This is addressed to Graeme and Sandra Gallienne but is not part of the ‘Shooters’ thread. Have you heard about Livestock Guardian Dogs? These are dogs trained from a young age to live with and protect sheep, goats, cattle, poultry as well as horses, emus and ostriches (ie any animals) from feral attack. They’re defensive rather than aggressive but will confront predators and fight if necessary. Australian farmers began using them around the early 1980s and they protect against dingoes, feral dogs, foxes, birds of prey, cats, etc. (I’ve seen this myself but that’s another story.) The best-known breed here is the Maremma Sheepdog or Maremma, originally from Italy. There, they guarded goats and sheep from human thieves and wolves. These dogs are incredibly effective against feral attack. Here in Victoria, they have even been successful in helping guard the Warrnambool Middle Island Little Penguin colony recover in number from fewer than 10 to about 205. Not one penguin has been killed by fox predation since the trial commenced in summer 2005. There is a Maremma-owning discussion group online and a very thorough manual available, complete with case studies of five properties. It’s published by the University of Canberra’s Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, Ph 02 6201 2887. Hope that helps.
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Debbie
Several penguins were killed by Maremmas when they apparently tried to play with them:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/penguin-deaths-put-guard-dog-trials-at-risk/2008/01/05/1198950131199.html
The Maremmas also took off after a fox on one occasion and left the island unattended. That issue was solved by training them not to cross a virtual fence.
Apart from those incidents, it has been a very successful exercise.
David
Please consider the environment before printing this email
Sent by: birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au
This is addressed to Graeme and Sandra Gallienne but is not part of the ‘Shooters’ thread. Have you heard about Livestock Guardian Dogs? These are dogs trained from a young age to live with and protect sheep, goats, cattle, poultry as well as horses, emus and ostriches (ie any animals) from feral attack. They’re defensive rather than aggressive but will confront predators and fight if necessary. Australian farmers began using them around the early 1980s and they protect against dingoes, feral dogs, foxes, birds of prey, cats, etc. (I’ve seen this myself but that’s another story.) The best-known breed here is the Maremma Sheepdog or Maremma, originally from Italy. There, they guarded goats and sheep from human thieves and wolves. These dogs are incredibly effective against feral attack. Here in Victoria, they have even been successful in helping guard the Warrnambool Middle Island Little Penguin colony recover in number from fewer than 10 to about 205. Not one penguin has been killed by fox predation since the trial commenced in summer 2005. There is a Maremma-owning discussion group online and a very thorough manual available, complete with case studies of five properties. It’s published by the University of Canberra’s Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, Ph 02 6201 2887. Hope that helps.
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
_____________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for viruses by MCI’s Internet Managed Scanning Services – powered by MessageLabs. For further information visit http://www.mci.com
********************************************************************** Any personal or sensitive information contained in this email and attachments must be handled in accordance with the Victorian Information Privacy Act 2000, the Health Records Act 2001 or the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth), as applicable.
This email, including all attachments, is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not disclose, distribute, copy or use the information contained in this email or attachments. Any confidentiality or privilege is not waived or lost because this email has been sent to you in error. If you have received it in error, please let us know by reply email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies. **********************************************************************
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================