A BullMooseGazette Special Report
By Ron Moody
By Ron Moody
The program was advertised as a
discussion by experts on non-lethal methods of preventing livestock losses to
large carnivores such as wolves with an emphasis on use of ‘Livestock
Protection Dog.’
The real news of the evening, however,
turned out to be up-close reports of the strong connection between cow-friendly
methods of rangeland management and predator loss prevention - along with a new
interest of federal Wildlife Services officials in adding non-lethal methods to
their uniformly lethal game book.
The discussion took place in Bozeman,
Tuesday, October 29, during a program sponsored by ‘Enhancing Montana’s
Wildlife & Habitat (EMWH),’ a collaborative conservation project founded by
Kathryn QannaYahu of Bozeman. (http://www.emwh.org/ )
Participating were Representatives of
federal and state agencies, private non-profit conservation groups and
‘predator friendly’ livestock producers.
Commercial cattle herds typically
spread out across their available pastures; a natural behavior when not
threatened by predators, noted Matt Barnes, a former cattleman and field
director for rangeland stewardship at Keystone Conservation. “But this makes
them vulnerable to being killed by large carnivores.”
When a prey species like cattle, muskox
or bison cluster together they are much more able to fend off an attacking wolf
or bear and this is an instinctual behavior among wild ungulates, Barnes said.
“Can this be used on domestic livestock to reduce conflicts with predators?”
The answer is yes, according to Barnes,
and, in a happy coincidence of interests, training cattle to graze in close
groups, rather than loose dispersals, opens other opportunities to the
livestock producer for better rangeland health and high profits through higher
stocking rates on the same amount of acreage.
But training cattle to an unfamiliar
new behavior initially requires extra effort on the part of the livestock
producer, Barnes added.
Low Stress
Stockmanship
Advocating ‘low stress stockmanship,’
Hilary Zaranek, is a range rider working for an experimental ranching project
near Yellowstone Park. She is one of those tasked with doing the extra work of
teaching cows to herd together.
“There is real labor, some significant
work, at the beginning. But it really pays off as you go along,” she said. “At first you have to move the cattle every
day; but soon they learn the new routine of staying close where you put them
and that becomes what they want to do. Then you can put them up on the hill
where the best grass is and they will stay there for several days.”
In terms of a lower predator-loss pay
off, Zaranek cited the experience of six cattle herds in her program. “Of the six, the three herds handled most
often lost no calves to predators. The three herds handled least all lost
calves.”
And then there is the financial reward
of low stress handling to the rancher.
“Scattered cattle creates the need for
high-stress handling methods,” she said. “And stress in cows means lower weight
gains and lighter calves.” Weight translates into cash when the rancher takes
his or her product to market.
In this context training cattle to herd
close “has nothing to do with wolves,” she added, “it’s just good business.”
Both Barnes and Zaranek pointed to
training cattle to herd close as essential for making modern rest-rotation
grazing plans actually work to improve forage quality and rangeland
health.
Long rests and short, intense grazing
periods are key, Barnes said. Doing that means being able to quickly move
cattle between pastures – a benefit of training the stock. A rest-rotation
properly done can allow higher stocking rates because the plants are able to
come back faster and stronger after being grazed.
Going To The Dogs
As planned, the Tuesday EMWH program
went to the dogs as the discussion progressed.
The Wildlife Services Division of APHIS
(Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service) is famously identified with killing animals deemed pests to
agricultural interests. In a dramatic departure from its routinely lethal
activities, the federal agency is engaging in extensive research into
non-lethal methodology by use of guard dogs, according to APHIS officials at
the meeting.
APHIS
Researcher Julie Young described the efforts by her agency to import new
strains of wolf-grade guard dogs from their native European countries and test
them in American landscapes. “We are focusing on ‘Adaptive Protection
Management,” she said.
The
‘adaptive’ part, she said, refers to changing predator behavior, changing cow
behavior, and, perhaps most importantly, changing human behavior.
Use of guard dogs to protect livestock
from predators is now a widespread practice in the Rocky Mountain West. “Dogs
are one of the most accepted non-lethal methods of reducing predator losses,
and also one of the most effective,” said Michael Marlow, head of APHIS
research in use of guard dogs.
But there is a down side with dogs
getting into conflicts with humans – particularly in the West’s expanding
urban-rural interface, according to Marlow. He cited a case in California when
a cyclist was attacked by a guard dog while riding through a herd of sheep – an
activity the dogs apparently viewed as a threat to ‘his’ sheep.
He also described conflicts with pets
in neighboring subdivisions and even cases where hikers picked up guard dogs
and turned them into local animal shelters as lost.
“Public education is crucial to making
use of guard dogs more successful and conflict-free,” he said.
“Leave Them Alone”
Professional dog trainer Peggy Duezabou
of Canyon Creek introduced the audience to two of her Akbash dogs, Azor and
Colt, both of whom appeared capable of competing with wolves in the heavy-weight
division.
“When you see one of these dogs out on
the landscape, leave it alone,” She urged. “The dog is at work doing its job.”
And above all don’t do anything the dog could interpret as an attack on the
livestock it is protecting.
Becky Weed of Belgrade, a woolgrower
who had used ‘predator friendly’ methods including guard dogs for 18 years,
concluded the program with first-person insights into the new livestock
producing landscape.
“Wildlife Services is doing research on
non-lethal methods,” she said. “But it is hard to do rigorous, scientific
research on something like livestock losses to predators.
“The whole business of being ‘predator
friendly’ is about adaptation to change. It means reading a complicated code of
relationships between cattle, wild animals, people and dogs.
“In the end, if you want something to
work you can make it work,” Weed said.
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