Why are so many of you killing wildlife??

[darbydog]

My husband and I live on a large ranch where he manages the cattle operation for the owners. He has been a cowboy his entire life. I have a degree in Animal Science from Cal Poly and am a retired horse trainer. I work with the local wildlife rescue fostering all species of native wildlife and work in the hospital as well. I am on the advisory board of Project Coyote, a national coalition of scientists, predator friendly ranchers and educators working to foster coexistence between people and wildlife. I am also on the BOD of a local horse rescue.
I also give talks for educating the public about predator friendly ranching practices.

 

[bobbi-j]

Bits and pieces from the sticky at the top of the thread:

*This forum is for dealing with predators and pests. Period.

*Although some ways are not considered ideal to some, it serves the purpose of removing the offending predator. If you have an idea or a helpful comment, please do reply. If it is a sarcastic comment about the disposal or capture of a predator, please keep your thoughts to yourself. We are not here to judge one another on methods or ways and means.

*If you wish to suggest an alternate non lethal means of control, please share it in a non judgmental way that is a viable solution and not merely complaining about who was here first etc, IF it is directly related to the OP's request for assistance. If a non lethal alternative is offered, please be appreciative and remember that there are many ways and means and flaming a member for suggesting such an alternative will not be tolerated.

This is always a touchy subject. Always. We have killed the occasional predator that has come into our building site and killed chickens. This summer we had a mama raccoon and her 4 babies that got into our coop and killed a mama hen, leaving 5 orphans. The dog alerted DH to the situation, and he went out and killed them. Nature has not filled that void. We have not had another coon family come into our buildings to kill our chickens. Are there still plenty of them around? You bet! Our grove is full of them. They live in our abandoned machinery. Do we kill them because we see them around? Nope. My chickens have not free ranged for a few months. Why? Because we believe a coyote wiped out 5 of them in 2 days. We're not sitting up at night waiting for the varmint to come so we can kill. We don't have traps set (yet). In this instance, we chose to lock up our birds instead.

We have seen the results of a species that gets overpopulated. Fox with mange, rabid skunks, coons with what I believe was distemper. (According to my vet, skunks are a more common carrier of rabies than coons here.)

Oh, and on the subject of rabies. It may be fragile enough to just kill by washing your wound with soap and water, but I'm not willing to take the chance that that's all I'd need to do. Are you? I mean, really - if you were bitten by what turned out to be a rabid animal (maybe an unvaccinated barn cat that got it from the skunk eating her babies that she tried to protect), would you really just go wash your hands and call it good? Or would you call your clinic and get the rabies shots? My point here is what you'd do if you came in contact with the disease, not the unvaccinated barn cats, so don't go there. Just accept the fact that it happens. Not every cat in the country gets a rabies shot.

We all have to do what is best for our situation. I am prepared to suffer the occasional loss, but will not tolerate my whole flock being wiped out. I will not judge those who choose to let nature live "because the animals were there first". I will not judge those who choose to take a more permanent approach to predator control. I hope we can all show one another that same consideration.

 

[darbydog]

How can 'force' my opinions on anyone? I was simply responding to your posts and giving the truth based on science as opposed to closed minded, archaic beliefs based on the 'it's us vs. them' outdated thinking. It takes an unusually free thinking and evolved idividual to change long held beliefs. You are clearly not one of them.

 

[Troubadour05]

Nope-- not an issue of perspective at all. We don't own the cattle, we are hired hands who run the cattle for the ranch owners. However we have a small number of our own cows we run as well and the same philosophy goes for them. We are in our fifties and live in a double wide trailer and own nothing besides a couple of beat up trucks, a few horses and a small herd of cattle. My husband as been a cowboy his whole life and I'm a retired horse trainer. Not exactly rich. I'd be willing to guess you have more than us.
However in this case doing the right thing actually ends up saving us money. However people with closed minds can always find a excuses for not changing their ways and I've read a million here. In the time i've spent refuting everyone claims about why this works for me but won't work for them, many of you could already be on your way to using more effective and humane solutions.

How about we all just agree to disagree. Everybody has their own opinion of "right" and "wrong", and I understand standing up for something you believe in can make anyone defensive, but when it gets to the point of labeling someone you do not know at all as "more wealthy" or something like this.. "My husband as been a cowboy his whole life and I'm a retired horse trainer. Not exactly rich. I'd be willing to guess you have more than us. " Your not even defending your point anymore, that's just rude.

You've stormed in here and instantly started throwing your beliefs down people's throats, then when people disagree you say they're wrong. There is a much more acceptable way to debate your beliefs, and the biggest thing to realize is that you will not win. People will not lay down their arms and say you are right. You have your beliefs, they have theirs. End of rant.

 

[Troubadour05]

How can 'force' my opinions on anyone? I was simply responding to your posts and giving the truth based on science as opposed to closed minded, archaic beliefs based on the 'it's us vs. them' outdated thinking. It takes an unusually free thinking and evolved idividual to change long held beliefs. You are clearly not one of them.

And another attack on someone you don't know....

 

[darbydog]

To be clear, I have offered many solutions in my original post and have spent the last dozen posts responding to excuses from others about why their situation is different from mine and why its impossible for them the use non lethal. I have told the truth. Period. Which is that it's not any harder for anyone else here to do the right thing than it is for me. If that upsets you, maybe you need to look closer at the reason for your defenseless because it has little to do with me.

 

[Wxguru]

I think an admin needs to just shut this down....it is out of hand.

 

[darbydog]

If you are angry because someone makes suggestions for new or different ways to do things, that is very telling. I learn new things every day from others about what we can do better. Doesn't anger or threaten me that I don't know everything. And I don't feel like I need to make excuses for myself when I know I am doing my best.

 

[darbydog]

Yes! God forbid someone makes suggestions about non lethal!
Let's burn some books too, while we are at it. Don't worry I am done. Your minds can stay safely sealed shut.
Good luck to you all.

 

[RichnSteph]

Well thank God she left when she did or someone might have really offended her with a differing opinion or fact.

RichnSteph