Nevada Sheep Having Issues
Wild Sheep
Sheep in NV having issues in Southeast corner.
That sucks. I don't know sheep real well but I gather that their habitat isn't exactly in large supply. Loosing a herd would be tough? Just a passing thought, but is that habitat also populated with wild horses? Do they compete for the same food?
SD,
There are more burros than horses in Southern NV but some horses too and both out compete wild sheep. They will stomp springs into oblivion and prevent sheep from approaching water sources. Many guzzlers have burro and horse proof fences installed. The good news is the area is getting rain today for the first time in 214 days and it doesn’t take much to start the grass growing in the desert mountains. Hopefully more storms will follow but there’s nothing forecasted in the near term.
Wow over 200 days with no measurable rain. Yikes. Hopefully they figure something out.
Thanks for the info Tilzbow. Good luck to you guys needing rain. Hope some relief comes soon!
The entire SW is experiencing a horrible drought.
I see the same ranch every year in SE Arizona and this last hunt in January- it was bad.
Looks like the Las Vegas area got up to a half inch of rain, and a little more or less in some areas, so that should help get some desert grass growing. That said if you’re applying for Desert Bighorn sheep in Nevada this year pay attention to the quotas since there could be massive cuts in some areas if they do end up transplanting large numbers of sheep. Quotas come out just before the draw closes with recommendations out earlier. If there are cuts, non-resident odds will go from horrible to nearly impossible….
Just spitballing....
If the situation is so dire, perhaps some quotas should be increased.
That rain is great news!
The problem with ruminants competing with monogastrics is that the latter can get by on much poorer quality forage, so yeah… another reason why the horses and burros need to be culled more aggressively than the adoption program can offer…
Sounds like a horse and burrow problem
Airdrop them hay bails could be a simple solution to get them through winter until they resolve the horse and burrow problem...
Guzzler time like California has been done by the sheep society
Haven't the feds been kicking that horse and burro can down the road for decades already ?
Any updates on how the bighorns are doing?
I saw a picture the other day ...water was being flown in with helicopters.
Thanks Trying hard, I just found this:
"37,000 gallons of water have been hauled in this winter to assist struggling wildlife"
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/a-keystone-species-how-nevada-is-fighting-bighorn-sheep-population-decline
