How to Protect Pets from Coyotes

This face, though strangely beautiful can be the last thing a poor, unprotected pet will see. The coyote can be a vicious predator.

The following story is unfortunately becoming all too common . . .

By Ruth Thompson

December 29. 2015 5:00AM

Coyote attacks Scituate man’s dog, raises concern

Earlier this month, at about 6 p.m., John Norris was fixing the light on the front door of his Cedar Crest Lane home when he heard his dog, Lucy, barking in the driveway behind him.

“I turned and I saw a coyote,” Norris said. “Lucy went to the edge of the driveway and the coyote shot out and grabbed her by the rear and threw her.”

It all happened so fast, Norris said.

As he ran to his injured dog, the coyote took off.

“I was all concerned about Lucy,” Norris said of the 21-pound Australian labradoodle. “She was really badly injured.”

Coyotes are definitely present in Scituate, where Animal Control Officer Kim Stewart reported receiving sighting reports for more than 20 years.

“Heavily wooded areas are more common, but there are very few areas that we do not have reports of coyotes and in fact they are present in virtually every town in Massachusetts,” she said.

There have been a lot of reports of coyotes being aggressive toward pets, Stewart said. . . . Click here to read more of this article

Well, this is scary for pet owners, but what is to be done? Many articles reference fencing, keeping the food inside, making loud noises, or just learning to understand them. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to get to know a coyote, and I certainly don’t want to share my back yard with one. Now, I make it my business to know predators, and I sell urines(including coyote) to scare off other critters. As soon as I caught wind of this growing problem a few years back, I did some research and confirmed my hypothesis that the coyote has only a few natural predators, one of which is canis lupis, more commonly known as the wolf! I put 2 and 2 together, and now predatorpee.com .com is selling 100% WolfPee to deter coyotes. We have sold hundreds of bottles. . .but you don’t have to take my word for it. . .

” I was about to get a gun for the coyotes trying to attack my puppy. But I’m not the gun-slinging type. Was chatting with a lady on the hiking trails and she told me about you. can’t remember her name.” -predatorpee.com customer

“…After we bought your WolfPee last year, we did not have any problems with coyotes whatsoever and we thank you for that. New year and we have three cats we must protect. I thank you and will place my large order soon…” – Margery F. Walpole, MA

While I am not a cat lover at all, I do have 2 dogs and I understand the connection pet owners have with their pets and the strong desire to protect them. Coyotes aren’t going to just go away, and we’ve got to be able to protect our pets. Wolf urine provides a safe, natural way to do so. No guns, no walking around your yard banging pots, and certainly no attempting to “get to know” your neighborhood coyotes – just the predator-prey instinct put to use. Click here to better understand the predator urine concept and its application.

Wishing you and Spot or Fluffy or Mittens a happy and safe New Year!

Until I find more words . . .The PeeMan

Virtual Handshake

Greetings from the FROZEN north woods! Highs in the teens today. . .brrr.

So, I have decided to up my blog game in 2016. I am taking Blogging 101 through WordPress. Learn something new? At my age? Well, my wife would wonder what I could possibly learn since I seem to know everything. As much as I hate to disagree with her, there are a few tricks I don’t know yet.

When I started in the business world, phone calls, business lunches and handshakes were what got things done. Now, my business is entirely online, I avoid the phone and I only really press the flesh at church or when meeting my daughters’ new boyfriends. The explosion of blogging and social media still befuddles me, and as always I don’t know why anyone would care to read about a 60 something Maine entrepreneur, but I guess this is now my virtual hand shake or phone call, and it sure is a lot cheaper than a business lunch.

My first assignment for Blogging U(which is not as cool as Predatorpee University aka PU, but more popular as it turns out)is to reintroduce myself and possibly set some blog related goals. Well, I wish I had waited to write Back to the Blog until after I had received my homework! That’s just like me – always ahead of the curve! Anyway, here goes . . .

peeman_puckets So, how do you do? My name is Ken Johnson aka The PeeMan. I am a long-time entrepreneur( 5 Qualities of an Entrepreneur ), husband and father to 3 lovely grown up daughters(Thoughts for my Daughters: Risk ). I fled New Jersey right after high school and rejected the corporate rat race shortly thereafter, always preferring to work for myself, and a lot of times by myself. predatorpee.com is a big part of the family business that now occupies my entrepreneurial energies. I like the solitude and natural beauty Maine affords. At my home, Winterberry Farm, we have chickens, 2 dogs and flower and vegetable gardens in the summer. If I have to “share” anymore about myself, then I might as well meet you for that business lunch after all.

