I do not know what state you are in, but , Call Animal Damage Control.
They are paid by federal funds and usually in your department of
Agriculture. File a report about your losses and document the losses
with pictures. If you get a chance to trap or shoot or just run this
one over, then you have the documentation to prove that you were
defending your livestock. It is a hefty fine for a mountain lion. I
do not agree with these fines, I just am letting you know to prepare a
case for yourself. I would use a leghold trap. Try to contact a
trapper in your area. If you cannot find one, call some of the fur
dealers, and ask where they have some supplier of furs in your state.
An internet search should provide you with an answer. If you are not in
a populated area, a .223 with a scope sighted in at 300 yd will take
care of the problem.
Just my $0.02
Cecil in OKla
On 6/19/2012 9:50 AM, Elaine Wilson wrote:
We seem to have a mountain lion that has discovered one of our pens of
sheep. There were 40 in that one, but that was one-and-a-half weeks
ago. As of this morning, down to 35. Just over a week ago, not
realizing what I was looking at, I saw the predator and actually
thought it was a victim being carved away from the herd by a coyote. I
have seen countless coyotes here and thought it was rather
strange-looking - it was sandy brown, almost as tall as the tallest
sheep, about the same body size. What I thought was the potential
victim looked at the herd that was heading for their pen, looked at
another herd of our sheep in another pasture, then saw me (I was
getting ready to leave and coming back to my truck from closing the
gate at the end of our driveway) and trotted north, away from the
sheep and promptly and effortlessly hopped over the top of a four- to
five-foot fence onto my neighbor's property. After doing some internet
searches, I am positive it is a mountain lion. Once they have found an
easy food source (in this case, our sheep) they will do something
called "surplus killing". Repeated killing in the same area, not
necessarily consuming the entire animal. The nature of the kill is rip
out the guts, then eat the lungs, heart and liver. That is how this
morning's kill was found. The last kills we have experienced have
been: Day 1 - eviscerate the sheep; Day 2 (the next day) - eat almost
everything. Also wondering if this is a female with cubs that she is
teaching to hunt. Theorizing that she may be coming in the first night
for the prime pieces, then bringing in the others to feed more
thoroughly the next night. I have set up a game camera almost every
night, but have gotten no pictures. I am not sure exactly which fence
it is hopping over to get in this particular pen, so have moved the
camera almost nightly. The pen is coyote-proof, so I am sure they are
not the current predators.
We tried putting a tractor with the bucket in up-position in the pen
last week and it deterred the second-night kill for one night. Came in
for the kill with the tractor moved to a different position with a
down-day between kills. Have read that scarecrows, bright lights (we
have a motion sensor light on the sheep shelter, obviously not a
problem for this mountain lion), tapes of loud music or barking dogs
may help repel mountain lions, but I think this animal has no fear of
any of those at this point in time. Have also read that the mountain
lion probably wouldn't have a problem taking down a dog guarding the
flock in order to get to the prey.
Does anyone have an opinion on my next concern: The larger herd, a
pasture over from the one currently under attack, has been eyed by
this mountain lion but so far has not been attacked. . . when it is
finished consuming the herd it has fixated on (unfortunately, I think
it will wipe out the herd unless we are able to kill it before then .
. . and we have and will continue to try, though timing is everything)
is there a good chance that it will move on to the herd of 89? I am so
frustrated and feel such a loss of control in this situation, any
suggestions would be appreciated. I would trade this mountain lion for
the coyotes any day, and we have had our share of problems with them
as well. At least the coyotes eat the bulk of the sheep, this mountain
lion is picking and choosing the pieces it wants to consume.
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