unknown predator

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pdfangus

pdfangus

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The fellow who rents the property next to me for pasture called me Saturday and asked if I could help him gather cows. He had a few cows that belong to a friend of his and one of these had calved Thursday or Friday.....A couple of my cows are out there as well.....all was well....next day they found the calf dead and partially eaten...ground was torn up like mama had tried to fight off something...
don't know what....I did not see the site....I took my old gelding and gathered the cows up for them and they moved a couple of heavy pregnant to a safer calving area....I have my heifer, who is due in Sept, at my place as company for my weanling heifer so she should be safe...
 
I did not see the carcass...so can not opine....my cows used to be able to hold off buzzards till help arrived....my herd would go to the cow in distress in mass.....but that was long ago and far away....

I have never shot at any buzzards....that is my story and I am sticking to it....
 
inyati13":30sey2hu said:
That is disturbing. There are now documented cases of black bears near my farm. I don't find that comforting. It is enough to have those black vultures.
Click to expand...

Maybe domestic dogs. Probably those bastard buzzards.
I'm not too concerned with the black bear. Was checking on my fall calvers yesterday. Noticed the boss cow threw her ears back and started up the field toward the state road.
Here came a very mature bear right down the middle of the road. Acted like she wanted to cross the field we were in. Looked the cows over and I guess thought better of it. Went up the bank on the other side.

fitz
 
pdf I have a ton of bears near my place and they never messed with a calf or any animal but they sure as heck tore up my fruit trees and corn. I would say buzzards as well. Yesterday I thought one of my calves was dead cause it was 9 buzzards sitting in a tree and in the field. I searched field no dead calves they were just waiting to get on one i guess.
 
Them black demons are like termites, feral hogs and fire ants. There are those that have them and those that are going to have them.
It's not IF they'll show up--it's just a matter of when.
 
Around here black bears don't bother the cattle... but apple and pear trees are fair game... they sure do a number on them too
 
Any coyotes or cougars known to pass though? I suppose a cougar would have been in pretty swift and clean with not much chance for a "fight."
I too had a black bear living on my ranch in Oregon. Never bothered the livestock........
That is too bad, I am sorry for his loss. :(
 
oddly this showed up on my facebook feed a few minutes ago.....
I have not posted anything about my neighbors lost on Facebook until this showed up...

Anyone else having cyote problems? We have goats in Montpelier and are down about 10 goats just from this summer... there not just getting the babies but got the male Friday night and a few pregnant mama's earlier this summer.

— feeling aggravated.
.....Lost a newborn calf last week to one..17 mins ·
.....Are they taking them or killing them and leaving them?14 mins ·
.....Both...3 mins ·
.....Well Brian can come turn his dogs loose out your way and they may run them off but best thing is to set out at night we have coyote call and kill em1 min ·
.... neighbor last a calf last week to an unknown predator.
 
A rancher few miles away from us had a bear problem, killing newborn calves and injuring cows. He finally caught the bear in act and he shot the bear. Coyotes are fully capable to kill newborn calves and they will also killing birthing cows/heifers. Don't rule the coyotes and bear out till you see the tracks around the kill site.
 
pdangus, What part of the calf was eaten? Coyotes always eat the insides first dogs do not. By the information you have given I would bet my next paycheck on dogs but I wouldn't throw out coyotes yet
 
trappersteve":52lqt2z4 said:
pdangus, What part of the calf was eaten? Coyotes always eat the insides first dogs do not. By the information you have given I would bet my next paycheck on dogs but I wouldn't throw out coyotes yet
Click to expand...

that was the strongest evidence yet for coyote....as the guts were pulled out....

we had some feral dogs in the past but they have pretty well been weeded out....other than hounds we do not see many loose dogs around here anymore....the hunters around here run hounds all the time...there was some sort of big organized hunt this past weekend and the trucks were patrolling the roads with their antennae sticking out the windows looking for the signal from the tracking collars....had one poor, foot sore, hungry, mangy, skeleton of a hound, scared to death of everything lying under my stock trailer all afternoon on saturday....I fed her and watered her and the trucks rolled up and down the road scanning....finally I waved them in and told them where she was....they are smarter than they look...they know to honor my no trespassing signs at least when I am in evidence.....but then they dragged the poor dog out from under the trailer and dragged her to the truck and threw her in by the collar.....

fortunately I did not have a gun on my hip.....I have had livestock and dogs all my life.....if my livestock was treated as poorly as this poor dog was treated I would be in jail....you could see every bone in her body....mange, timid, lame on at least two feet....yet these yahoos now have legal domination of the field and forest seven days a week for four months out of the year....huntng season....there is no hunting season in now so they chase foxes and coons night and day....but supposedly they are unarmed now so I don't have to risk getting my horse shot out from under me.....

but this hound and her ilk are far from the likely culprits....she was scared to death of my goats....

sorry...did not mean to hijack my own tread with this rant...but these guys irritate the grrrrrr out of me......
 
What the vultures do is wart the cow until the calf gets trampled, or they kill it while its being born. Coyotes can chase them off, then they get blamed for it. The birds will see you coming, take off leaving the coyote to take the blame. We have tons of coyotes and they never kill a calf with a fighting mother, they like the easy food.
 
I think the thing that happened here is the cow bedded down the calf and then left the immediate area and returned when the calf was bawling.....

very familiar with buzzard problems....

I have a lot that I call the maternity lot..has goats in it right now..I have decided that I will go back to using the maternity lot for my small number of cattle....small lot right along side the barn and facilities.....when we had 60 cows it was not big enough for ten cows calving a day but with only four cows it will do fine....and they are a bit strung out this year....hoping to do a better job with AI and get them back together this fall....
 

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