Disaster Overnight at Good Shepherd Cheese averted - While sipping coffee early this morning, I looked out our window to see 2 coyotes running up from the holler into one of our pastures. I grabbed my single shot .22 jumped on the RTV and rushed out to the pasture. The coyotes seeing me, ran back down in the holler. I took a shot at the running coyotes and missed. As I was trying to reload my rifle, a third coyote appeared up from to holler through the tall weeds within 5 feet of me. With an unloaded gun, he saw me and ran back down the hill. I began looking for coyotes in the holler and on both sides when I looked across to the far ridge where our lambs are pastured and noticed that the lambs were out of their fenced pasture. Our guard dog Marley was going crazy barking on the other side of the fence from the lambs. I rushed home to grab some socks and a jacket & to pick up Colleen. When we arrived at the pasture we found one whole corner section of fence down basically taking out 2 sides of the fence. Two of our ewe lambs were all tangled in the electric netting inside the pasture along with our injured lamb "Sweetie Pie". The rest of the lambs were outside the fence running back and forth as if scared to death. Marley was standing guard over the over the tangled lambs and running back and forth to check on the others that were loose. We freed the tangled lambs, untangled all the netting and set it back up and rounded up the lambs that were outside the fence. When we finally were able to do a head count all the girls were accounted for. We can only imagine what Marley must have gone through last night trying to watch out for the escaped lambs while guarding over our injured and tangled lambs, all the while fending off several hungry predators looking for an easy meal. Marley was given to us by Patrick McCoy when we first started our farm. She was 5 years old at the time. She is Half Great Pyrenees and half Anatolian Shepherd. This is not the first time she has saved lambs that have gotten into trouble. Sometimes we get complacent here on the farm, but thank God we have help from some of the best dogs in the business that remain vigilant even while we are asleep. How do you thank an animal that just save your entire replacement ewe flock from certain disaster. If I know Marley, an extra special meal, a juicy bone and a pat on the head will be more than enough.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:58:49 +0000