Updates

I have two great personal items to report. First, this will be my last post for a while – I am moving onto my lambing ground for the next few months to stay with the herd and to work on another book. I’m planning for both relaxation and wild adventures. Husband Jim will be monitoring my email for me, and bringing me supplies.

The second item is the publication of a paper by Jim and I in Sheep & Goat Research Journal. It’s about the use of livestock protection dogs in large carnivore country in the Northern Rockies. We believe that we need to go back and have another look at Old World knowledge so livestock operations can successfully co-exist in areas with large carnivores.

Have a look at the paper here, or just read the summary:
"Livestock protection dogs (LPDs) in the United States have helped to protect livestock herds from certain predators, but expanding large-carnivore populations pose new challenges, and the number of LPDs killed by large predators is increasing. We conducted a literature review to identify LPD breeds that may be more suited for use around large carnivores, such as gray wolves. The use of spiked collars to increase the survivability for LPDs in areas of coexistence with large carnivore populations is also discussed. This paper advances the adoption of techniques and LPD breeds used outside of the United States in areas where large carnivores exist with livestock production."

Have a great spring!