12/16/08 Spooky flags

Livestock owners in wolf playgrounds can relax. A new scare device is being studied. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute with details. The latest edition of the Wildlife Services Stakeholder's Newsletter has good news for livestock owners. Studies of a device to deter wolves that has been used for quite a period in Europe is showing some promise. The device is a fladry. A fladry is a line of flags hung along a perimeter of a pasture. Yep, this has been shown to keep wolves away for up to sixty days. Sounds to me like you better not have livestock in that pasture on day sixty-one. By that time the wolves have probably used up all the games they can think of like jump rope, limbo and high jump and are really hungry. Hold it, the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) scientists have another little trick up their sleeve. They are electrifying the fladry. Researchers believe the wolves could potentially receive a very negative first impression and would be less likely to cross the line and become bad wolves. NWRC scientists did test the electric fladry on 36 wolves in ten groups. Eight of the groups crossed the normal barrier. I wonder if that was on day sixty-one? The good news is only two of the groups crossed the electrified fladry. I think that means you would only lose one quarter of the livestock compared to the regular barrier. I think maybe the wolf counselors need to have another little talk with the wolves and remind them they aren't suppose to leave their areas and only prey on wildlife. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Reporter 11/14/07