They will also eat dogs, so it is a good thing that you keep Pickles safe when you are at your daughter's , Chrissy. I lost one dog in Idaho, and one here in Alabama, and they were both in the back yard when they disappeared, and I am pretty sure that it was a coyote that got both of them. In Idaho, they came right up by the house in the evening, and I was always careful to have my dogs inside by then; but the one I lost was in the morning, and I was outside feeding the horses, so it still must have been close to my house even with me outside. They are getting to be a problem in many of the large cities because they are used to people now, and there is a lot of easy food for them in the downtown areas with all of the rats and garbage laying around. And they can't shoot them in the city like you can when you see one out in your back yard on the farm.
@Ken Anderson, I had a friend who's dog toys started disappearing from the yard. She was talking to her neighbor about it, and the neighbor said she had see a fox take the toys a time or two. I guess they did recognize it as a toy off the bat, or maybe they had observed the dog playing with the toy from a distance, and wanted to get in on the act!
@Yvonne Smith , yes we don't let Pickles out except to pee....too many other dangers there also.and the yard only has a low wall around the back...not allowed high fences there. He's an inside dog anyway, even in Fresno he just goes out to pee.
Someone posted in our neighborhood Facebook group about seeing two coyotes in a yard the other day. They've also been seen walking down the streets. I used to walk in the middle of the night and never encountered them, but I also never encountered a wild hog. Things are changing here because the area's less green than when i moved here. People are selling the land they've had for years, and it's now being developed, so the animals are moving into this and other areas. So @Ken Anderson, what does the fox say?
I've never heard one, but that sounds cute @Ken Anderson. I'm sure the larger predators here keep them at bay. We do have some wolves (I think they're endangered) and coyotes, as well as the wild hogs, alligators and bobcats, but I've never heard of foxes being in the area, unfortunately. Maybe they live more inland.