2016 finds me right where 2015 left me – feeling my age, filling my days with farm chores, honey do projects, and of course – pee. The pee business just keeps on “flowing” and even in the cold winter months in Maine, people in warmer parts of the country and world are ordering predatorpee to keep away coyotes, pesky rodents, hungry deer and moose, etc.

My blogging goal for 2016 is pretty simple – write the dang blog posts! Topics will probably include such things as: life on Winterberry Farm, tales from the seasoned entrepreneur, project updates, blunders, mishaps, glimpses of the family, and of course all things predatorpee related!

Until I find more words(which will probably be tomorrow because I will have more homework) . . .The PeeMan

Thoughts for My Daughters: Risk

Greetings from the snowy North Woods!

A little less than a year ago, I reworked some things on the blog and promised to expand my topics. I haven’t done a great job so far, but it is New Year’s resolution time and I might as well give it another go. I mentioned in a previous post( The Long Winter)that I had written a book for my 3 adult daughters and given it to them for Christmas 2014. I have decided to publish some of it on the blog. Probably going to stick with the topics that will have the broadest appeal. Like I wrote in the foreword:

Some shallow(thoughts), some profound, some foolish and some so-so – but nevertheless all for you(daughters)

Dedication:(names are deleted to protect the innocent and not so innocent)

To(oldest daughter)who made me think being a father was going to be easy, to(second daughter)who proved that it wasn’t, to(youngest daughter)who showed me how much I still had to learn and to(my wife)who allows me to be the father I think I should be.

Love, DaD – Christmas 2014

Risk

What risks are worth taking? That is a question that we deal with in almost every endeavor. Will telling the truth damage a friendship? Will making a certain decision potentially cause an unforeseen problem? Will inaction allow something bad to happen? Will intervention put someone in harm’s way? Plus all the risky decisions that involve finance, family and livelihood. As you know, I am chronically non-risk adverse. So, take this advice accordingly. Risk is a matter of weighing the benefits against the harm and that process takes a little effort. My process starts with three steps. The first is to clearly evaluate the benefits to determine if it is even worth considering the risks. If step one is positive, step two is clearly to picture the worst case scenario if the action goes badly and estimate the likelihood of that happening. Step three is to ask yourself whether you can handle the worst case scenario. Then consider carefully all that information and make a decision.

Excerpt from Thoughts for My Daughters by Ken Johnson

Until I have more thoughts . . .The PeeMan

5 Qualities of an Entrepreneur

As a long time entrepreneur, I often get asked what it takes to start your own business. Here’s what I’ve got:

I once saw a cartoon that gave the following definition of an Entrepreneur:

“Someone who will do almost anything to avoid working for someone else”

That about sums it up – even though it defies logic. When you work for yourself you risk everything you have despite the fact that you know 80-90% of new businesses fail. You work longer hours than anyone else and sweat bullets over how to meet payroll every week. Every decision you make can have life-changing consequences for you, your family, your employees and their families. Vacations are something other people talk about. Yet despite all of this you will tell everyone you meet that working for yourself is the best thing you have ever done. think-entrepreneur

If you recognize these qualities, there might be a new businessbusiness in your future:

Ability to defy gravity – So the first quality an Entrepreneur must have is a strong dose of healthy self-delusion that will enable him or her to persevere against all odds. Almost every friend and family member will tell you all the reasons you shouldn’t start your own business – and every one of them is absolutely right! 80-90% of all new businesses fail so what makes you think you can make it? Good question, but to you, the entrepreneur, it makes absolutely no difference at all. You know you can do this. The 80-90% that fail do not clutter up your vision – they are invisible to you – your vision is fully focused on the field where the 10-20% of successful ones play. You can’t figure out why anyone would think any other way.

Unshackled from conventional wisdom – One of your friends finds out you are thinking of starting a business so they give you a business book to help you out. At least that is what they tell you. In reality, they are giving you the book to prove to you how utterly ill-equipped you are to be an entrepreneur. The book will tell you the degrees you should have, the financing you should have in place, the number of years of experience in the field you should have, the team of advisors, accountants, lawyers you should have in place etc. But you know in your heart, that by the time you did all that stuff, the window of opportunity for your business idea would be long gone. You are ready to open the doors and get started. Bring it on.

