sandgrubber said:
JB,
JB: If a GF&P officals took the time to come to my ranch and visit with me about my problems, than I would certainly have a better opinion of the outfit he worked for.
Have you called your present CO and invited him out? That might go a little way towards answering some questions you might have.
JB- Yes I have called and he is very hard to get ahold of. They must keep him very busy. I guess it's time to try calling him again. I didn't understand why he wasn't at the lockout meeting, other than the fact that he probably figuered that he would have to defend all of the GF&P and it might be a waste of time. I think it would have been interesting if he had been there to answer some questions. Of course I think GF&P has already answerede any questions as to the lockout and are probably tired of arguing about it.
TXTibbs-"What about the recent Cougar problems in the Black Hills? JB i bet if one of them cougars packed off your toy poodle from under your door step you'd call someone and complain....and have the cougar taken care of. That just happened to a lady out there.....lol...i laughed histerically reading the article. The lady described how the cougar crept in and snatched her poor poor little Jack Russel right from between her legs and then slowly walked off with the twitching dog in its mouth! ha ha. Call me cold hearted, but I find that funny....especially when the lady was one of those that prolly wouldn't even swat a fly. And yet they (the SDGF&P) don't see fit to open a season in the Hills. Crap Wyoming has one, why can't South Dakota bite the bullet and open one! They need to. I'd love to track down a lion with a pack of hounds and tree him up."
JB- Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor down south there TX. I would not have a damn poodle on the place. If a cat wants to try and pack off one of my dogs, more power to it. Any self respecting cow dog that can't run off cat or at least get away from one, has no business on this place. :shock: :lol: :wink:
We have had cats come thru' and so far they haven't bothered me anymore than when I tried to pen horses where the cat had traveled. Horses don't seem to like cougar for some reason! Had several neighbors who had a colt killed and a couple of older horses cut and scratched by cats, that was confirmed by the proper authorities. I think they may have even tried to get the cat but I don't think they did. Haven't heard anything about any cats for awhile. Hmmmmm. Of course the deer are real thinck so i suppose the cats are living on deer.
And they are proposing a cougar season, but doesn't sound like it will get much accomplished other than letting some guys shoot at a cat if they happen to see one as they are not going to allow the use of dogs. Anyone can buy a license and they will quit the hunt after the first 20 are tagged. Probably sell a lot of tags at $10 resident and $50 non-resident. I believe the season would be only in the Black Hills.
rancher;
As far as a fence for a praire dog problem, I'm not sure I understand it either. But years ago, SH told me that the best way to controll coyotes who kill sheep is to have a good tight net fence and when you have a problem with a killer coyote, you just look at the perimeter of the fence. You will find where a coyote has dug under the wire. You set a snare or trap at the hole and presto, you've got the problem coyote. I've never had any problems with coyotes or fox or really any wild animal other than praire dogs. Maybe a skunk or two who came thru' the yard and sprayed a nosey dog or acted sick, so I shot the skunk. Skunks and fox and coyote seem to eat a lot of rodents. Same with snakes. But I don't care to share my front yard with them! Well.....maybe a bullsnake.
Any praire dogs that come onto the property, we shoot at and set traps at the holes and eventually we get them cleaned out. I would allow a few praire dogs, but they over populate so fast. I've been told a good way to get rid of them is to find a cat with a bad case of distemper and tie him out in the middle of a dog town. The dogs get curious and come up and get infected and spread the distemper throughout the whole town. Don't know if this is true and it seems kind'a cruel to the cat, but it might work.
I enjoy wildlife and tend to leave them pretty much alone untill a problem arises. I shot a deer last year for the first time in many years as my youngest son wanted to go hunting. I got a double tag and screwed around and only filled one. Do you suppose the GF&P owes me another deer? :lol:
According to some, if there is lots of vegetation in a dog town, the predators have a better chance of getting the dogs, but any dog towns I've seen, there is a definate lack of ground cover! :lol: Guess we should plant crops where the dog towns are!