It goes without saying that we all love our pets and think of them as family. Yet we sometimes travel for business or pleasure and are forced to leave them on their own. What can we do in these cases to protect our lovable pets from any natural predators that might try to harm them?

The simplest and most effective way to protect your pets is to keep them indoors while you’re away. Predators – whether coyotes, birds of prey, or smaller creatures like raccoons – can’t really get inside your home, so keeping your pets indoors for the duration of your travels is sure to keep them safe and out of harm’s way until you get back. Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible. Especially in the case of dogs who need to go do their business out in the lawn.

In these cases, it’s essential to render your lawn as unappealing to wild-life as possible. This means emptying all garbage cans and closing their lids, cleaning your grill and storing it indoors while away, harvesting any fruits or vegetables in your garden before you leave, and most importantly, keeping your pet’s food and water indoors. It might also be a good idea to remove any bird-feeders you might have on the lawn, as they attract small birds and rodents which then attract birds of prey and other predators that might harm your pets.

If you’re worried about birds harming your pets, you can litter your lawn with shiny objects, like silver streamers, that can scare off big birds. Additionally, you can set up some mesh wire roof over the area of the lawn your pet will wander through, thus stopping any predatory birds from harming your pets. If you know where the bird’s nest is, you should clear your lawn of any shrubbery or debris that the predators might use to hide in.

To ward off any coyotes or other wild-life that might try to get into your lawn, it’s a good idea to set up fences around your yard. Bear in mind that many of these predators can climb or jump quite high, so ensure your fence is at least six-feet high. You can make it harder for them to get into your lawn by adding barbed wire or roll-bars at the top of your fence. This makes them slip off the fence and unable to get through. Check out the Humane Wildlife Control Society for more information on coyotes.

All-in-all, with some careful planning, you can ensure dangerous wild-life won’t be able to physically harm your pet or transfer any contagious diseases to them. Just make sure to keep your pets indoors as much as possible, clear your lawns of anything that might tempt predators, and set up some structures in your lawn to ward off any predators and keep them far away.  If anything happens, your local pet hospital can help. With all that done, you can enjoy your trip and rest easy knowing your pets will be A-Okay.

Sources

https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/urban-coyotes-keeping-your-pets-safe

https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/coyotes-pets-and-community-cats

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07/16/are-there-ways-to-protect-my-pets-and-family-from-coyotes/

https://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/Hawk-flies-away-with-family-pet–220580101.html

https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/protecting-pets-from-predators/#:~:text=A%20good%20rule%20of%20thumb,large%20predators%20to%20get%20over.

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