Bald eagles in Idaho slaughtered 54 sheep, including some weighing up to 80 pounds, that were grazing on a farm.
The series of attacks near the city of Murtaugh cost Rocky Matthews a big portion of his flock worth an estimated $7,500, he told a local newspaper.
“In 45 days, I’ll be out of sheep,” Matthews said.
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Matthews initially thought that someone was shooting his sheep with a pellet gun, but he changed his hypothesis when he saw an eagle attack them, he said. The eagles built a nest on his property 20 years ago and had lived in relative peace with his animals until recently.
Matthews attributed the attacks to both hunger and sport.
The water in Murtaugh Lake took longer to warm, resulting in a smaller population of carp, the eagles’ primary food source in the area, he said, according to the Associated Press.
At the same time, there are some attacks that went beyond gathering food.
“I truly think he was just honing his skills because you don’t kill seven of them out of need,” Matthews told the newspaper, describing an effort by one eagle from the nest.
Matthews was forced to decide between two courses of action to protect the sheep: either move the flock or apply for a migratory bird depredation permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which would allow him to harass the birds away from his property through loud noises and pyrotechnics.
Permits through the Fish and Wildlife Service take between 30 and 60 days for approval, so Matthews opted to move the sheep, according to the Times-News.
He first moved them closer to his barn, but the eagles found them after a few days. He then moved the younger lambs to a different part of the pasture, but the birds responded by killing the older sheep, which weighed between 12 and 80 pounds.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Livestock Indemnity Program “provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather or by attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the Federal Government,” according to the department’s website.
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If the department approves Matthews’s case, he will receive 75% of the normal market price of his deceased sheep.
