Stacked up against 11 coyotes, herd dog kills 8 to save sheep in Georgia

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

When stacked up against a pack of 11 coyotes looking for blood, the expectation of a dog overcoming the odds to defeat them all seems insurmountable. Little did these coyotes know they were up against Casper.

Despite being only a 20-month-old Great Pyrenees, the livestock herding dog at a home in Decatur displayed his heroic actions by protecting a herd of sheep last month.

It all started in the cul de sac around 9 p.m. on Nov. 3 when a few coyotes came near the house. John Wierwille, the homeowner and Casper's owner, said that he was able to turn them away by throwing a few rocks in their direction and yelling at them to go away.

/snip

After the coyotes jumped out of the fence, they split up and ran different ways. The undeterred Casper chased them down outside of the fence line, where another fight led to him killing a few more down an embankment to the creek that borders their home, Wierwille said. He lost sight of Casper and couldn't find him anymore.

/snip

Worth the read if you're so inclined.

https://www.abc10.com/article/life/animals/herd-dog-kills-8-coyotes-to-save-sheep-decatur-neighborhood/85-4197e55d-d611-4047-a6c6-f7cbe34e43d5

[FakeNoose]

1. Good doggy earned himself a steak dinner!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

72. Filet Mignon Dinner for that pupper!

💖

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Shout out to LifeLine, our wonderful animal org in metro ATL who fixed him up!

We have taken 700 cats to them to be spayed and neutered and vaxxed!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

7. What a great organization!

[blm]

9. 😻🫶😻

[CatWoman]

28. that's where I have my strays fixed

and I donate to them yearly.

[CurtEastPoint]

52. We paid them about $6K last year for spay/neuters!

[walkingman]

3. Wow, amazing dog who is a fearless badass. I hope he has a good retirement!!

[WhiteTara]

4. We have an Anatolian

or a Kangal and she keeps the coyotes off the hill. Tashi has about a 50 acre territory and she works hard. She is ferocious.

[2naSalit]

5. That's what they are bred for...

Good dog!

[multigraincracker]

39. Happiest dogs are the ones

doing what they were bred for.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. Casper has earned an easy retirement. cleaned-up link ...

https://www.abc10.com/article/life/animals/herd-dog-kills-8-coyotes-to-save-sheep-decatur-neighborhood/85-4197e55d-d611-4047-a6c6-f7cbe34e43d5

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

8. Thx! Edited post.

[Kid Berwyn]

10. Musta called ACME

[irisblue]

11. Given that the coyotes were so close to a human house, it might be time for Wierwille

To put his guard dog(s?) in spike vests & collars.

Good dog

[sarisataka]

12. G 'Morning Sam

Mornin' Ralph

[CommonHumanity]

13. My pyr and pyr nature

I have a beloved Great Pyrenees (currently laid low after snarfing up a taco off the sidewalk). I originally got her to protect my goats and true to form she's a protector extraordinaire.

What I want to tell people about the breed is that they are the greatest gentle giants in creation. Though they will protect their herd and their people fearlessly, they do not seek fights and are not aggressive. They will fight only enough to protect their charges and their first line of defense is always their fearsome growl and bark.

Although my sweet girl could take down a goat in the blink of an eye, she bonds with them by allowing them to push her around. She will not chase a squirrel, a bird or any living creature, though she loves to bark up a storm at helicopters. She wants to meet every dog and person she encounters. When encountering other dogs she eagerly wags and waits to meet them. If the dog is aggressive she continues wagging while keeping her distance. if the other dog doesn't chill out she'll give up and walk a wide circle around them.

When I first got her and still to this day I am in awe of a creature that is so strong and protective yet so very gentle. To top it all off she is my very best friend.

[Duppers]

23. You should meet my bestie...

here, DUer Bayard, who has GP's and goats, chickens, ducks, cats, and a gorgeous dressage horse and other critters I'm leaving off here. Of course she owes enough acreage for them all to be comfortable.

She just lost one of her sweet Great Pyrenees, Bear. Had to have him euthanized because of so many various problems that older age brings on.

Her GP's are essential to keep things safe for their mom.

Speaking of best friends, my Labs and my Border Collies have always had my heart... I've never had the pleasure sharing it with a GP.
Critters are the best, aren't they?!

