Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Air guns....

It's funny this thread came up as I'm in the market for nuisance control devices as well.

This summer we took a small step towards starting our grassfed beef operation by purchasing a small herd of Irish Dexter cattle. A 4-year old mule came with the herd-mules do a great job of keeping the far too numerous coyotes in the area from dining on the baby calves. It's hilarious to watch the family yellow lab get between the mule and the cattle. The mule becomes a whirling dervish of flying hooves and snapping teeth.

Lately the mule has picked up a bad habit. We have a 6-week old baby bull calf that the mule has started to chase. I mean high speed action-he gets the calf right on the end of his nose and runs as hard as the calf can run-all the while attempting to bite the calf in the back. It's got to the point that the calf just runs through the electric fence to escape. We've tried firing a shotgun over the mules head to no avail. Leaning towards a bb or pellet gun. (my wife doesn't approve of loading a shotgun shell with some rock salt)

Now for the interesting question-Did anyone who joined this forum ever expect to see an post on mule control? Life's never dull on the Minnesota prairie.

On THIS forum, it's almost a normal subject!

A mule would probably treat a BB shot like a mosquito. I high powered pellet rifle would certainly be felt more but you might have to get into skin piercing levels if the mule is particularly as stubborn as a .... Oh wait.

I wonder if a heavy duty shock collar and remote for dog training might be more effective, assuming they stay in range. Animals are freaked out a lot more by small, harmless shocks than they are by by regular pain, as they are not accustomed to the feeling. Again, he might just eventually ignore it. Mules are a rugged beast.

Tough question. The mule better hope that the young bull does not have a long memory. He is going to get a lot bigger.

That mule is acting like a jackass.

You're right! We found that the negative attention of yelling, screaming, yelling and running after him just encouraged him. Seems to like the negative attention. He's really good with the kids so I don't want to get too rough with him. The old timers around here (my main mule guy is 99 years old and can remember farming with a team of 4 mules)advices not smacking him around. I guess I've got to outsmart him. So far I'm failing-waiting for the new TV show "are you smarter than your mule".

Is there any chance the mule is classifying the calf as a predator based on size ? That would also explain why yelling, shooting etc... doesn't help - you would probably do the same thing if a coyote was attacking the herd.

If the size of the calf is the problem then it should take care of itself with a bit of time and food as long as mules don't have long memories.

(mules have long memories, don't they ?)

So, you've not only got a mule, but also a "main mule guy".

Do you have, like, an Associate Mule Guy, too?

I love this place.

I'm waiting for "Mule: The Movie".

The beauty of living in rural Minnesota is that I do have a couple of Mule Associates-as they are only in their 80's they are quick to defer to the Main Mule Guy.

Followed by Mule2: Jackass