I had dogs that made it clear that blood would be shed by anyone messing with "their sheep". They were poisoned. I had one named Cowboy that lived for a few days but the vet couldn't save him. The only ones that lived were the ones that were shy around strangers or were out patrolling the perimeter of the farm at the time. I currently have eight Great Pyrenees that are perfect with the sheep, donkeys and llama. They have all developed plenty of attitude about strangers. It is hard for them to make a distinction between utility line workers and meter readers from thieves. Any car that slows down on the county road to take a look at the farm gets told by the dogs to leave.
I am up early because I just checked video of the night after having a false alarm go off. My whole family sleeps in alert mode. Weekends are prime time for thefts. I wish I had never sold lambs directly from the farm. These "farm sales" just allowed people to case my operation. The thieves know how to use my gates and pens as good as I do. I have found entire groups of sheep locked up tight in pens the mornings after thefts. My dogs know what guns are used for and stay away from anyone carrying one. I carry a shotgun for self defense in the middle of the night when investigating tripped alarms. The thieves know how long it takes for the sheriff to respond. I can only hope that by chance the sheriff is in my part of the county when I need him. The economy is bad and people are desperate. Please stay alert and safe. Mark Wintermute Sent: Friday, January 10, 2014 11:09 PM Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Thieves That is awful! We have Tibetan Mastiffs guarding our flock. I hope that is sufficient to prevent such thefts. Jann Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 10, 2014, at 6:53 PM, "Mark Wintermute" <winterm...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > Hi Mike, > > In 2012 the first week of school and while I was work thieves loaded > up around 30 or so lambs. This year we have lost a little more than > 50 ewes and many lambs. The 2013 thefts appear to be 1 to 5 animals > at a time in the middle of the night. We have security system now > that has proven the thefts are primarily around 2:00 am. Also we have > learned they drop off one or more "wranglers" and drive away. When > the "wranglers" have made their selection they call their ride and he > picks them up. Everything is very quick. There is no visible > lingering. These sheep are not being sold they are being eaten. To > be politically correct I will not mention nationality but the sheep is > butchered, cooked, and eaten all in less than 24 hours with no > leftovers. It is a party atmosphere where all family and friends are present. > > Mark Wintermute > > My oldest livestock guardian dog has basically told me who at least > one of the thieves are. His testimony won't hold up in court but > spoke volumes to me. _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
