Quote:
Originally Posted by sheephunter
In some of the studies they did in the Sheep River area, cats were very prey specific with one male actually targeting moose pretty well exclusively. From what I remember, it was as cats got older that they actually switched to sheep on winter range. I also seem to remember that it was females that accounted for the most sheep kills. They can kill an awful lot of sheep....especially a female with kittens. As most hunters target toms, it's unlikely that a lot of the sheep killers are actually getting taken out of the population, even where they are hunted.
SG, have you got a number of how many short rams are shot in a year? I can't imagine it's that many but I could be out to lunch.
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I dont have any numbers but really have to agree that it cant be that high of a number! Im sure there are a couple left on the mountain every year and im sure a few turned in that are small but still think a small amount.
The cougar sheep kills that ive herd of are from the guy that chased alot of the cats that were collared and he and the biologists figured sheep were high up on the cougars menu. The also think that it may be the cause of the decreased herd at Ram Mountain west of Rocky. That is part of the reason the sheep foundation helped fund the collaring. There had to be so many cats collared in sheep country so the affects of cats on the sheep population will be better known.
SG