Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
fl ock, one approach to dealing with it is to place a livestock protection collar
on all susceptible, small lambs. The collar contains a poison that the coyote
ingests when it attacks the lamb's throat. The advantage of this collar is that it
targets only the killer and does not injure other coyotes or critters that aren't
killing the sheep. However, these devices are illegal in some states and must
be used by a trained and certifi ed applicator.
Dogs
Dogs are a special class of predator for shepherds, and according to the
American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, there are plenty of these
predators out there. The U.S. “owned,” or pet, dog population is estimated
at more than 75 million, which means that there are more than six dogs for
every sheep (and that number doesn't include the countless feral and aban-
doned dogs).
These predators can be more dangerous than coyotes, as one or two dogs
can maim and destroy dozens of sheep in one night. One dog attack on a fl ock
can make the difference between a profi table year and an unprofi table one,
and many people have been driven out of the sheep business because of dogs.
Fido and Spot don't have to be wild, vicious, or even brave to chase sheep.
When dogs chase sheep, they're following their natural impulse to chase
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SHEEP
HAVE BEEN VICTIMIZED
When you fi nd a dead sheep and suspect predator damage, assess
the scene. Signs of a struggle, such as drag marks, torn wool left
on brush, and spots of blood in various places all point to preda-
tion. If there are no signs of a struggle, examining the carcass may
help. Animals that have been fed on by scavengers after dying do
not bleed under the skin at the bite marks. This type of bleeding,
known as subcutaneous hemorrhage, happens only if the heart was
beating while the bites were infl icted. When subcutaneous hemor-
rhage is present, the next step is to try to confi rm the kind of
predator. Close examination of tooth spacing and size, feeding
habits, and pattern of killing can help identify the type of predator
responsible for the kill.
