| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| YakLady |
Posted - Oct 30 2012 : 9:54:01 PM
Well, in August 2010, when we first moved here, a black bear sow hopped into our backyard and bit our Nigerian Dwarf Buck on the back legs. He got some cool scars out of it, and he was no worse for the wear.
Not since 2009 has DH seen a wolf. The one he saw was running the creek line and had a radio collar. Lone male, not a threat to us- we had no livestock then!
Today, though, was a total first for us. A wolf jumped into the backyard, and bit our brand spanking new Icelandic Ram on his muzzle. That doesn't sound strange, but I was standing not 20 yards away in front of my RUNNING, with lights on tractor! I saw a blur, then Dierks (LGD) sprang over, bit it and chased it off. I know it was a wolf because of the puncture wound on my ram, but I also heard it yelp when Dierks got it's rear!
Talk about an interesting night. This prompted us to construct a new pen for the sheep and Dierks- surrounded on 3 sides by the Yak pen, which nothing dares enter. Ever.
We're hoping the new system works!
WARNING! Bloody pictures!! Don't worry, though- he's fine :)
Here are some pictures of Gus (ram) before clean up:
And after:
I put some Melaleuca (Tea Tree) and Frankincense essential oil on his wound, and put him out with Dierks and the girls in the new pen. I am hoping this is the last attack report I have to make!
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| YakLady |
Posted - Nov 12 2012 : 1:44:24 PM
Oh hehe! Well I just wanted to let you know in case you got a wild hair to do it ;)
I milk my Highland cow, but I'm going to need to get her bred by someone else's bull... I should put a call in up the valley to the Scotty ranchers!
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| AliciaNak |
Posted - Nov 12 2012 : 1:36:51 PM
Hmm, that's very interesting to know about the Yak cross breeding. It was more a joke than anything, since I have been considering a bull to natural cover my Jersey's. He sure did look cool tho! I'm already the *oddity* of the neighborhood with my Jersey's as family cows, and not just nurse cows.
Alicia
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
www.blondenak.blogspot.com
www.artfire.com/users/BlondeNakCreations |
| YakLady |
Posted - Nov 12 2012 : 10:57:31 AM
Well Alicia, I will tell you right now- that yak bull won't know what to do with your Jersey ladies! I have a Scottish Highland cow that I got specifically for hybrids. NOPE! He doesn't know what she's doing when she's in heat! For a yak bull to breed "normal" cattle, he needs to be raised with them so he can recognize their heats. Yaks go into heat very differently than our Bos taurus do, and it's much more subtle.
Thanks for the kind words. Gus just has a little bald spot now, everything's all healed up :) I really do love dog bites- so much cleaner than everything else, so the risk of infection is generally low. If you or something you own has to get bit by something, make it a canine ;) Or a bear, their mouths seem pretty good, too.
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| AliciaNak |
Posted - Nov 12 2012 : 08:14:27 AM
Glad to hear Gus is ok. And Dierks is beautiful.
Your Yaks are awesome! There is a bull for sale in Utah about 3 hours from us and I jokingly suggested to my boys that we get it, cross breed with my Jersey girls. I don't think the Yak would like our summers here! How do they handle the heat?
Alicia
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
www.blondenak.blogspot.com
www.artfire.com/users/BlondeNakCreations |
| YakLady |
Posted - Nov 09 2012 : 6:24:26 PM
He's half Anatolian and half Great Pyrenees. He looks like an Anatolian with twice the bone mass :)
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| hialtfarmgirl |
Posted - Nov 09 2012 : 5:01:06 PM
Hes and Anatolian...BEAUTIFUL!!!! We need another dog. but, dont know if we want a LGD>>>>
"LOVING" life at 4000 feet..."LOVE" is a very splendid thing... |
| YakLady |
Posted - Nov 08 2012 : 7:22:19 PM
Yes, he's a wonderful dog :) Here he is today:
Gus is A-okay, no infection or complications :)
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| hialtfarmgirl |
Posted - Nov 08 2012 : 6:49:21 PM
20 salutes to your LGD...We lost our 15 year old AkBash LGD 2 winters ago...[SHE was THE MOST wonderful !!!...dog...We dearly miss her...Now we live in the mountains and REALLY need one...we wont have any animals because we dont have a LGD....Go get em' Dierks!!!