Ability to create something out of nothing – A friend of mine once told me that he was astonished by the way I could seemingly create something out of nothing. I asked him to explain. He said he would see me one day on the ropes after suffering a business setback and a few weeks later fully engaged in a new product or project that was once again generating revenue. To him it was astonishing, to the entrepreneur it is as natural as breathing. Business is subject to constantly changing circumstances. The entrepreneur never sees obstacles as barriers – he sees them as launching platforms.

Ability to embrace failure – Failure is a fact of life for an Entrepreneur. You might have small failures or colossal failures – but for certain, you will have failures. Embrace them, learn from them and just try to make sure you fail at something new each time! Do not fear failure. Failure is one of the greatest teachers there is. Remember – the only people who never fail are the ones who never try anything new!

Faith – this is the one quality that I did not find until I was nearly through my first decade of entrepreneurial activity. The understanding that we are not in this alone and that we are accountable to God for everything we do adds a dimension to working for yourself that fully completes the package. It provides the ethical and motivational foundation for all that we do. We don’t do it perfectly, but with God’s help an entrepreneur with faith and an understanding of Biblical teaching can build a business that serves its customers well and honors God in the process.

If these qualities ring true with you, you look like an entrepreneur. What are you waiting for?

Until I find more words . . . The PeeMan

Back to the Blog

Greetings!

Well, it seems like every year at this time I look at the blog and realize that I have been woefully neglectful. Fortunately, the world can continue to spin without my thoughts adding to the cyberspace clutter. But, since this blogging thing is supposed to be good for business(my daughters tell me)I guess I will get back on the horse.

Obviously lots of things have happened at Winterberry Farm since May but I don’t want to update you with one huge post so be on the lookout for posts to come about the summer and fall goings on. The topics may or may not include: The Airstream Not So Dry Run , The Great Fall, Wilbur and Templeton, The Great Rooster Culling, PeeMan Sings Country, The Boyfriends, etc.

For now I just want to say that I hope you had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2016!

Star light, star bright

PeeMan Christmas Tree

Narnia

PeeMan’s Gotta Have Hobbies: Airstream #2 continued

Hello!

It is warm and sunny here and the grass is growing like crazy. Mowing has once again become a regular part of my day, although my wife has grown attached to the zero turn mower, so I don’t have to do quite as much. Anyway, this post is the second in my “second” Airstream refinish. Demolition has continued and I have had to take the floor all the way down and build her again. The walls have mold and years of dingy buildup, so those will have to be cleaned and then painted.(I am hoping to recruit some grandchildren for that task-my 6′ 7″ frame makes painting the rounded walls awkward)The old benches and bathroom area have been pulled out as well. There is really not too much that I liked about the dated interior. I just bought it for that beautiful aluminum shell. Well, this was meant to be a short update today. There will be more to come about the camper. The clock is ticking. It needs to be ready no later than mid July, but preferably sooner. If I can keep up with mowing, gardening, oh and the busy pee season, I should be able to finish it up in time. Until I find more words . . . The PeeMan

Today’s Ask the PeeMan: Squirrels Under the Hood

Greetings from the North woods!

Well we have had some nice sunny weather, but today it is brutally cold. We have had frost warnings up for the last two nights, so I guess it was a good thing that I didn’t plant my garden before Memorial Day!

Todays featured Ask the PeeMan comes to us from Deeanna:

Q. I have had squirrels build a nest under my car hood under the engine twice this past week and chew through all the wires. My neighbour suggested coyote urine and my question is – is it okay to spray the engine and under the hood with this. I don’t want to damage anything.

A. For squirrels, we recommend FoxPee and we have a product designed specifically for your situation. Our FoxPeeShots are small “pee-loaded” cannisters – you just remove the lid and place in engine compartment and on the ground near each tire – re-cap and remove before driving.
See this link for details:
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/Predator-PeeShots.html

We have been selling more and more of our pee shots to car, RV and boat owners who are fed up with rodents of various types chewing wires, upholstery and otherwise wreaking havoc. Mechanics and dealerships across the country are starting to recommend our product to their customers. The convenient no fuss pee-loaded pee shots make it easy to use. And as always, we guarantee our products or your money back! We have excellent customer service representatives(real people)to talk to on the phone and we are continually optimizing our website and shopping cart to make your online experience exceptional. I may be an old fashioned entreprenuer but I think that good customer service never goes out of style. My philosophy is that even if the product didn’t perform as expected every customer goes away knowing that we went above and beyond to ensure an overall positive experience. It may seem cliche’ but at Maine Outdoor Solutions LLC, the customer is always right!

