Don and Meg Thomas earn their living from the land in the Wallangarra area of Southern Queensland. Unfortunately for Don and Meg they are one of the many landholders that are under siege from wild dog attacks on their livestock. Don recently wrote to the Chairman of our National Wild Dog Advisory Group, Brent Findlay, and he tells the story much better than I can:
This latest dog started killing in March & would eat one sheep out of the flock & perhaps leave a few bitten on the rump or on the flank. He killed about 20 fat lambs that we had paid $40 each as store lambs. We tried our usual tactic but this fellow would dig up the baits & leave them beside the hole. I have seen scratch marks on the meat baits where he has tried to claw them out of the ground without touching them with his mouth. I tried all the usual tricks with scent trails for the baits or for setting traps. This dog would dig beside the traps but would never step in them. Greg Saxby came over & tried howling him up but had no response. (Greg howled up four dogs in February but couldn't get a shot at them. We baited straight away & I have a photo of the biggest of these that we poisoned with fresh meat baits.)
With no sign of the dog we would assume that he had moved on but as soon as we put sheep back in the paddocks adjoining the electric fence the killing would resume. I knew he was a big dog by his footprints & he got into our rams one night & killed one of them & damaged the back leg of another which won't be able to be used for joining. I always thought that the rams would be able to give enough fight to discourage an attack but that wasn't the case. We paid $4000 for the two rams that he destroyed but it was a bit of a worry knowing there was one ram that we paid $6000 for & several that we paid $2000 to $3000.
Words can’t describe how heart-breaking it is to see our sheep torn & bitten by these predators. After treatment, some of these sheep actually survive which is amazing as they can have their whole rump eaten out so that we can see bones & ligaments in the wound. It is hard to believe that the people in authority don’t do more to eradicate these pests. After every attack I go through the whole range of feelings but my anger is not at the dogs but at the people who allow these animals to run free because of canceling the bounty that used to be paid for dingo scalps. The do-gooders must also be made aware of the carnage these “cute” dogs are inflicting, not only on sheep but on every native animal. Many graziers have sold their sheep & moved into cattle to avoid the dog menace but with the breeding of these “super dogs” calves are going to be fair game for these big dogs. Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'
Every morning I would lie in bed trying to think up new ways of catching him & was resigned to the fact that I would have to wait until he died of old age. I checked the traps every morning & spent a lot of time trying to find any tracks where he might be getting through the electric fence which has 4000 volts running through it. I had to assume that he was a long haired dog that could get through the fence without getting electrocuted as the fence was secure. I did a lot of hunting in the hope that I would jag a shot at him & took up sniper positions in areas where I thought he might go.
We took part in the Council poisoning program in July & used different baits like liver, tongues & meat. I left a couple of baits on the ground as something different & these were taken but not necessarily by a dog. Then about a fortnight ago, there was a bait taken from inside the electric fence with dog prints around the bait station & also two Doggone baits were taken from outside the fence. These Doggone baits had been in the ground for quite a while & I thought it was strange that they were taken after all that time.
Then last Thursday, when I was checking the baits in the evening, I smelled something dead. I found the big Alsatian type dog dead about 80 metres from one of the Doggone bait stations. He had been dead a few days but I put him on the back of the bike to bring him back to the house to show everyone & to get photos. There were two baits taken that night from along the track that I took the dead dog back to the house but because of rain there were no tracks visible at the bait stations.
On Saturday I found another dog by her smell, this time inside the electric fence & once again, only about 80 metres from a Doggone bait. She was a young bitch in very good condition & had only recently died. I don't know if she was the big dog's mate, or whether she had moved in on his territory with him gone. The first two photos are of her & the third photo is of the two of them. I will send you photos of the other dog too. It was a real surprise to find her as I was sure there was only the one dog doing the killing. I reckon it was amazing to find the one dog poisoned, so it was a bit of a miracle to find the second one. Ever the optimist, I still ride around expecting to smell out another one.
It was hard to believe that after all those months of refusing baits that he would eventually take one. When I first put out the Doggone baits one of them was dug up & a bit chewed off it, so maybe he thought that it was safe to eat as the 1080 section was still on the bait. I had just bought two more traps at the Ag-Show & was all keen to use the methods that the fellow demonstrated. After watching him I realize I have a lot to learn about how to set traps.
We are resigned to the fact that there will be more dogs come along to take his place, but this big fellow was a worry as he was too smart for us & could come & go through the electric fence at will. I reckon that with some of the crosses with the smarter domestic dogs, the dingo is becoming a "super dog" & will get harder & harder to control.
My only advice to anyone is to keep trying something different, but to keep trying. The upside of all our baiting is that there aren't too many foxes around our property at the moment to interfere with our lambing.
When I checked with Don that it was OK to use his story, he gave me even more insight into the terrible cost at an emotional level of dog attack. I've said before that the stress levels of dog-affected farmers are just terrible, but again Don's words are better:
Lots to think about.
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