle of Florida
>www.chipolaalpacas.com
>(850) 639-6809
>I am a source for weeping willow trees
>And white mulberry trees.
>
>Some folks are like Slinkies,
>Not good for much,
>But ya just can't help but smile
>When you see one tumble down the
>Stairs.
>
>
>

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