Until I find more words. . .The PeeMan

PeeMan’s Gotta Have Hobbies: 2nd Airstream Refurb

Greetings from the green North woods!

Sunny and warm today. This post will be short on words and long on pictures. Since this is the second time that I have completely redone the inside of a classic Airstream camper, I decided more photo documentation would be good this time around. As to why I would take on such an endeavor. – I mean, I got pee to sell and a farm to manage, right? Well, it is like this – in order for me to do those things well, I need to have a project. Usually, it is more than one project. I want to work with my hands, mull things over in the solitude, and most importantly – see progress! I like results! So many things that we do in our lives either don’t produce clear results or the results may come after we’ve passed on. I may not pay close attention to the little details or do it like a carpenter would, but you bet I will get ‘er done!

The beginning

before: inside view 1

before: inside view 2

before: inside view 4

Well, as you can see, she wasn’t too pretty when I started. I ripped out all of the beds/couches and the table area. I only really kept the kitchen unit. Even the overhead cabinets came out. The outside is really nice to look at but the dated, plastic interior had to go. As soon as it was warm enough to work in the unheated storage area where the camper is kept, I began ripping and tearing and basically gutting the metal beast. Progress has been swift and many more pictures will follow in the weeks to come. This is just to give you a taste and to begin from, well from the beginning. The first step to getting results!

Until I find more words(and pictures). . .The PeeMan

before: inside view 3

Today’s Ask the Peeman: Pee for Dog Training?

Greetings from Winterberry Farm!

The sun has been shining and spring has finally taken a firm hold up here. With 70 degree temps, it is tempting to want to start planting in the garden. But, everyone who lives in Maine knows the rule – don’t plant your garden till after Memorial Day! An unwelcome spring frost can ruin a lot of hard work. Anyway, today’s post is another in the Ask the Peeman series. These two questions came in over the peemail this week:

I’m trying to get my dog to pee on a patch of astroturf on my balcony, but she won’t do it – she will only go outside where she seeks out places that other dogs have peed. Do you guys sell dog pee or another pee that would work to attract my dog to where I want her to go? Thanks, Amie

Hi – Do you sell dog pee for training dogs to go in a particular part of the yard? If not, what would you recommend? Have you had other customers for whom this has worked? Thanks, Marie

My answer to both of these questions is plain and simple. Yes! We sell predatorpee for dog training.

In the animal world, urine is the great communicator. It not only warns prey of the presence of a predator, but also communicates territorial boundaries to members of like species. Dogs react instinctively to the scent of canine urine and this is how you can use CoyotePee or FoxPee to help you direct dogs to the areas of your yard that you designate as “dog restrooms.” Both males and females will be drawn to areas scented by CoyotePee and FoxPee and gradually make this their preferred spot. This allows you to keep the rest of the yard un-marked by unsightly stains and dead grass. Use CoyotePee for medium-sized breeds and FoxPee for small breeds.

http://www.predatorpeestore.com/dog-training.html

Greenhouse Growing Pains

Greetings from the North Woods!

ok, it has been a while, I know, but I am back. While I have been away, I have been busy. Airstream #2 has been completely gutted and I learned a new skill while doing it – lock picking! I googled it and taught myself – went 3 for 3 on a set of cabinets! Anyway, that is for another post. This post is about my attempts to do some greenhouse gardening. My oldest daughter and I have been trying to grow seedlings in a greenhouse I have here at Winterberry Farm. I mean what could be so difficult? Just make some benches, pop a heater in there, insulated box, watering and presto – healthy beautiful plants, right? Well, maybe my thumbs aren’t so green or maybe it is a bit more complicated than that, but we have had some “growing pains”. First, we had too much heat and a couple of the seedlings my daughter had grown at her house bit it. Then, when we figured out the nighttime temperature, they started developing white edges on the leaves and they were looking pretty sad. Apparently, that was from sun scald – too much sun. We’ve remedied that and some of the plants have recovered but I am not sure we are out of the woods yet. Before she brings the next batch of seedlings out, my daughter is going to “harden off” the plants. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Anyone have any suggestions or helpful hints for greenhouse gardening? Leave me some comments. Also, I have been fighting with my laying hens ever since the weather started warming up. They have been eating their eggs. I am checking 3 or more times a day so that I can rescue the eggs before they peck them to smithereens. Any suggestions to solve this problem?