"Do you still hear the screaming, Clarice..."
"the screaming of the lambs?"
Posted on 03/17/2006 8:07:04 PM PST by george76
Wolves, wolf-hybrids suspected culprits in bloody predations...
his herd of 700 sheep.
But something had gotten there before him. Everywhere he looked, it seemed, there was a sheep that had been attacked and bloodied.
"It was terrible," he said. "Some of them just had a chunk of flesh tore out, in some cases clear to the bone, the size of an orange.
A few were bit in the neck."
A few of the sheep could be doctored, but many of them died... of the 60 that were attacked, 21 died and 39 were injured.
On top of that, the percentage of ewes with twins dropped from a typical 45 to 55 percent to around 20 percent, which will mean a serious blow to his business.
"I think that trauma had a lot to do with it,"
That attack and five others...wolves...
"It's lambing and calving time," ...
"There are a lot of people that can't sleep nights because they're worried about their livestock."
Wildlife Services, the federal agency that's paid to deal with wild animals that cause trouble, has been looking for the culprit for weeks. Initially, investigators thought domestic dogs were to blame.
But after inspecting bite marks and kill patterns from attacks in February and March, they decided it was probably a wolf or wolf-hybrid.
The tracks, although small for a wolf, are too big for a coyote, Sime said.
A trapper for McCone County reported that he saw a wolf in the area last month but, because wolves are a federally protected species, he was not given authorization to shoot.
The sheep deaths have also reignited long-running opposition to the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone National Park 11 years ago and even prompted a few accusations that wolves had been transplanted secretly to Eastern Montana.
(Excerpt) Read more at billingsgazette.net ...
I'm not up to speed with pulp culture, but what is up with those sideburns?
"Our coyotes are 3 or 4 times as large as those puny western ones. Unless you keep the sheep right under the porch or have a guard dog with them, the coyotes will wipe you out."
There's a ranch about 1/4 mile from me and from time to time in the middle of the night I'll hear the Coyotes going Yip, Yip, Yip and the cattle going nuts and then I hear BLAM! Everything gets quiet after that. The Llama ranchers in the mountain use Great Pyrenees dogs and even the mountain lions steer clear of them
I know. I used to live there.
I have a theory, but stating it could get me banned...
Wow, how did they get past the gaurd dogs? Or is that too old school?
Was it sold out before you posted a link on FR?
Just askin'...
Dunno. Are those mutton chops?
"Do you still hear the screaming, Clarice..."
"the screaming of the lambs?"
Sounds more like dogs than wolves. Wolves are efficient killers and usually eat their prey. Dogs will kill multiple animals for pleasure.
LGDs such as Anatolians or Pyrennees should be with the flocks. A pyr can defeat a mountain lion. Better a pair of pyrs for wolves and coyotes.
Gotta love em. Lots of ranchers around here use those huge white dogs ...and we've seen many a dead coyote hanging on the fence rows, due to their effectiveness.
The coyotes are so numerous and brazen... they come right into the yard during the day. I'm not complaining though...it gives me target practice. :)
"of the 60 that were attacked, 21 died and 39 were injured..."
Does that sound like a pack of wolves ?
LOL
Near to my house here in Texas one of the ranchers has a flock of sheep. He has a couple of Great Pyrenees that guard them. I stopped one day to admire the dogs from a distance. They ran up to me about 20 feet away and just sat down and looked at me. They were between myself and the sheep. They were not aggressive nor threatening. However, it was very plain what they meant. "Do Not Get Near the Sheep."
Those are good dogs.
If those sheep herders would spent less time in their pup tents going brokeback, the sheeps would be safer.
Hmmmm, or maybe not.
"(1)Five gallon bucket
(2)Several chicken livers
(3)One large coniebear trap
(4)=dead coyote"
My guess is that more and more ranchers are going to be placing orders for cyanide.
Yes they are. Our neighbor now has 4 of them.....and I have no clue as to how he feeds those things! They're huge.
Chewey was the first male dog they placed to guard the geese. He would sit in the middle of the road and make everyone drive around him. If you stopped...he would come up to the car and stick his massive head in the window to look you over.
Someone stole Chewey and the whole neighborhood grieved. They bought 3 new pups...but a few months later...Chewey showed up again. I guess the food bill was a bit more than the thieves bargained for. *chuckle*
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