Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[farmerjan]

Those sorry miserable B#@Turds....., there has been quite a bit of discussion on them recently in the cattle forum I frequent... actually attacking the cow while down delivering the calf.... and they just pecked out the eyes of a new calf as the cow was delivering a twin... and the farmer had to destroy the one while saving the cow and the surviving twin...
I am sorry and I hope you exercise the permit to the maximum.... and I hope they stay away with the one you hung out there...
I HATE THEM pretty much above anything else I can think of....

 

[Mike CHS]

I'm wondering though if the neighbors will be thinking that we are doing some kind of voodo or something since that vulture is hanging not far from the driveway going up to their house.

 

[SageHill]

I'm wondering though if the neighbors will be thinking that we are doing some kind of voodo or something since that vulture is hanging not far from the driveway going up to their house.

Have them over for a BBQ and cook a turkey on the grill

 

[farmerjan]

Have them over for a BBQ and cook a turkey on the grill

OMG... that is good....

 

[Baymule]

Be sure to wear your witch doctor outfit!

 

[Baymule]

I bought the 2 ewe lambs from Howard and Susian Covington. They live right across the road from Lake Livingston. They have a dog in every field because of eagles. I’ve seen eagles near here. I’m not very far from Lake Livingston. My dogs don’t like big birds. But what is Sentry and now his student, Buford fixated on? Turtles.

 

[Mike CHS]

We have sort of a Catch 22 as far as the vultures go. Maisy and Mel will normally run them off but the Black Vultures are birds of prey, unlike the Turkey Buzzards that the Black Vultures ran off. When they get in a big enough flock, they don't fear the dogs and even act aggressively toward them. The problem we have with the dogs is that Maisy tries to adopt new born lambs which inevitably, results in a dead lamb which fortunately, we figured out after losing a lamb the first year we had her in with lambs.

We have not lost any lambs to the vultures but it isn't from a lack of their trying. The vultures are technically Federally protected because they are migratory but in 2015-16, someone decided that it was a stupid law to protect a bird that will kill livestock and they started the permit program. In Tennessee, the permits are issued by USFWS to Farm Bureau and they in turn issue them to their clients that raise livestock. Our first year, I killed one but couldn't recover it due to the terrain but the others still never came back that year. For three years all I had to do was shoot a rifle round close to one or more and they disappeared. This is the second time we hung one in effigy. but it has worked for the whole lambing season.

I still think the dead lamb was delivered dead as I couldn't see any sign of being killed by the vultures. We do know of one farmer that quit raising sheep since his losses were so bad because of the vultures.

 

[Baymule]

Black vultures should not be protected. They have crowded out our red headed turkey buzzards. The turkey buzzards only eat carrion.

 

[rachels.haven]

We have them thick up here. They line rooftops and weigh down trees. I'm glad you got one. I hope it sends a message.

 

[Bruce]

Apparently Black Vultures have now been seen for the first time in southern Vermont.