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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2016)
5A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 Eagles kill hundreds of lambs each year but it goes unreported Secret predators waiting for ewes to give birth By JANAE SARGENT Capital Press ALBANY — Laura Wahl stands in the pasture with her lambs eight hours a day during peak lambing season to protect them. The predators aren’t coyotes or cougars; they are bald eagles. Wahl runs Wahl Grazing, a sheep and goat operation, with her family near Albany . She esti- mates that she loses 300 lambs a year to eagle depredation — a loss of approximately $37,500. During lambing season, Wahl is used to seeing 20 eagles lining the perimeter of her pas- tures waiting for ewes to give birth to their lambs. Because of a complex report- ing system, few resources avail- able to ranchers and the stigma surrounding complaints about the national bird, Wahl said her family doesn’t have many options to protect their lambs. “There’s nothing we can really do about (eagles),” Wahl said. “All we can do is hope the eagles don’t fi nd the lambs.” Eagle depredation is a con- troversial and complicated issue for ranchers, ranching advocates and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees pro- tected species. Ranchers agree that eagles killing lambs is a big problem but they do not report the depredation out of a lack of faith in federal government services. Peter Orwick, executive director of the American Sheep Industry Association, said avian raptors are a huge problem for producers and that eagles are a particularly tough problem because there are limited tools and resources to help sheep producers. In addition to not reporting the depredation, many ranch- ers don’t even want to talk about the issue out of fear of reprisal. Three ranchers in the Willamette Valley acknowledged having serious problems with eagles but did not want to talk on the record or give their names. Because ranchers don’t report the depredation, repre- sentatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Farm Ser- vice Agency and USDA Wildlife Services say they are unaware that eagles killing lambs are a widespread problem. Lack of reporting Emily Ruckert, a sheep rancher in Tangent , said most producers don’t know how to report eagle depredation or that services or resources exist and don’t have time to go through the reporting process so they choose to handle it themselves. “I’ve been dealing with eagles my whole life,” Ruck- ert said. “I’ve never even heard of reporting to Fish and Wild- life. There’s really nothing we can do.” Statistics are equally hard to fi nd. A U.S. Department of Agri- culture survey found that eagles killed 6,300 sheep and lambs in 2004, the last year those statis- tics were reported separately. The department stopped report- ing specifi cally on eagle dep- redation after that but in 2009 reported that predators killed 247,200 sheep and lambs. Dave Williams, Oregon state director of USDA Wildlife Ser- vices, said ranchers reported only three cases of eagle dep- redation on lambs to his agency between 2011 and 2015. Representatives at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the agency has received no reports of eagle depredation in recent years. According to the agency, “depredation” is damage to property or a threat to human health and safety caused by eagles. Eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Act and the Migratory Bird Act, which means ranchers are not allowed to scare, harass or take eagles predating on their livestock without obtaining a permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service . In addition to being the national bird, bald eagles were protected under the Endangered Species Act until 2007. Williams said eagles are doing well now and are not endangered but are still protected. Rodger Ruckert, who is Emily Ruckert’s father and partner in her sheep operation, said he has seen the number of eagles killing lambs drastically increase as their population has grown. “When I was a kid, if you saw one eagle it was quite a sight. Now there’s easily 15 to 20 eagles around the pastures on any given day,” Ruckert said. Ruckert said most eagles don’t migrate anymore and that he has several native immature eagles that eat his lamb crop all summer long. Ruckert said he has lost 10 percent of his fl ock of 300 lambs to eagle depredation, which is a Sheep, lamb loss by cause, 2009 Cause Number of head Known predator 225,300 or 36% Weather related 83.3 Physiological problems* 