coyote trouble!

We have 3 bands of coyotes hunting in and around the pastures that surround the house.  Not very good for livestock owners. One morning when I had gotten up to walk Ella, I could hear one howling way out in the back pasture.  Then Daddy and Mama heard some a few days ago and they were MUCH closer, one as close as the swamp just beyond the yard!  But I think the most 'scariest' account of them happened to me today. I had gone out to take some pictures of wild yellow flowers that had sprung up towards our 'tree fort' (a MASSIVE 3 story tree fort that is back in the woods in the front pasture). First I started on the bunch close to the tree fort trail, I started hearing the odd sound, it was like a yapping and whine all at the same time (very odd sound!) I didn't think much of it, probably just a bird.  The lighting wasn't good there, so I went a little farther away from the TH trail, And the sound was louder over there, plus i could hear something moving around in all the dead leafs that cover the ground inside the tree line. Probably just a bird hopping around or a rabbit, no alarm. But What finally raised my attention was One of the horses (named Big Mama~ why, I don't know, she has never been a mama)  came galloping from around the woods, Her ears where laid back and she was acting startled. "She wasn't planning on finding me here, thats all" I thought. I moved slowly away and she seemed a little more calm. I started walking away, and Big Mama went on down the trail to the fort.  By the time I got to the big Livestock fence to enter our backyard, Big Mama had rounded up all the other horses and they where running out of the woods.
So, I thought, I probably just heard birds making noise and the horses moving around.
But When I got to the house and told Evan my story, and by the time i had described the call to where he could mimic it well, He told me that coyotes make that noise, So, nevertheless, until Daddy, My brave bros and a friend can rid us of these wild dogs, I wont be going to take wildflower pictures without a bodyguard! ;-D.
A dear friend of our, Named Mr. Steve is coming tonight to help the boys hunt down the critters, The boys are pretty excited! From what we hear, coyotes are hard to hunt, so you need to be SUPER quiet, SUPER still and DO NOT BE IN THE WIND.

So, hopefully either they will become nonexistent. or will simply move to better hunting grounds...cause there are some pretty good photography opportunities over there!!