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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2019)
A4 OPINION Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, February 20, 2019 Inventive tools for keeping wolves away from livestock J ust about the last thing a visitor to Ted Birds- eye’s ranch would ex- pect to see is “Tube Man.” You know, one of those infl atable air dancers that fl op back and forth and are featured at used car lots across the country. Birdseye, whose Mill- Mar Ranch is in Southern Oregon, has not one but two of the crazy-looking con- traptions. The idea is not to sell 1985 Buicks but to keep wolves away from his livestock. Wolves in the past year have taken a heavy toll on Birdseye’s herd, killing or injuring at least seven calves and one guard dog. Such attacks would drive a rancher to try just about anything to keep wolves away from livestock. The idea for the “Tube Man” came from the envi- ronmental group Defenders of Wildlife as a non-lethal means of keeping wolves away from the herd. Birdseye has tried other means of keeping wolves away: fl ashing lights and hanging fl adry — tiny fl ags — on fences. He has even had U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator John Stephenson camp on his ranch. The “Tube Man” had been used with success on a ranch near La Grande after wolves killed several llamas. “It’s always struck me as something wolves would be particularly skittish of,” Suzanne Stone, senior Northwest representative of Defenders of Wildlife, said. When it comes to keep- ing wolves away from live- stock, any and all means should be tried. Air can- nons, special lights called Fox Lights, noisemakers — even drones equipped with lights, pepper spray and noisemakers — can be part of the toolbox for ranchers and others who are pestered by predators. Some ranch- ers have success training their cattle to stay in herds instead of running. In Botswana, Africa, researchers have even painted eyes on the rumps of cattle to keep lions away. Called the iCow, it causes the predators to give up their hunt, according to the Australian Geographic mag- Contributed photo A knife, a fi re starter and a light source are essentials for a survival kit. Shooting the Breeze: Survive it EO Media Group/George Plaven Southern Oregon rancher Ted Birdseye fi res up an infl atable dancing tube man, loaned by the environmental group Defenders of Wildlife, to scare wolves away from the pasture where he grazes cattle. azine. It does it by tapping into the fact that lions quit hunting if the prey looks at them. In the experiment, the researcher found that none of the 23 cows with eyes painted on their rears were killed, while 39 others with- out the eyes were killed. In another experiment, the magazine reported the Australian researcher is test- ing whether use of dingo territorial scents might keep predators away from cattle. Other, less scientifi c research has involved hook- ing up a motion sensor to a sprinkler to keep mountain lions away from livestock. According to mountainlion. org, when a predator shows up, it gets a good dousing to let it know it’s not welcome. Another idea the website reported on involved using Christmas lights to create “evil” eyes that scare preda- tors away. One wonders whether other low- and high-tech tools might work. Motion sensors are readily available at hardware stores. In fact, they allow trail cameras to photograph wolfpacks in the wild. Combined with “Tube Man” and other devices, they might just be enough to scare off wolves intent on attacking livestock. The idea is to keep try- ing. Wolves are smart, and they are vicious, but there has got to be a way to keep them away from livestock. And if all else fails, there’s always a rifl e — when and where it’s legal. O nce upon a time, I was walking back to the truck after a hunt. Sud- denly I noticed a buck facing me at 50 yards. I snapped off a shot, and he was gone. Almost as quickly, so was the light. I stumbled around in the dark for a while but, in the end, had to come back the next day to fi nd him dead 20 yards from where I stopped looking. On another hunt, we didn’t have enough horses so a friend and I walked up the trail while the others fi nished packing the horses and caught up to us. First the snow really started coming down, and then it got dark. We were getting worried because the pack train should have caught up long ago. We stopped under a tree to wait, and I was able to surprise my friend by build- ing a fi re in the blizzard like conditions. Years ago I took the time to develop a survival pack so that when adventures like these hap- pen I would be prepared. I’m not going to bore you with a list of everything I carry. You can fi nd lists in every outdoor publica- tion and media site you visit. I recom- mend you look over several and then develop a kit that Rod is personalized to Carpenter you. For example, most suggest carrying some kind of fi shing gear. I usually hunt high with limited fi shing opportuni- ties so I don’t. Keep in mind that, whatever kit you come up with, it isn’t going to do you any good if you don’t carry it with you. I had my pack when the fi rst story happened but left it in the truck because I reasoned I was only going on a short hunt. Because I didn’t have the fl ash- light from my pack, I lost half of the meat on that deer where the blood pooled. There are three things that I believe you should always carry when you head outdoors. The fi rst and most important is a knife. In fact, you should con- sider your knife as an article of clothing as important as your pants. You shouldn’t even leave your bedroom without it. The second is a source of fi re, matches or lighter. I prefer a lighter and always drop it in my pants pocket so, if I get separated from or have a stupid moment and leave my pack, I still have it. Those windproof/waterproof matches are pretty cool too. They are like mini sparklers, but don’t carry as well in a pocket. And fi nally a light source. Cellphone lights work great but don’t have the battery life of fl ashlights. They make small fl ashlights that fi t well in a pants pocket if you don’t want to carry a pack, but a headlamp is the way to go if you have the room. Hands free is really handy (Ha!) when you are working in the dark. There are lots of other things you could add to your kit to make bad situations better, but a knife, fi re and light will make bad situa- tions survivable. Drop us a line at shootingthe- breezebme@gmail.com. Rod Carpenter is a husband, father and hunting fool. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Loan not in spirit of measure 5 and 50 To the Editor: Today I would like to expound upon the current property tax sys- tem. In the 1990s, we the people voted in property tax limitations. This was accomplished by pass- ing measures 5 and 50. Measure 50 was passed in 1997 to further restrict taxing districts and close some of the loopholes that these districts were skirting in Mea- sure 5. If these measures were not passed, property taxes per capita in Oregon would be well over 10 percent. At the most recent rural fi re district board meeting, I was criticized for my letter to the edi- tor in the Jan. 16 edition of this newspaper. For the record, I have had way more positive feedback than crit- ics. Note also the past fi re chief’s letter in a later edition of the Eagle. While I try not to make my views personal, I also cannot help but allude to one person or another, and I will not apologize for it. My point being, the loan the RFD inherited was not necessary. This loan was created by bad deci- sions involving all parties. People make these decisions and must be held accountable. It appeared to me that at this meeting they were insinuating that, if not for mea- sures 5 and 50, they could bal- ance their budget easier. While on the surface this is true, our citi- zens today would be paying more property taxes than state and fed- eral income taxes combined (after deductions). This $168,000 loan, brought on by the cost overruns with the city of John Day totally complicit, was not done in the spirit of measures 5 and 50. To put it into context, I will use a quote I used in another article: These “intergovernmental exchanges of funds ... would put a drug cartel to shame.” Bob Pereira John Day L ETTERS POLICY: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank- you letters. Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. We must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244. 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