58.6 Unknown non-predator 54.1 (Thousand head) Lambing problems 52.9 Old age 39.3 Of the 634,500 head Parasites 30.4 of sheep and lambs Non-predator 22.2 lost in 2009, more than Unknown predator 21.9 one-third was due to Other disease 13.8 known predators, including eagles. Poisoning 10.1 On their back 3.3 *Includes respiratory, metabolic and other digestive problems. Theft 1.9 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Source: USDA NASS devastating loss to him and his family. “These producers basically have to watch their livestock getting eaten and they have to pay the bill,” said Carter Wil- ford, a licensed falconer and ranching advocate from Utah. Wahl explained that she has seen eagles grab small lambs and drop them from heights to kill them and has seen eagles pecking at the heads of larger lambs until they die. Emily Ruckert said she came out to her pasture one day and saw two eagles on a month- old lamb pecking its brains out while it was still alive. The Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice offers permits and resources for ranchers experiencing eagle depredation but Jason Holm, the assistant regional director of external affairs, said the agency has not received any applica- tions for an eagle depredation permit for agricultural loss in recent memory. Because eagles are protected by federal laws, ranchers need permits to disturb bald or golden eagles that attack their livestock. Hazing permits Federal law prohibits wounding or killing eagles so the permits allow only hazing eagles, which means using non- lethal means to scare them away from livestock. Wilford said accessing resources is bureaucratic and complicated and ranchers are frustrated by the federal gov- ernment when it comes to eagle depredation. To apply for a permit to haze eagles, ranchers need to have someone from USDA Wildlife Services inspect the lamb car- cass and declare that the ani- mal was killed because of dep- redation. After a depredation is declared, Wilford said it is still up to the discretion of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service whether to grant a rancher a per- mit to haze the eagles. Williams said investigators examine the carcasses to look for talon marks and determine if the animal was killed by an eagle or died of other causes and was fed on by an eagle after its death. Wilford said having a USDA Wildlife Services investigation done can take up to two weeks, which causes further problems for ranchers. Between the time a report is made and when an investigator arrives to examine the carcass, it is vulnerable to being eaten by other predators and draws other eagles and predators to the pas- ture looking for more lambs to kill. Holm said the Fish and Wildlife Service takes approx- imately 30 to 90 days to pro- cess completed permit applica- tions once the investigation is done and the depredation order is declared. Williams, of USDA Wild- life Services, agreed it can be a problem for ranchers and sug- gested tarping carcasses to pro- tect them from other animals. They also recommended taking photos of the carcass and keeping as much evidence as possible for the application. Wahl said asking her to pho- tograph a carcass or protect it is unrealistic because she runs 6,000 sheep on 15 pastures and 3,000 acres and can’t keep track of each incident. An eagle depredation per- mit application requires a $100 fee in addition to documentation and a depredation order from the USDA Wildlife Services. Wilford said he thinks ranch- ers don’t submit reports or eagle permit applications because the process is so diffi cult. “Most ranchers either have given up on the issue, don’t have hope or don’t know any help exists,” Wilford said. Permit experience Larry Ruckert, Emily Ruck- ert’s uncle and owner of a sep- arate small sheep operation, obtained an eagle depredation permit 15 years ago after see- ing a large golden eagle kill a 20-pound lamb. Ruckert said he had to call fi ve different people to fi gure out how to apply for a permit. It allowed him to use fi recracker shells to scare eagles away. He said it gave him tempo- rary relief but when he applied for a permit the next year, he never got a response and gave up. Federal law and Fish and Wildlife Service regulations once allowed licensed falconers to trap immature golden eagles attacking livestock but the agency stopped the practice in 2009, said Sterling Brown, vice president of public policy for the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. “The (USFWS) does not believe livestock losses are sig- nifi cant and has