And Great Pyrenees are truly amazing, loving dogs.

[Bayard]

48. .....

[Duppers]

56. ...

And back at ya, my dear, dear friend.

[Johnny2X2X]

14. Wow, amazing story

I don't think people have an appreciation for how formidable dogs are as an opponent. Great Pyrenees are very good family pets, but they are designed to do exactly what this one did. 8 coyotes killed in one night is just crazy, the tenacity it took to keep killing the one in its jaws while the other coyotes used that chance to do damage is just impressive.

[certainot]

20. probably had 100lbs on them too

[Major Nikon]

15. It's hard for me to see the happy ending here

As much as coyotes are demonized, the reality is they are magnificent creatures who are one of the very few North American predators which haven't been almost completely eradicated. They are also a native species which have a natural right to exist unlike domesticated animals.

[Auggie]

17. +1

[fleabiscuit]

18. +1

[Paladin]

19. +1000. I'm for the coyotes.

Let that sheep-owning landowner get a loud gun or other noise-making device to keep the coyotes away. No sense in letting that dog tear them to shreds.

[Kali]

25. eh, the whole reason they survive is the reason they can become pests

they are highly adaptive and while fully interesting they are not endangered in any sense of the word. they are like rattlers to me. cool and neat to observe out away from the HQ but come into my space and harm any of my charges and you risk death if I can get you.

[Disaffected]

30. "eh, the whole reason they survive is the reason they can become pests"

Now there's some great rationalization for harming wild animals for you.

[cab67]

36. Not sure that's a good rationalization -

...but a direct threat to one's life or livelihood is.

I don't go out of my way to kill spiders, but if I encounter a brown recluse in my home, it's gone. Nothing against brown recluses, but their bites can be clinically dangerous, especially to children (like my 6-year-old daughter) and pets (like my cats). I prioritize my daughter over a spider.

The sheep, in this case, are central to their owners' livelihood. To lose a sheep is to lose income.

I agree entirely that we've given predators too little space to exist without risking unfortunate encounters with people or livestock, but one can accept the general cause while also dealing with an immediate problem arising from it.

[Disaffected]

41. Sure, I would never say that

taking lethal action against wildlife is always wrong, like your case of poisonous spiders or, even a mouse infestation of a house as they can spread a dangerous disease (hantavirus) or chew the house wiring (fire hazard) or, an infestation of carpenter ants (who will eat your house).

[Kali]

51. live in town?

live with rats, mice, roaches and other vermin? enjoy!

[Disaffected]

55. Sorry, all that has little or nothing to do with

the topic at hand.

[Major Nikon]

34. Both of those things serve a purpose which is to keep rodent populations down

The coyote also has a much larger role to play in the ecosystem. While they may become bothersome, they also solve other problems which will become more bothersome.

[Kali]

53. they can all get out of balance and I don't have a problem correcting it when it is in my space.

trapping and shooting for entertainment, fur, or whatever is one thing. take my chickens, kill calves, bring rabies into my world? bye!

they don't get many of my calves, I select for good mother cows (with horns) but chickens are kind of dumb and once the coyotes find them they don't quit until they are all gone or the coyote is dead. just life out here. the deer/fawns are on their own.

[Major Nikon]

63. I was raised on a farm

The worst predator we had by far was free roaming dogs. Dad didn't mind so much when a coyote took a chicken and would just keep them in the coup at night until they moved on. A dog would sometimes kill every chicken they could find and not eat a single one.

Cattle are more likely to have rabies than coyotes. Coyotes don't live long with the disease.

[Kali]

66. foxes and skunks get it the worst around here

2 years ago we had a skunk in the house, bit my son on the foot (tried to bite me but my hide is too tough LOL) tested positive. we all got vaccinated after that incident. I am pretty sure I've seen rabid coyotes twice, never seen any livestock with it that I know of.

[Disaffected]

27. Exactly.

And number one reason coyotes (and other predators) go after farm animals? Loss of habitat at the hands of humans.

[Major Nikon]

35. It's also because they are very easy targets

Which is largely the fault of farmers and ranchers not taking precautions other shepherds learned thousands of years ago.

[Zeitghost]

69. Like having

heard guardian dogs around...

