Sheep Predation Pictures (New Kill Added)

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Yellerdog

New member
I got a call today around noon from the owner of one of the sheep farms I hunt. I had shot a coyote there last week. Last night just before dark I had several howl from 3/4 mile away. It got dark before any came in though. This is what happened during the night. I thought I would post this so the various stages of the kills could be shown. Four were killed, at least that's what was found. As you can see two of them were barely eaten (except by buzzards eating the eyes) They all were bitten on the neck for the kill.
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Looks like only the tender lambs were eatin. Is the 3rd pic an ewe and the 4th a small ram?

Good pudding you brought in here yellerdog!!!! Was there any coyote scat laying nearby?
 
Tommy,
I'm going back out there later to check it out better. I didn't have to much time to scout the scene of the crime really well. There were also other people there talking. I put up some yellow tape to keep them out. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif :rolleyes: I hope to be able to better answer those question upon further investigation. I wanted to get the pictures while it was still fresh though.

Edited to add: They were all lambs, not sure of the sex though.
 
Yeller I think that only the top two are lambs by the way the hoofs arent fully developed and the short snouts. Yep definatly lambs.

The bottom two look to be a tad bit older, by the wool, hoofs, body size, and of course the more mature facial features. Not arguing just making observations.

The lambs may have been carrying milk contents in there stomachs thats why they were devoured. The ewe well she looks like she got her udder torn out since she may have been carrying milk and the grassy contents arent favored all that well thats why they stopped. And the ram well who wants to eat that thing? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Almost looks like dogs.
 
Tommy,
They are all difinately lambs. The two on the bottom do appear bigger, but they are not really. I took those pictures closer up so I could look for injury sign better. On the eatin ones it was quite obvious what the cause of death was so I stood back a little farther.
I'll get more details when I head back out there.
 
The YoY have been shown the ropes and fed on the kill. You now have a litter of indoctrinated sheep killers to contend with. They may not come back to scavenge the carrion. Mom and Dad may take them out to kill again just to reinforce the lesson.

Howling could pay off in this situation. If the family thinks a trancient has trespassed into their territory (and food supply) they just might show up to challenge you. Good luck.
 
Those are excellent pictures of coyote kills. There isn't much doubt. I doubt if the pups are involved in the killing, but there are pups somewhere, that is why so much was ate. I doubt seriously if the pups are big enough to go along, and it was packed back to the den in the stomachs of the adults responsible. It is a little to early for pups to be going along for the kills. That usually starts in late August here, and I'm sure in Michigan also. Now you southern guys might have pups earlier than here, I'm not sure. Anyway good luck with killing them, and let us know how you do. I'm sure the pups are weaned, so you need to kill all the adults involved, or whoever is left will keep right on killing and feeding the pups.
 
Cal, you made me go back and look where Yellerdog is from. I thought he was from Texas. The southern pups are just begining to go out on forays. There will be some early starters up north, but they would be the exception to the rule, as you said. Assuming the pups are still in the den, and considering the volume of meat that was consumed, those are two big coyotes. Need to terminate that family ASAP!
 
Pups are leaving the den here as well. While out on a summer calling trip 2 weeks ago I followed pup tracks for about 100 yrds on a sandy road where fox are non-existent. Small tracks, kinda cute in a way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I saw a post where Rich Higgins is seeing the same activity when a coyote track was seen imprinted in his sons earlier track.

What gets me and someone may can shed some light, is why the small ram. Didnt they know that the 2 lambs would be all that they could stomach until going back to the den to regurgitate if the pups are still being fed that way? Maybe just to garruantee a meal the next day, I guess maybe so, kinda sort of?
 
Cal Taylor,
Thank you for the professional opinion on this subject. I have actually only worked ONE sheep killing job on a real serious and personal basis, so your educated words are very much appreciated. It was a small sheep pasture that I worked, and I ended up killing six wet bitches within less than a mile of main sheep pen. Coyotes absolutely LOVE sheep. Maybe it is because they taste a little bit like chicken. All I know for certain is that once they start killing those sheep, they won't stop until they get dead. Oh yes, the killing stopped in that sheep pasture too.
 
Rich, Wow, that is some coyote density! I'd hate to try to be in the sheep business in an area like that.

Tommy, They kill because they are coyotes and thats what coyotes do. That is the best explanation I can come up with. You may be on to something with the "food storage" idea. I guess they know they can always go back to the "extra" kills for a day or two until the birds clean them up.
 
I think you were all on the right track before you decided the pups were to small here. They have been out of the dens for some time now. Here is a link to the story from another sheep farm two weeks ago. http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005513
And here is the picture:
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The coyote on the bottom in this photo is a pup. Another sheep farm I hunt on had pups playing in the road 3 weeks ago.
So I think the original theory of training the pups was right on.
I went out there hunting tonight and was not successful. The wind direction was not very good so I did not call from the best location. Through some previous scouting and observation I think I have determined that this particular groups home turf is centered about a mile west of this farm. This afternoon I obtained permission to hunt 300 acres that I believe is the place where I can be most effective on these killers.
 
This year i have noticed the pups are alittle more mature then the previous year and they seem more aggressive. Not sure if the hard winter/spring had any effect on this? The sheep farms in my area haven't had much trouble...but the chicken/pheasant farms are horrible. I been hunting one pheasant farm 3 times a week, the yotes are coming in way late 3-4am and picking off stragglers along the pens and chicks. I've got 2 in the last month.

One weird thing is no fox at all...my taxidermist told me the fox population espceially red fox is way down because of the rise in coyotes.

As usual yellerdog...great post and pics, i've got start throwing some pics up
 
Yellerdog,
I'm pretty sure I know how big and how far along the pups are, I've killed about a hundred of them so far this year (pups). I'm a denner for the Woolgrowers Assn. and a county predator board here. But maybe Michigan is different? I just figured that you guys were about the same climate as here. I took a den on the 4th that had some big fuzzy tailed pups. But they still aren't killing or going along killing on any of the bigger stuff. They are out of the hole most of the time and you will see them out messing around, but they aren't killing much more than rodents and grasshoppers yet.
 
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