Michael, I'm so sorry you are having these issues and losing sheep. I am extremely attached to all my sheep, but especially the ones who are pets.
I live in Maryland and currently, do not have a large animal predator problem, but is light something that will startle them away? Would it be possible to install some small solar lights to either stay lit on the perimeter of something that is motion detected? The only issue I have had is fox eating my chickens. The fox here come out in the middle of the day and you can't catch them in a trap, they are too smart. I was able to poison them and then I got a very hyper english setter that chases any animal that is not part of our farm. Nancy On Jun 5, 2013, at 1:17 AM, Michael Smith wrote: > (Moderator--I am re-sending this in plain text.) > > New to sheep, started in 2008 as some of you folks know, and our > fencing has been real good. Last night I might have underestimated > the ability of coyotes to get under a fence-- on our far pasture-- > that a cat or rabbit can get under. > > Came home from work today to see almost 10 large California turkey > vultures flying away from a carcass as I came out. My favorite, sweet > bottle baby ewe, Ruby. She was about 3 years old and had one of my > favorite ram lambs who I kept intact. > > If she was attacked, I feel particularly bad, since she was attracted > to our dog since she was a lamb, and possibly was not as afraid of any > canine predators as she should have been. All the rest of the 9 sheep > and 3 goat appear absolutely fine. Let's put it this way. I have an > old ewe who I fully expected to see lying there, since she is deaf as > a post, and slow as molasses. So, an apparently healthy, perky ewe > suddenly was dead, and if she was predated, the animals decided not to > continue to feast on more of them. > > Here are some details I am hoping some of you can help with. I have > pictures I can post on my website later, if it comes down to it. > > 1] carcass has obviously been out all day, since we saw a vulture or > two flying this morning, but took no note of it, since they are around > most every day anyways. We both had to get to work and I did not go > out and count the sheep. I am thinking she died early Tuesday morning > (June 4). > > 2] body was stripped clean, except for the neck, head, and skinny > portion of the legs with hooves. No large pool of blood or anything > like that. No obvious blood trail from dragging. > > 3] I inspected the neck, on the side facing the ground, the side the > vultures did not pick on, there was an area of hair slightly matted > with blood. Even though she had shed her winter coat, her hair is so > thick, it is difficult to say for sure if there's punctures, but I > really don't think the vultures caused this. I am thinking that is how > she was strangled, if that is what happened. > > 4] curiously, since I am new to this, about 10 feet from her was a > large, almost 2-foot wide layer of what looked more like llama or > horse manure. Not like sheep manure, where it would be black and > processed into pellets. It was clumpy and grassy and some was fresh > enough to be wet and greenish brown, when broken. They did have mowed > grass for lunch on Sunday, which I threw over the fence. There are no > large ruminant animals that are in that pasture. > > question is: did she simply have some sort of digestive problem and > evacuate her bowels and die from some sort of distress? or could she > have done that when killed, and then was dragged the 10 feet? Or, was > it the contents of her stomach after being killed, and then she was > dragged? It was a rather large amount, and difficult for me to imagine > any of the animals having that much come out at once, normally. Again, > there appeared to be no blood on it at all. > > I appreciate any one reading this, and any advice or help you might > have to offer. > > The ewes and wethers have since been moved to our most secure pasture, > and the dog is sleeping with them tonite instead of the rams. > > -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies. > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