[Major Nikon]

70. Which will never be adequate protection by itself

Predators are driven by a need to survive and often hunt in groups. Eventually they will always prevail over dogs. That’s why flocks were tended by people when they weren’t otherwise penned in closely or placed in a barn. Leaving a flock out in the open with only a dog for protection is an invitation for coyotes and you can count on losses. Mixing types of herds like adding perimeters of goats and cows also is effective as is more modern solutions like electrified fences.

[CommonHumanity]

84. not totally true

GP will repel coyotes. Usually just their presence and their bark will encourage coyotes to look for prey elsewhere.
I'm not saying coyotes have never picked out livestock when a GP was present, but a LGD is much more reliable protection than electric or other fencing. I have a double layer of fencing-a metal fence surrounded by an electric fence- and it is not enough. Also the people tending flocks were often accompanied by one or more livestock guardian dogs.

[NickB79]

61. Coyotes have gained huge amounts of habitat in the past 150 years

Before Europeans arrived, coyotes weren't even found regularly east of the Mississippi. Now they go from coast to coast all the way north to Maine.

Loss of wolves allowed them to expand.

[Disaffected]

65. Historically yes but

contemporaneously not so much. They, and almost all other forms of wildlife, are getting squeezed these days both by human encroachment and climate change.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

74. Than tell people to stop having kids

Eventually if people limit having kids there will be less land used to accommodate them. Wildlife has more room.

[CatWoman]

31. a coworker called animal control to report a coyote in her yard

she was concerned about her kids and her dog being attacked.

Animal Control would not respond and told her she had to hire someone from the outside to kill the animal.

She lives in Lithonia.

[Major Nikon]

38. One of my neighbors was furious animal control wouldn't do anything about the coyotes

I live in a suburban neighborhood which isn't far from some heavily wooded areas. She was mad because a coyote had taken her cat. The worst of it was she's oblivious to the fact the reason they were there in the first place was because they were always provided with a fresh supply of house cats allowed to free roam, but lacking the skills feral cats have to avoid getting eaten.

[lonely bird]

50. My guy Fuzzy HATES the feral cats near us

We have about 1/3 of an acre fenced in. The cats can get in the yard where the post is up against the house. There is about 4-5 inches of space. If they are in our yard and we don’t know it and let Fuzzy out he is after them. He has had two by the back but they got away. Fuzzy is Lab/Husky and who knows what else.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

75. Fuzzy and I will have a serious problem

Please control your dog and do something to keep the cats out of your yard. My cat Huzza was murdered by a dog. My mom tried to keep me calm I wanted to get a baseball bat and kill that fucking dog.
He was a mean dog had an over the top prey drive and his owner was an asshole.
I still miss Huzza. He was actually a pink cat,no shit his fur was a dusty pink color,never saw a cat like him since.


Your dog might kill someones beloved cat. Cats that hang out together are not necessarily all ferals. Sometimes pet cats socialize with feral cats if they go outside. Cats are social creatures.

[lonely bird]

79. We live in a rural area

People dump cats and dogs. The woman who lives next door puts food out for one feral cat which attracts others as well.

So, why shouldn’t cat owners control their cats? I put up fence to keep my dog under control and because I don’t want to lose him to coyotes. Fuzzy gets along with every dog that visits him and with every human he comes into contact with.

I am sorry that your beloved cat was killed by a dog whose owner was an idiot.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

57. nextdoor is all about complaining about coyotes

[I_UndergroundPanther]

73. First

I would find that coyote who dared take my cat and kill it myself. Her anger at that coyote is just.

And I would scoop up every cat and give them a safe space that coyotes could not reach they could retreat to. That could save cats lives.

For me cats are the first priority. Cats are my heart.
.

[ruet]

37. Yup, Domesticated Sheep Are a "Renewable" Resource.

Wild coyotes are not. Also, from the excerpt:

After the coyotes jumped out of the fence, they split up and ran different ways. The undeterred Casper chased them down outside of the fence line, where another fight led to him killing a few more down an embankment to the creek that borders their home

Wasn't there a human just charged with murder for this sort of behavior?

[NickB79]

62. They aren't native to Georgia any more than those sheep or dogs

In fact, before 1750, they rarely ever crossed east of the Mississippi.

They expanded their range to fill the gaps left by the extermination of wolves and mountain lions.

