Posted on 06/04/2021 1:08:26 AM PDT by nickcarraway
In April, Rocky Matthews started finding dead lambs on his farm near Murtaugh Lake. At first, Matthews thought someone had killed the animals with a pellet gun.
The animals all had puncture wounds the circumference of a No. 2 pencil.
It wasn’t until he saw an eagle attack his flock that he realized the true culprit.
A large eagle nest has existed on his property for more than 20 years, but the birds have never affected his farming operations. Currently, the nest is home to two adults and at least two babies.
“They’ve never crossed paths till this year,” he said.
Since the first death, Matthews has lost an estimated $7,500 in revenue from 54 dead lambs.
“The damage under the hide is a hundredfold from what you see on the exterior,” Matthews said.
Eagles causing a stir
A pair of bald eagles nest with their young May 28 near Murtaugh Lake.
In one day, Matthews lost seven lambs.
“I truly think he was just honing his skills because you don’t kill seven of them out of need, ” he said of the eagle.
Idaho Department of Fish and Game regional wildlife biologist Lyn Snoddy said eagles strike from above and use their talons to grab the animals. In this process, they can sever internal arteries and wait for the animal to bleed out.
Eagles’ primary food is fish, Snoddy said, but they have been known to prey on smaller mammals.
Matthews says he thinks the water in Murtaugh Lake took longer to warm up this spring, meaning fewer carp in the lake were available to the eagles. This could have forced the birds to find alternative food sources.
The situation is unusual because the nest is located just above a pasture. Eagle-related livestock deaths don’t happen in large enough numbers to cause alarm, Snoddy said.
Eagles are protected by multiple federal laws, including the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Penalties for killing a bald eagle can reach a maximum $100,000 fine and one year in prison for a first offense by an individual. The penalty increases for organizations and second offenses become a felony.
Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. Fish and Game directed Matthews to Idaho Wildlife Services, a program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The program works to resolve wildlife conflicts between people and wildlife, according to its website.
A representative from Wildlife Services came out to the Matthews farm and performed a necropsy, a study of an animal’s body after death.
To protect his animals, Matthews had two options. He could apply for a Federal Migratory Bird Depredation permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or he could move his animals to another pasture. This hazing permit provides short-term relief until long-term nonlethal measures can be taken. The depredation permit costs $100 and allows the harassment of birds causing depredation or damage to crops, livestock and private property.
Harassment includes loud noises, pyrotechnics, propane cannons, scarecrows, dogs and trained raptors, according to the permit application.
Migratory bird permit specialist Mandy Lawrence said her office hasn’t received any depredation permit requests for eagle-related livestock issues in Idaho in 2021.
The permit process takes 30 to 60 days, but it can be expedited in emergency situations, Lawrence said.
Matthews chose to move his sheep instead of waiting for a hazing permit.
“In 45 days, I’ll be out of sheep,” Matthews said.
He also worried about the eaglets’ survival if he attempted to scare the parents away.
Plan A was to move all the livestock closer to his barn — which worked for a few days until the eagles killed again. He moved the younger lambs to a different pasture, but the eagles then went after older sheep on his property. The dead animals ranged from 12 to 80 pounds.
Matthews and his wife, Becca, filled out the paperwork and, if approved, they will get paid 75% of the market value of the livestock.
“In our mind, doing the right thing is just trying to wait it out,” he said.
Compensation for his losses could come from the USDA Farm Service Agency Livestock Indemnity Program. This program pays farmers for livestock deaths that exceed normal mortality and are caused by adverse weather or attacks from animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government.
Although the eagles have cost him money, Matthews says they are cool birds who don’t know any better.
How ‘bout lemmings? They’re just as bad.
The rancher has a cool head. I wish him well.
Hazing Permit?
https://georgiawildlife.com/preventing-wildlife-conflicts#Haze
What is Hazing?
Wildlife is naturally wary of people. Continued exposure to people can decrease this natural fear over time. Hazing (or scaring) uses deterrents or negative stimuli to move wildlife out of an area and is an important part of keeping wildlife wild.
Examples of deterrents: motion activated sprinklers or alarms, electric fencing
Examples of negative stimuli: yelling, noisemakers, spraying animal with a water hose
Hazing efforts will be less effective on wildlife if attractants are not removed or excluded. It is also beneficial to vary your hazing techniques so wildlife does not become desensitized to one hazing method.
This is kinda metaphorical, considering...
Eagles attacking sheep has been a problem for ranchers for decades. It is nothing new.
I hunted for pronghorn on a large sheep ranch in Wyoming and the owner told me (and showed me) eagle attacks on even adult sheep.
Sounds like he needs to go fishing for carp on Murtaugh Lake... Catch ‘em. Knock ‘em in the noggin’ and make sure they can float on top the water and watch the eagles enjoy the meal.
This is not a new problem for sheep ranchers.
There is the reason in years past eagles were shot on sight.
They were even hunted down with planes and shot out of the air.
They are no longer endanger so removing the few that are causing problems.
Would not hurt the overall population.
“Telephoning” or fishing with dynamite would work really well.
“Telephoning”......LOL....I am amazed anyone knows what that is.
Wait for it... wait for it... “Another example of animals acting bizarrely due to global warming...’
Dogs are very effective! Our chickens have a lot of predators - foxes, coyotes, hawks, and bobcats. Since getting Pyrenees many years ago, we haven’t lost one bird to them.
Back in the early part of the 1900’s Alaska offered a bounty on them....
My dad told me stories of him doing that when he was young.
Funny - I thought the usual solution in the West was “shoot, shovel, shut up”.
Are you permitted to destroy a nest once the fledgings have left?
The Covid “vaccine” is killing a lot more sheep than that.
There is ZERO you can do about it. Eagles, Hawks, and Falcons are 100% protected. Your ranch and your livestock are killed, it is just a cost of doing business. I understand the reasoning. It just sucks because you have everything invested in that business, and wild animals can really wipe you out if they are protected.
Kinda a metaphor for our current human situation. Some animals just are off limits even if they are praying on the sheep... Hmmm.
I don’t know about eagles, but I’ve never seen an osprey pick up a floating fish. I’ve seen them turn, swoop down to take a better look and then go on their way, but never pick one up, even if flopping.
This was observed over many years on both salt and fresh water.
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