Raven kills add to the toll on Ontario livestock

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Though bird attacks do far less damage than other predators, such as coyotes, bears and wolves, they do occur, as the mayor of West Grey found out last spring

by DON STONEMAN

Kevin Eccles, the mayor of the municipality of West Grey, was in for a surprise last spring.

In quick succession, the township received claims for two beef calves destroyed as a result of raven attacks.

"I'm a bit of an outdoorsman," Eccles says. "I had heard about (ravens) attacking moose calves in the north, but I had never heard about ravens here until last week."

In fact, according to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), ravens killed 13 calves and 18 sheep in the province of Ontario in the 12 months ending March 31, 2014. In the cases of raven attacks in West Grey, one calf was killed outright. The other was blinded. "It was suggested it be put down," Eccles says, delicately. Whether it is moose calves in the north, or cattle and sheep in southern Ontario, ravens peck out the eyes. Ravens have moved south "but they haven't changed their attitude," Eccles observes dryly.

The Wildlife Damage Compensation Program covers off losses by producers to wild animals, says an OMAFRA spokesperson. The claims are co-ordinated by the municipality in question. In the case of the two West Grey raven claims, both were made in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, after April 1. The municipality pays claims and the province compensates the municipality.

Livestock kills by ravens don't happen often, but they do occur, notes Peter Jeffery, senior researcher with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Ravens were included as predators for the first time under the latest revisions to the livestock act a few years ago. Previously, farmers couldn't get compensation when ravens attacked their stock.

Ravens have taken a higher toll on livestock farms than one might think in the last two years. OMAFRA compiles statistics on animal kills and injuries based on the province's fiscal year. In the 24 months preceding March 31, 2014, ravens killed 44 head of livestock. It is far less, of course, than the 6,636 head affected by coyotes, 1,879 livestock claims (including bees) attributed to bears and 1,394 blamed on wolves, but nearly three times as many as were credited to bobcats.

Claims due to bears include 668 beehives and bee colonies, valued at more than $67,000 in fiscal 2013-2014. Bears killed or injured 40 head of cattle worth $43,000. Smaller predators, such as raccoons, tend to attack poultry.

The value of livestock damage is another story. OMAFRA spokesperson Susin Micallef says that, even though they are separately defined, municipal valuers interchangeably use those categories. Coyotes and wolves killed or injured 746 head of cattle worth $542,978 and 114 head worth more than $89,000 respectively in 2013-2014.

But it's sheep where coyotes did the most damage, killing 1,719 head valued at $356,647. Wolves were blamed for 368 sheep kills worth more than $68,000. (See chart on the Better Farming website.)

The provincial fund compensated farmers for livestock kills worth $1.755 million in fiscal 2012-2013 and $1.247 million in fiscal 2013-2014. In the earlier fiscal year, cattle claims due to coyotes totaled $713,055 for 910 deaths and injuries. Coyotes were blamed for taking 2,349 sheep worth $516,402. Wolves took 187 cattle valued at $155,807.

A bit surprisingly, since pigs are typically confined, coyotes took eight pigs valued at $3,550 in 2012-2013. There were fewer than five pigs killed by wolves that year. There were no pig claims due to predators in 2013-2014. BF