ItsADogsLyfe Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 I had 3 sheep stolen almost 3 weeks ago. Its a very long and very strange story, but I have now had 3 sightings all miles apart but given the description, can only be 1 or 2 of the sheep. Last night I got another call and took Seth to go check it out. I did see the sheep this time. It was in a cow pasture with a bull. She was lying down in a wooded area halfway up a hill. My dog is old, 11 1/2, and she is very fit having run wild for over 2 weeks. The dog could not get anywhere near her and she can run straight under the barbwire fence. My question is, my trained dogs are getting up in age and this is a huge pasture. I'm not sure the sheep will even stay there. The owners of the property have no outpens to lure her in. She's been running wild and traveling quite a distance, at least 7 to 10 miles, possibly more in the past 2+ weeks. Is there any way I can catch her and get her back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Guess I'd be thinking of taking a dozen head of my quietest well dogged sheep to her and then let her come to the flock and load them back on the trailer along with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsADogsLyfe Posted September 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 I had considered taking my other sheep, but the area is fenced for cattle, not sheep and is surrounded by woods. I could possibly lose the rest of my sheep if they follow her. This sheep has been running wild for almost 3 weeks and is very wary. I would have to leave my sheep there and I just can't afford to take that risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Do you have any easy to move/set up fencing or panels, set up a little catch pen with your sheep in it and then see if she will come and join up, if you set up a second pen attached to the one that your sheep are in you can trap her as you quietly approach. Probably only need 4-5 old ewes that she knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Joan, I think Debbie's ideas are good. Is there someone near you with younger dogs who could help? It might take a weekend day when you can actually be there to keep an eye on your sheep so that they don't take off to join the wild ewe. If you don't have an actual pen, you can rig one out of cattle panels. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsADogsLyfe Posted September 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 I guess the real problem is I don't even know if she'll be there today. I only had 2 that looked like this one. In the almost 3 weeks since they were taken, 1 has been spotted about 10+ miles away in a wooded area. Then another, or the same one, was spotted about 7 miles away from the first sighting. I know which one that is because the people who saw her were able to read her ear tag. I just figured the one I tried to get last night, which was the only 1 I've actually seen, was the 3rd sheep. But my daughter got a good look at her as she ran off into the woods and it isn't the 3rd sheep. So I am very confused and not sure if I am dealing with the same ewe in an area of about 14 miles or so, or the two that looked similar. So at least one of them has traveled a good distance, across major hwys to get where I saw her last night. The owners of the property will call me today if they see her again. But I doubt she will stay there now we've scared her again. I put an ad on Craigslist today with a picture so maybe someone will be able to lure her into a pen and call me. I know nobody anywhere near here with dogs better than mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberviewfarm Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Were the lambs grain/corn fed before being out on their own? Would the owner of the property let you set up a panel lot where the lamb could get into the feed and the cows couldn't? If she then became used to going into the lot to eat you could eventually be in the area and use a dog to block her escape? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Dogs ? Electric netting, cows really respect it. broke quiet sheep......maybe with a ram as fall is approaching. good feed, patience. How close could you get? .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebnKirk Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 I just went through this exact thing with six new totally wild sheep I purchased. They all are on unfenced rented property. We had two (who were too dumb to run far) in a 100x150 electronet fence with a solar charger (our usual setup). Inside the fence is an 8x8' cattle panel pen at the downhill side of the netting, in which they are fed and released each night. This makes them easier to catch, and habituates them to getting into the pen when needed. As each of the escapees turned up outside the fence, we'd sneak into the electronet through the back side, pen the captive sheep, then go open up the electronet into a HUGE Y shape... imagine the penned sheep at the bottom "tail" of the Y. Then send the fittest person (my husband in this case) on a huge "outwalk" and have him go deep. Very deep. And stay off the pressure on the flighty sheep. The captives act as a magnet, and each sheep ran directly to his buddies, leaving us to put the fence back up and turn it on. This worked for us four times over the past four weeks. The last sheep corralled was just like a deer, and was captured exactly one month after escaping. She's very lucky not to have been eaten by a coyote or dog. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted September 16, 2011 Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 The only way you'll catch a wild single sheep on its own reliably is with a rifle. I'd say that the next time you get a sighting, head out with a small group of sheep. Bring the many to the few -- or the one in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsADogsLyfe Posted September 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 well, I got one sheep back. Not the one I saw the other night either. This was one of the first ones sighted over 2 weeks ago. A group of people had tried for a long time to capture her but she eluded them every time. I guess yesterday the local sheriff had an inmate out doing some work and they spotted the sheep. They got her up against the lake and the inmate tackled her. They contacted one of the men who had originally tried catching her and he put her in his stock trailer and called the woman who knew my phone number. Long and weird story actually. She had been in on the first sighting while at her friend's house who lives by the lake where the sheep has been hanging out. She is a friend of my only neighbor and my neighbor had by chance mentioned my sheep missing and was told the story of the group trying to catch the sheep. The other night that woman called me to tell me they had found one of the sheep and I assumed it was the one by the lake. It wasn't, it was one of the others found about 10 mile away from the first and turned up trotting down that woman's daughter's driveway to their cattle farm. Coincidence? A very strange one. They are very very nice and helpful people. The sheep I originally posted about has not been seen again on their farm and she was so wild I doubt she'll be caught by anything but a coyote. So I went and picked up the found sheep and brought her home. She seemed very happy to be back although she looked for her buddies for a while before she settled down. She seems very happy this morning. She's thin, but very muscular and not skinny. A bit banged up with scars on her legs, probably from barbwire fencing. I heard more of the story from the man I picked her up from, but its too much to type here. It is a strange story though and I still can't figure out what happened after they were taken and how they ended up loose. I do know now that they were together for a few days before something made them split up and also that they crossed a major hwy at least twice and for the sheep that got away the other night, she had to have crossed that same hwy at least 3 times without getting hit by a car. I have to say I have never met such great people as the ones involved in my sheep saga. They have shown true community spirit. Before this incident I knew basically nobody here and now I have lots of new friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herdcentral Posted September 17, 2011 Report Share Posted September 17, 2011 I met my neighbour through a similar sheep saga although not quite as strange as yours. A ram and my flightiest ewe got let out of one of my paddocks and when I noticed they were gone I use my young BC and he tracked them about 4 miles away through very rough terrain onto a neighbours property. I stood on a hill and saw this farmhouse in the valley which I approached and no one was home. The sheep were to deep in th farm to herd back as there were lots of fences and gates and it would have been impossible to find my way out. I finally contacted this neighbour and he told me that it would be nice to meet me at last. When I got there the ram was gone. We managed to get the ewe with the help of my young dog and the farmer was very fit and tackled her and got her into a pen. I then used my dog to track the ram, he was amazing. I am talking 12000 acres of pretty wild country. He found the ram and this time the farmer used his dog as well and he managed to leap onto the ram - this man has been around sheep all his life. I was astounded as my ram is huge and very agile, how this man caught him is beyond me. We had to tie the ram to the vehicle and walk it back for miles with my dog behind it. The ram was bucking and rearing and being generally stubborn, but he was pretty worn out too. The farmer got them into a trailer and took them back to my farm for me. I finally met my neighbour after a few years! So that was nice. I even cooked him dinner as a thankyou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsADogsLyfe Posted September 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2011 Wow...I think your story is pretty incredible too. At least through our sheep we got to meet our neighbors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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