Sheep and goat (and deer and other game) losses due to predation continue to mount, and country long free of coyotes and other predators now hosts packs of hungry, indiscriminate killers. Meanwhile, urban and suburban residents happily go about their lives with harldly a thought about the desperate battle their country cousins must fight to continue to produce livestock and meat for their table.

The Catch-22 is that the environmental lobby and lawmakers back east care a bit more about the health of predator populations than they do about the plight of the rancher and farmer who must battle their ‘pets’ on a daily basis.

Wolf advocates and animal rights groups pass off the ranchers’ complaints, saying that predation claims a very small percentage of flocks and herds and the rancher should be compensated for kills proven to be done by protected species. They don’t mention predation by common killers like coyotes and hogs.

But the reality is that coyotes, wolves, feral hogs, cougars and bobcats–and even eagles–take a heavy toll on lamb and kid crops each year, causing a substantial economic loss for people trying to make a living raising small livestock. And ranchers are rarely, if ever, compensated. Cattle raisers are not immune either.

What can ranchers do? What can legislators do about the problem? What can envionmental groups and animal rights groups do about the ranchers’ plight?

This is a question I’m posing to legislators, individual ranchers and environmental groups. I hope they can provide some answers. I’ll let you know what they say.