[Jacob-list] predators

[Linda Bjarkman]

I'd be interested in reports of hawk kills of lambs.  The hawks never seem to 
actually threaten a lamb, but they sure do watch them alot.  It's abit unsettling.  
I don't plan on keeping my sheep in the barn all the time or shooting the hawks - 
just curious.  Our biggest predators have always been neighborhood dogs, which do 
tend to keep the coyotes away.

Our vet had a mare and foal attacked by a bear last year, but that's a very isolated 
event and the bear was protecting her cub from the foal's playful (in the foal's 
mind - not the mother bear's!) attention.

Happy New Year everyone!

Linda

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:10:58 -0800 (PST), Mary Hansson wrote:
>Linda and all,
>
>One of the larger predator problems for the group of sheep off the Maine coast
>was the eagle or hawk population.  Royal---Can you fill us in on more of the
>details?
>
>I would think that a protective mother ewe would provide adequate protection
>for a lone fox, but with them working in a group, she would need lots of
>friends.  Mary Spahr---Did you have fox problems or were they
>coyote/wolf/domestic dog problems with your lamb losses a few springs ago??
>
>Foxes like chickens when they can get them, and a good hen isn't far from the
>size of a newborn lamb....albeit much less protected without horns and hooves
>:o)
>
>Mary Ellen
>
>
>
>Mary Ellen Hansson, MEd, RD, LDN ISeeSpots Farm Jacob Sheep:  Lambs, adults,
>wool www.iseespots.com


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