Last issue, HUNTER'S ALERT told you about a federal government agency called Wildlife Services. They do predator control, something NDOW refuses to do. The person calling the shots in NDOW must have been absent from biology class in high school. He failed to learn that coyotes were put on this earth to control rodents such as mice and rabbits, not eat the newborn fawn deer and antelope or domestic calves and lambs. NDOW must like the carnage on the defenseless newborn animals and their slow death because they have done nothing to prevent it. Here are more events that Wildlife Services performs and after seeing what is happening out in the wild, we will see why predator control is necessary. From Wildlife Services Bulletin, 2002

On April 5, 2002 the Elko flight crew aerial hunted the lambing grounds and removed an additional six coyotes during ) this flight. Each coyote removed from this allotment at this time of year will prevent the loss of hundreds of lambs over the coming lambing season.

A proactive aerial hunt in Antelope Valley yielded two coyotes from a key lambing ground. Aerial wildlife specialist Billy Taylor reports sighting several sage grouse strutting sites at this location. In the past, W.S. Taylor has reported finding signs of sage grouse nests, chicks and adults killed by predators. No doubt predator control efforts in the area has helped predator losses of these birds.

On April 5 , while aerial hunting a band of several thousand sheep that were being sheared, the Elko flight crew spotted a ewe with blood on its head and neck. At first the aerial crew was uncertain whether the blood was due to a shearing cut or a predator attack, and circled the area to get a better look at the bleeding ewe. When the aircraft flew past the ewe the second time a coyote was spotted near b the injured sheep. The coyote was removed. v It was later confirmed by the sheep herder / that the blood was from a wound inflicted by the coyote. The sheep later died from these wounds. On 4/08/02, the Elko flight crew hunted this same area again and

again a bloody ewe was spotted. This time the ewe had considerably more blood on and about her neck, but she was still up and walking around. Again, the aircrew located a coyote near the injured sheep and removed it. This sheep, although alive when spotted, later died from the wounds to her neck. Both sheep were due to give birth to twin lambs within days and were valued at $500. No more losses or injuries occurred to these sheep for the remainder of the week

On 4/12/02, two Elko District allotments were again aerial hunted by the Elko flight crew and 3 coyotes were shot on this flight. Thousands of lambs will be born here in the coming weeks and aerial hunting at this time, will have a major impact on lamb survival. Lamb losses due to coyote predation is the highest cause of mortality in range lambed sheep operations.

On April 17th, WS John Peter received a call from a local sheep producer who reported that coyotes were killing his sheep near Denio. WS Peter investigated the report of killed sheep and found that two lambs and two ewes had been killed by coyotes in a canyon that was part of the lambing grounds. WS Peter noted that the coyotes had eaten most of the meat off of small lambs and had only eaten the udders of the two adult ewes.

On April 29 , a rancher in the Winnemucca area reported that ravens had torn open the orifices of three lambs and had pecked out the eyes of a newborn calf, all died of their injuries.

Ravens have been responsible for the predation of 9 lambs to date on a band of sheep in the Ruth area east of Ely. Two of those kills were verified by District Supervisor Kevin Lansford. Eyes and tongues have been targeted first by the ravens killing the lambs before they have had a chance to even get up and about.

On 5/7/02, in another lambing area near Battle Mountain sheep herders reported to WS Daren Miller that 3 lambs had been killed by ravens. WS Miller was able to confirm 2 of the 3 losses as raven damage

injuries inflicted to both lambs, (each lamb had its eyes picked out).

On May 20 , local cattle rancher from the Paradise Valley area reported that ravens were responsible for the death of one newborn calf.

On June 6th, WS Pilot Jack Hodnett on contract from Oregon and gunner removed four coyotes from the Vya Antelope Unit near Sheldon Antelope Refuge. WS Ben Miller located two of the coyotes from the ground and directed the plane in the direction of the howling coyotes. One of the coyotes taken had a small antelope fawn in its mouth prior to being removed.

On July 2, a sheep producer near Wadsworth reported that immediately after turning out a band of sheep, that coyotes had killed 5 lambs. On July 3, the sheep producer reported that a large mountain lion was seen by the herder attacking and mauling one adult ewe. WS Spencer also discovered one dead lamb nearby and determined that it had been killed by a coyote.

On July 8, an Austin area sheep producer reported that 10 lambs had been killed by coyotes.

WS Ben Miller has completed the assigned wildlife damage management work on Vya Sage Grouse Unit and the Vya Antelope Unit. The antelope fawning success on the unit measured 52 fawns per 100 does during aerial observations. In 1999, antelope fawning success was well below the 33 fawns per 100 doe level that is needed to maintain the current population of the antelope unit.

WS Chris Simms has completed wildlife damage management work on the Jackpot Sharp-tail Grouse Unit. Research has shown that nest depredations can limit sharp-tail grouse recruitment, population growth and sustainability. And one of the nest raiders, the raven, has increased in abundance and distribution throughout the inter-mountain west. In some parts of the west, the raven population has increased

500% to 7,600% from 1968 to 1992 (Bellman 1992). With this huge unnatural increase in the raven population one must wonder what negative impact it must have on all nesting bird populations. WS' own data has confirmed that raven damage complaints have increased considerably for livestock. Following the wildlife damage management activities provided by WS, the researchers monitoring of sharp-tail grouses' nesting success have reported that nesting success was the highest it has been on the unit with a 75% nesting success rate. Other nesting birds (sage grouse) likely also benefit from raven removal during the nesting period. A video camera system was used to watch nesting grouse on their nests and inside and outside the Sharp-tail grouse Unit. The researchers concluded that nesting success for sage grouse outside the raven removal unit was 66% while nesting success within the unit was 100%.

On July 8, WS Taylor investigated a killed Jamb which had only its liver consumed. AVS Taylor noted the killed lamb had scratch marks down its side and small bite marks around the head and upper neck indicating the killer was a bobcat.