Clinton Bell, a Tazewell County cattle and sheep producer has had problems with coyotes since the 1980s. “One year we lost 25 lambs to coyotes. Since the first of this year, I’ve lost one ewe and half a dozen lambs,” Bell said earlier this summer.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services agency reports 170 sheep, 21 calves and 45 goats were killed by coyotes on the 150 Virginia farms that the agency provided assistance to in 2012.
Chad Fox, a Wildlife Services district supervisor, said coyotes “first became a problem in the mid-1980s. There were isolated problems before, but it wasn’t widespread enough to cause serious problems.”
Today, “every county in Virginia has a coyote population.”
Fox said the impact of coyotes on livestock production is much larger than the kill statistics can represent. “Some things aren’t quantifiable, such as stress to animals and fence damage. It’s hard to put a damage figure on it.”
Methods of dealing with the coyote population vary throughout the state. Some counties have a bounty system through which individuals who kill coyotes are given a reward for the kill. The bounty “gets people’s interest up,” Bell said, “but we kill more coyotes than they can pay us for.”
Fox said there is no way to control the coyote population. “You cannot remove enough out of a local population to make a difference. The best you can do is remove coyotes from site-specific farms, but there’s no overall management solution.”
However, farmers can take preventative action to deter coyotes, he said. “The best deterrent is a good fence. It can protect the animals and help identify how the coyotes are getting in.”
Coyotes are considered a nuisance species, so there are no restricted hunting seasons. Bell, who uses traps and snares, said he catches between 20 and 40 a year.
The future for livestock producers with coyote problems is focused on prevention. The Virginia General Assembly adjourned Feb. 23 with an amended budget that included funding for an additional staff person to assist farmers with wildlife damage to crops and livestock. Legislators also provided $125,000 to Virginia State University for
Virginia Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist position. Those funds would match a grant from the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to also develop a call center for wildlife damage issues.
Wildlife Services damage specialists are available to visit sites, diagnose problems and suggest methods for protecting livestock.
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