[Major Nikon]

64. Domesticated sheep or dogs aren't native at all anywhere

They are very far removed from anything non-domesticated and were introduced artificially everywhere they have gone feral. Coyotes did exist in the Eastern US before the last ice age. They aren't considered an invasive species in the east because they reintroduced themselves naturally which is how it works with predators.

[NickB79]

67. The last Ice Age?

That was a different subspecies, or possibly entirely different species, that occupied a different niche. Larger, more like a modern wolf. And it died out 12,000 years ago.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coyotes-were-bigger-before-ice-age_n_1306266

By this logic, modern lions would be native to Georgia, as a closely related species lived in the US until 12,000 yr ago.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-american-lion-fossil-found-in-dried-up-mississippi-river-2022-11

[Major Nikon]

68. Same species

The point being the species is native to the area and has been for a very long time and the current subspecies was introduced naturally. Domestic dogs and sheep were domesticated in Europe and Asia. Not only are they not from the same area, but not even from the same continent, and were never introduced naturally besides.

[DenaliDemocrat]

78. What predators have almost been eradicated?

Other than the grizzly and red wolf, most are doing fine.

[liberalla]

16. WOW! that's a HERO dog!!! Good Casper!

Man, I hope he fully recovers from his wounds!

[sinkingfeeling]

21. Poor dog lost his tail doing battle. Hope he can enjoy the

rest of his life.

[Kali]

22. 11 "coyotes" in pack sounds more like feral dogs to me

unless it was a bunch of young pups

[WhiskeyGrinder]

58. This. They don't hunt in groups of 11.

[EndlessWire]

71. They do where I live.

They call to each other, yip, and have a route. They are definitely coyotes, and while they deserve to be left alone, they will come up and eat your goats if they can. When I lost my guard dog, they took one of my goats. Since those are personal pets, it was a loss that was hard to take.

The scariest thing that happened once was when one came up to the porch, right on the porch, and screeched that coyote song as loud as it could. Scared the crap outta me. These are not dogs.

[jcgoldie]

24. We have 5 Pyrenees/Anatolian crosses on our dairy goat farm

Needless to say there is not a coyote in ear shot. They are badass livestock guardians.

[Historic NY]

26. My mechanic had a huge Great Pyrenees at his shop

a gentle giant but always watchful. He come to greet people and seem to know who he liked and didn't.

[Martin68]

29. Great Pyrenees are enormous, powerful canines, bred to protect a flock from wolves.

A coyote looks to a Pyrenees like a mouse does to a house cat.

[ret5hd]

32. There's a song about such dogs:

(really kinda good if you listen):

[cab67]

33. I've encountered lots of coyotes.

By and large, they're cowards. I've always been able to scare them off merely by letting them know I see them.

This particular case strikes me as atypical coyote behavior. Even in numbers, they're more likely to run off in the presence of any sort of threat - or so I've observed.

[Disaffected]

42. Coyotes are one of the most maligned animals

on the planet and most of it for no good reason. Your experience with coyotes is similar to mine except I never try to scare them off as I've never felt threatened even in close encounters.

I once had a coyote family living on my acreage and it was the coolest thing observing them following my dog and I, as we went for walks, darting in and out amongst the trees trying to see us without being seen. I never felt threatened by them - leave them alone and they will likely do they same (I have also trained my dog not to chase them).

OTOH, small dogs or cats living in the country are certainly at risk if left unattended but I don't blame coyotes as they, like all animals, are creatures of instinct and simply trying to survive in a harsh environment.

[DFW]

40. We usually see one or two coyotes on Cape Cod every summer.

They are very shy, nocturnal, and stay way the hell away from people, no easy task in a place as crowded as the Cape in summer.

[Prairie_Seagull]

43. If anyone is considring a GP for a family pet,

Last edited Fri Dec 2, 2022, 03:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Please ensure you get this breed from reputable breeder. There are 2 lines of GP, some are bread with a more "family pet" attitude and some are LGD predominantly. The LGD line can be very unpredictable around visiting dogs or people. LGD are not pets to anyone but the shepherd. Learned the hard way. Read a book on the breed "prior" to purchase and if you have critters to protect and need a working dog, they are awesome.

Best of luck.

