East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-07-23
COYOTE PROOF FENCE
PROVES A SUCCESS
COLORADO SHEEP RAISER
USES IT TO ADVANTAGE
Experiment Made In Waliowa Ma
tional Forest Lcads'F ii, Taylor to
Try Fence About sheep Pasture
Means of saving His Lambs.

The enclosure of sheep range with
i'm a coyote proof fence has been tried
in Colorado by f, II. Taylor of Man.
cos with highly satisfactory results.
An experiment begun by the L. 5.
Department of Agriculture on the
Wallowa National Forest, to discover
whether sheep could be advantage
ously pastured within such an en-
closure led Mr.. Taylor to give the new
method trial. The outcome is set
forth i'm a letter to the department, as
! follows:
After reading the description or
your coyote-proof fence in oregon,
! constructed a fence 70 enclose about
| 500 acres in the same manner. The
! fence was constructed during the fall
! of 1905. and in the spring of 1909 and
| 1910 one thousand head of ewes were
| lambed in this enesosure." In the
vernacular of the herder lone hun
dred per cent of the lambs were saw
ed" that is, a lamb to each eve.
"and one man did all the work.
| think the per cent of the lambs would
have been higher but one animal.
presumably a coyote, was inside when
the fence was constructed. 1t was i'm
possible TO capture this animal even
with hounds. Some of the herders
thought the animal was not a coyote,
but since coyote tracks were found in
several places l am of the opinion
that it was. Whatever the animal
was it raised its young inside the en-
closure"
Connecting his loss with the ra-
pacity of this animal, Mr. Taylor says:
"a great many of the lambs were
killed and a small hoie eaten behind
the foreleg and the remainder of the
carcass was untouched. on the lanc
outside of the enclosure it required
the services of three men and a pacl
of hounds to care for one thousand
ewes, and only 95 per cent of th'
lambs were saved. This percen
could not have been saved without tn
!. assistance of the hounds.
II consider this fence a splendi,
l investment. since it easily pays 70
= itself in three years. on the othe
hand. it is often difficult and some
times impossible to get men durin
the lambing season. For this reaso
= hardly be estimated
4 The department Of agriculture en-
= tered upon the experiment of en-
= closing sheep range within a fenc
y which would turn stock destroyin
d animals in the belief that this metho
n would save forage as well as stoc
s and wages. This belief has been fuI
~ justified by the results. The ore
gon enclosure carried more shee
than an equal area Of range of II
4: same quality outside, produced
, heavier lamb crop, heavier sheep an
: more wool. and at the same time r,
suited in a better condition of til
! range itself. These advantages al
, due to the different behavior of shee
. pastured within such an enclosur
from that of sheep herded in the o
;, dinary way.
Is When band of sheep NOV
~ about in charge of a herder, it mu
~ be kept from scattering much. As
- result much of the forage is vast,
~ through trampling. Within an e
II closure, however, the sheep SOC
:" learn to spread our and shift
: themselves. Under these conditlo
le 1t is not to be wondered at that a gi'
- en- area supports more sheep, pu
them in better condition and suffe
&c less wear and tear. The success
i' the new method, however, depends {
- animals within the enclosure, and