ceased falconers’ access to eagles,” Brown said. Holm said it is up to state governors to issue depredation orders and allow falconers to come into an area to trap pred- atory golden eagles and keep them for the sport of falconry. In his time at the Fish and Wildlife Service, Holm said he has only seen depredation orders used in Wyoming. Holm said ranchers should fi rst contact USDA Wildlife Ser- vices to assess if livestock dam- age was caused by eagles. Compensation available There is also a compensa- tion program that was built into the 2014 Farm Bill that autho- rizes payments of up to 75 per- cent of the market value of live- stock lost to federally protected animals for up to $125,000, but few ranchers aware of it. Taylor Murray, outreach spe- cialist for the Oregon Farm Ser- vice Agency, said his offi ce has never had an application for compensation for eagle depre- dation on lambs. He said that the Farm Service Livestock Disas- ter specialist has never heard of eagle depredation in Oregon. Ranchers must apply at their local Farm Service Agency offi ce and submit a “Notice of Loss” form within 30 days of the loss. Wahl said she had never heard of a compensation program but will apply now that she knows. Wilford stressed that he believes in protecting eagles but that there is now enough eagle protection to warrant giv- ing falconers access to predatory golden eagles and fi nding other resources for ranchers. LISTINGS M ONDAY E VENING A (2) (-) (-) (6) (-) (8) (9) (10) (12) (13) (-) (20) (-) (29) (30) (31) (32) (34) (35) (36) (38) (39) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (56) (57) (58) (61) (63) (64) (65) (162) L KATU KOMO KING KOIN KIRO KGW KRCW KOPB KPTV KPDX KCPQ TBS KZJO ESPN ESPN2 NICK DISN FAM FMC LIFE ROOT FS1 SPIKE COM HIST A&E TLC DISC NGEO TNT AMC USA FOOD HGTV FX CNN FNC CNBC BRAV TCM SYFY RFD (2) (4) (5) (-) (7) (-) (3) (10) (12) (-) (13) (20) (22) (29) (30) (31) (32) (34) (35) (36) (38) (39) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (56) (57) (58) (61) (63) (64) (65) (162) Falconers cannot trap bald eagles. He said the system for obtaining permits and compen- sation needs to be simplifi ed and that the Fish and Wildlife Service needs to look at how to prevent depredation rather than dealing with it after it happens. Preventive measures Ranchers have found some preventive measures to be helpful. Wahl said the biggest help for her operation is to lamb in a barn while the lambs are small- est and most vulnerable. When a lamb is born in a pas- ture at Wahl Grazing, employ- ees immediately transport it into a large barn, where it is pro- tected from eagles. But because of space con- strictions, Wahl said she has to turn out the lambs after fi ve days. Wahl also has guard dogs but said they don’t do much to pro- tect lambs from eagles. Emily Ruckert said she has protection llamas to deal with other predators but that she hasn’t found them to be help- ful against eagles. She also does lambing indoors when possible and stays with the lambs when- ever they are outside. Williams said the biggest thing that draws eagles to a pas- ture is carcasses. He said an eagle will fi rst be drawn to a pas- ture to feed off a dead lamb and may then associate the pasture with easy food. He suggested being vigilant in cleaning up and disposing of carcasses before eagles have a chance to associate lambs with food. Wilford stressed the impor- tance of ranchers reporting eagle depredation — even if they don’t receive a permit or compensation. “It would be so helpful if people reported more,” said Wilford. “It would help to vali- date that there is a problem. The service is saying they don’t get reports of depredation so they can’t do anything.” Brown agreed that ranch- ers aren’t reporting in any of the Western states but that the Utah Farm Bureau and its Western counterparts want to do more and assist ranchers. “We want to protect eagles, migratory birds and preda- tors but there also needs to be a program in place that is effi - cient enough to allow live- stock producers to receive help when livestock is being depre- dated on,” Brown said. “Ranch- ers aren’t looking for handouts, just fair compensation for their losses.” Evening listings MONDAY A UGUST 15 A - Charter Astoria/ Seaside - L - Charter Long Beach 6 PM 6:30 7 PM 7:30 8 PM 8:30 9 PM 9:30 10 PM 10:30 11 PM 11:30 KATU News at 6 Jeopardy! Wheel of Fortune Bachelor in Paradise (N) Mistresses "The Root of All Evil" (N) KATU News at 11 (:35) Jimmy Kimmel KOMO 4 News Wheel of Fortune Jeopardy! 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