[CommonHumanity]

83. Not true for my GP and others that I know

She is an exemplary LGD and an absolute love with all people and animals. I have known many GP with both traits.

[Prairie_Seagull]

85. I am not going to argue with you. I know, what I know.

[CommonHumanity]

86. Same here

[Warpy]

44. The only way to control the coyote population effectively is introducing WOLVES

something herd owners are fighting tooth, nail, and AR 15, shooting any wolf they see, whether or not it's a problem animal anywhere near their property. Clearly, these herders are massively ignorant and need to be educated by the BLM.

Casper was just reverting to his wolf ancestry. Good dog! Once his wounds heal, he'll adapt to losing much of his tail and be back on the job. If they don't let him herd sheep, he'll try to herd his owners. Sheep dogs are like that, it's bred into their DNA.

Looking at his picture, I'm delighted that they named him Casper. It really fits him. The mismatched eyes are wonderful.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

76. I agree with you.

Apex predators need to be put back in the ecosystem they are vital for balance between species.

[Warpy]

77. Not just the predators, some of their prey

Beavers do amazing things for barren land once they build their dams and lodges in streams. They need to be reintroduced to all their original range. The southwest might be a little less parched if that happened.

But wolves, definitely wolves. They compete with coyotes and with less available food, coyotes limit their breeding.

It's the only way.

[TygrBright]

46. Those coyotes must have been starving. n/t

[appalachiablue]

47. What a champ! Good boy Caspar; thanks for the story.

[txwhitedove]

49. Great story about hero Casper. When I lived in Texas hill

country, the sound of coyotes was beautiful and spooky. We didn't hunt them, but fences, multiple dogs, nothing kept them away. I lost 2 little dogs to coyotes, til I put my foot down to keep my little dog in the house. Washing dishes one day, saw one through window crawling silently on it's belly toward unaware chicken, til I banged window and hollered. Believe me, hens can flappy fly 12 feet up into a tree if they need to. Yep, had to tell my country boy chickens MUST be in the roofed pen! Our border Collie, Bud, watched our yard.

So, if there were 11 coyotes in Wierville's yard, then more were in the woods or nearby. Good boy, Casper. Natural order.

[calimary]

54. WOW! That's some kinda dog!

And he lived to bark the tale - even while it cost him a tail.

[allegorical oracle]

59. There's 180 acres behind my home and coyotes were always around. The farmer who owned the

acreage had turned a herd of his black angus out there -- could watch them from my kitchen window. One day the herd suddenly began stampeding from north to south, and my standard poodle had just ducked under the fence and rushed into the pasture. I ran out to the fence line to call him back. Watched as he veered past the herd and began chasing three coyotes that were causing the stampede. He chased them west for about a mile. Know it was that far because that's where he was when I picked him up in our truck.

Found it ironic because it occurred when John Kerry was running for Prez and people were calling him a "poodle." My 80-pound standard demonstrated that day it's a bad idea to stereotype people -- or animals.

[BWdem4life]

60. I'd take early retirement if I was him.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

80. For some in the link: Coyote drags 2-year-old just seconds after she's taken out of car seat in ambu

Coyote drags 2-year-old just seconds after she’s taken out of car seat in ambush captured on video

Surveillance footage captured the moment the coyote grabbed the toddler in its jaws and dragged the child several metres across the sidewalk, before her father Ariel Eliyahuo charged at the animal and chased it away.

Mr Eliyahuo told KTLA he and wife Shira just arrived at their Woodland Hills home after taking the child to pre-school when he set her down next to the car.

He heard the child screaming for help and initially thought she might have fallen over.

As the coyote bit down on her legs and dragged her facedown, Mr Eliyahuo shouted at the animal in Hebrew to scare it away.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/coyote-drags-2-year-old-just-seconds-after-shes-taken-out-of-car-seat-in-ambush-captured-on-video/ar-AA14TpHF?li=BBnbfcL

[MarineCombatEngineer]

81. Coyotes are beautiful animals,

but they're also predators and in a coyote's eyes, a small child is prey to them.

I would have no problem killing a coyote in my neighborhood as there are small children there.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

82. I live in the SE and 25 years ago you would never see one.

Now they roam farmlands in packs picking off whatever they can. Small game, small pets they have become a problem in coexisting in the suburbs.