"Effectiveness of Vichos Non-Lethal Collars in Deterring Coyote Attack" by J. Russell Mason and Richard J. Burns

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings collection

 

Date of this Version

1996

Document Type

Article

Citation

Published in Proceedings: Seventeenth Vertebrate Pest Conference … 1996, ed. Robert M. Timm & A. Charles Crabb (University of California, Davis, 1996).

Comments

Copyright © 1996 (where applicable) by the Vertebrate Pest Council of the Vertebrate Pest Conference. Used by permission.

Abstract

Vichos non-lethal collars containing 45 to 105 ml of 3 % capsicum oleo resin were evaluated as deterrents to coyote attacks on sheep. Each of five coyotes tested made neck/throat attacks on one collared lamb; four punctured collars and one pulled the collar from a lamb without puncturing it. One coyote did not resume biting the lamb for 60 min; it was retested two and four days later. At two days, the coyote punctured a second collar and briefly halted its attack. At four days, the coyote attacked a third collared lamb but made no attempt to grasp the neck/throat area. In tests resulting in collar punctures (n=5), coyotes immediately stopped their attacks and showed obvious signs of oral irritation; however, attack behavior resumed shortly thereafter (mean =17.6 min). Coyotes resuming attacks directed them toward the sides and rears of lambs. The Vichos collar is unlikely to prove effective in controlling coyote predation on sheep.

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