"LOVING" life at 4000 feet..."LOVE" is a very splendid thing... |
| janiee |
Posted - Nov 02 2012 : 06:08:24 AM
i am so glad he is going better! what a scare for him and you!
please be careful this winter..
janiee
farmgirl #390 |
| AlyssaMarie |
Posted - Nov 01 2012 : 4:41:56 PM
Natalie, I completely agree with you. We started our farm 4 years ago and fortuately we haven't had any wolves on our property (yet). We have had coyotes and badgers... Lost 2 whole flocks of chickens over night in one summer. Our coyotes we've so far seen stay on the other side of our electric fencing and field fencing away from our sheep and cows. I know there are so called compensation programs to help farmers with "losses" but it really doesn't take into account the time you have invested with breeding stock or losses from births etc etc. I went to college for environmental studies and then became a small time farmer/ rancher... completely changed my perspective. I'm all for natural predation for keeping the deer populations healthy but not at the expense of livestock.
AlyssaMarie @ Link'd Hearts Ranch
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| YakLady |
Posted - Nov 01 2012 : 10:38:50 AM
Just talked to Liz the Wolf Manager for my region. She said that there have been no releases up here, and that she would guess it is a hybrid that was a pet and got unruly so someone released it up here. I believe (and hope) that is the case. I have free reign to shoot it when it comes back, and we'll try to get pictures/video of it for us and Liz, too.
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| YakLady |
Posted - Nov 01 2012 : 10:17:28 AM
Laura- the wolves that have always lived here were not wasteful, they would take only one calf or old cow, and move on. The ranchers would shoot them if they saw it happen, but they didn't go hunting after them. Now, these new wolves are horrible. They have massacred entire herds of horses (expensive Thoroughbreds) and not eaten a one. We can get hunting tags for the wolves now, but I don't need a tag if it's attacking my stock. I do need a tag if I want to take it to be stuffed (which I just might!) I do believe this wolf has an unhealthy lack of fear towards humans. It will be taken out as soon as possible. We had a released bear go after the goats in 2010 (my buck- predators like stinky boys!). I finally went out after it one night and told it what was going to happen if it bedded down on my property one more night. It took off and hasn't been back. Predators have a keen sense for rage. When humans stand up and establish "You are done if I see you again!" I think it helps them realize it's time to leave and not come back. It never has returned in over 2 years now.
AlyssaMarie- Thanks! He's doing great today, and the whole flock seems to be getting back to normal. I try to maintain a very low-stress environment for my animals because I know they are happier, healthier, and more productive that way. I don't blame the wolf. It is driven my instinct and hunger. I blame the people who put it here. The more stories I hear of wolves who do not fear people, the more I want to get this one. I have a baby. I do not want anything happening to him! This is our home, and I will protect it. We don't have any ill will for predators who stay off our land or up top, away from our animals. They have a life to lead as long as they don't harm the animals in our care.
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| AlyssaMarie |
Posted - Nov 01 2012 : 08:44:39 AM
How scary! I hope your ram recovers without complication. I live in WA about 3 miles from the ID border. We've seen an increase in wolf activity in my area in the last few years and it is not a good feeling.
AlyssaMarie @ Link'd Hearts Ranch
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| crittergranny |
Posted - Nov 01 2012 : 03:12:32 AM
Wolves are wasteful hunters. Could be the one that hurt your ram was a release and had even less fear of humans. We have problems here with bears that have been released in our area because they are a problem in Albuquerque. Problem is there arent any berries and other bear forage here just deer elk and livestock, oh yeah and a few humans.
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
www.nmbarrelhorses.com |
| YakLady |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 8:57:58 PM
Yeah, except our wolves weren't extinct, so it's just terrible. White tail are the only thing around here now, and they're fast and flighty, so penned animals are easier pickin's =/ Now I have 2 cougars and at least one wolf I need to take care of. Ah, winter!
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| Fiddlehead Farm |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 8:52:14 PM
Natalie,
We had gray wolves introduced by the DNR into Northern Wisconsin because our smaller native wolves were extinct. Now they are having a hunt because these big predators have flourished and are killing off our native white tail and getting livestock.
