Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Sheep mauled by wolf or coyote, donkey a hero!

One of our sheep was attacked and savagely mauled by a wolf or coyote. Brian found it lying in the field, bleeding to death and almost a goner. He and his brother loaded it into the van and drove it to the vets. Its throat was ripped open and it was in bad shape but after 4 days at the Vets it came home -- the miracle sheep!

Our donkey Burr had his front legs covered in blood and the opinion is that he's a hero, probably stomping and kicking at the wolf/coyote til it ran off.

The Livestock Protection Agent who claim to verify our claim for expenses, said it is the FIRST time he's ever filed a report on a LIVE sheep that survived a wolf or coyote attack. He does about 40 a year, and they're all dead. We're in a high risk area, lots of wolves and coyotes around attacking livestock.

We shouldn' t be suprised, we bought the donkeys (one died last Christmas) to protect the sheep but they didn't seem too keen on that job. Burr seemed to actually dislike them, and is always chasing them away.