Deadly Predators

Originally published Sheep Production Sept/Oct 1984

Farmer’s Journal

Clark BreDahl
Greenfield, Iowa

 

Dispatch from Mormon Trail Farm:

As one who has dared advocate live-
stock (particularly sheep) and grass
rather than total emphasis on corn and
soybeans here in the Nation’s Bread-
basket, there are times when I question
my own contrary wisdom. Last week
was such a time.

Normally, I take my grazing lambs
off pasture around Sept. I, shear and
worm them, vaccinate for enterotox-
emia and get them onto full feed of
grain as quickly as possible. Thirty to
forty days later, off they go to market
with only four to eight dollars worth of
expensive concentrate in them.

If that were the total story it would
make fine reading, for through rota-
tional grazing it is possible to get ex-
tremely high (and thus very economi-
cal) weight gains per acre on forage.
Where the monkey wrench hit the fan
last week, however, was our second
major predator strike of the season.

Having spoken on the subject of
intensive grazing from time to time, I
used to take particular pride in the fact
that to my knowledge, we had never
lost an ewe or lamb to coyotes since I
began raising sheep some twenty years
ago in 4-H. I conceded that coyotes
were a serious problem in some areas.
But in the back of my mind, since I had
not experienced the trouble, I suspected
the problems others had encountered
were perhaps due to some flaw in man-

 

agement (i.e. leaving young lambs in
remote unprotected areas, not dispos-
ing of afterbirth or dead lambs prop-

erly, etc.).                                                  .

However perverse that reasoning may
have been, it was quickly dispelled two
years ago as a lambing pasture less than
400 yards from the house was deci-
mated by coyotes on two consecutive
nights. The first night, three young
lambs were lost and in my naivete I
wondered what had happened. The
second night 14 more were scattered
about the field, though this time in their
zeal, the wily beasts left a few traces of
blood where they had grabbed the jugu-
lar vein and tightly hung on. Upon
rechecking the lambs lost the previous
night, I found the tell-tale throat punc-
ture wounds – but not a trace of blood
stain. A truly professional job!

A neighboring hunter whom I had no
reason to doubt, once told me that if
coyotes would kill lambs, it would
merely be what they needed for their
next meal. Again, experience made me
wiser as only two of the 17 lambs lost
had been opened, and only the liver and
kidneys eaten from those.

Being a moderately slow learner, I
none-the-less did not require a third
night of losses to arrive at a decision.
The ewes and lambs were brought into
dry!ot, and the lambs grain fattened
from then on. With an eight percent
death loss to predators, poor market
prices and a relatively high feed bill, the
ewe flock barely broke even in 1982.

A year ago discretion won out as we
went back totally to early lambing,
creep feeding and expensive grain. We
didn’t lose a single lamb to coyotes. We
didn’t make much money either!

This spring with prior planning that
included shedding some of the ewes and
lambs at night and more extensive use
of temporary electric netting, we again
frolicked off to the pastures confident
of peace and prosperity. Neither was
achieved, however, as the coyotes have
picked off 15 lambs that we know of so
far, and added insult to injury last week
by taking five of those while we spent
time at the state fair promoting the
great taste of lamb!

In fairness, an electric fence does
seem to be an effective deterrent when
properly maintained. With that and
heavy hunting and trapping pressure,
we’ll probably give pasture a go again
next year.

It may eventually happen, but I won’t
admit yet to being held hostage on my
own land by dumb (ha!) animals.