Sounds like you are having the same issues.
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
I am trying to be the person my dogs think I am.
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White |
| Fiddlehead Farm |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 8:47:00 PM
So glad that he is Ok. How scary!
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
I am trying to be the person my dogs think I am.
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White |
| texdane |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 3:56:28 PM
Scary!! Be careful...
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
KNITTER, JAM-MAKER AND MOM EXTRAORDINAIRE
Chapter Leader, Connecticut Simpler Life Sisters
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/ |
| YakLady |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 09:52:32 AM
Not when they kill/damage livestock. We can get hunting tags for them, too- if we want to stuff it or something... Which is tempting about now!
We have a long-standing wolf pack in our valley, then the government came through, didn't see any themselves, didn't listen to the ranchers and decided they had been wiped out. So they 'reintroduced' arctic wolves. From Canada. These are larger, and they have survived throughout the centuries by following herds. These are the wolves that wipe out entire herds, flocks, etc. And they usually don't eat but a part of one. Then they're on the move again.
We are a mile from the mouth of a 30+ mile glacial valley. Normally the wolves hang up in the mountains or at the far other side of the valley. I really hope they aren't coming down. We are literally the last ranch for them to hit on our road...
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 09:35:50 AM
Ugh. That makes my stomach sink. I'm really thinking and hoping that wolf was just plain desperate, but I don't like scenario No. 2 at all--and I'm glad you have Dierks, but yes, this winter may be an ominous one. I'm crossing fingers about the new pens. Are wolves protected in your area?
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
| YakLady |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 09:22:39 AM
Yart- he's a great dog. He was ruined a little as a puppy because we had extended family living with us and they played with him while I was at work, so he's too people-friendly. Strange predators are out of the question, though. He's worth his weight in gold as far as I'm concerned (and 145 lbs of gold is a lot haha).
I'll get some full pics of the sheep today, Emily :)
Jonni, yes, totally weird. I've never seen a wolf, and then to have one come within 30 feet of me (measured it in daylight) AND attack an animal in front of machinery and lights... very very odd. I have two ways of thought on it:
1. The wolf couldn't catch a white tail (only thing left around here that they haven't already wiped out) so it went for what it thought was an easy dinner.
or 2. It was a scout that didn't know Dierks would be there. This is the worst-case scenario because if we have the pack coming down the mountain, it's going to be a very hard winter for us and may result in the loss of Dierks and everything we have outdoors. LGDs work best in teams of 3+ against multiple large predators. By being alone, Dierks has to be less aggressive and more defensive. I watched him run behind that wolf, at not near his full speed to stay between it and the sheep.
Since the wolf held its tail up as it ran, I'm fearing the worst, that it had backup. The sheep and Dierks are doing well in their new pen, and I'll get some pictures to show you all.
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 07:25:06 AM
Oh my! That's awful...and really weird, right? I'm so surprised that the attack was so blatant, with noise and you very nearby on machinery.
I'm hopeful that this will be the last you experience--for everyone's piece of mind. That poor boy-o, makes me so sad to see his pretty muzzle all covered in blood! OUCH!
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
| Emily Anna |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 07:04:25 AM
So glad Gus is ok! Had to have been pretty frightening for the poor guy. He looks like a beautiful animal! I love his darkish brown fur. You should post a full picture of him...would love to see him!
Emily |
| Yart |
Posted - Oct 31 2012 : 06:33:34 AM
I've heard great things about Anatolian's... When I get animals one day I will have one. Glad to hear Gus is no worse for wear!
FarmGirl Sister #1081
www.mythirtyone.com/224740
Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~Jim Davis
http://urban-eco.blogspot.com/ |
| YakLady |
Posted - Oct 30 2012 : 10:25:49 PM
Well I saw a dark, large blur of fur, the tail, heard it yelp, and watched Dierks chase it off. It was not a stray dog, it was too large and dark to be a coyote, it was barely smaller than Dierks (Anatolian/Great Pyr cross) who is 145 lbs. I've seen wolves before, and this was a younger lone male, if I had to guess.
Gus will be fine, I'm sure. He has great clotting factors, and I'm just glad he isn't any smaller :)
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
