Notice of Hearing on the Application to Use Sodium Fluoroacetate ...

7
Arizcna, Idaho and 12xas. He %st';'i?d thzc i: was. nor sossibiz
to identi fy the proporticn <strong>of</strong> loss caused by ccyote ?redation.
A similar analysis conducted for sheep losses showed the percent
<strong>of</strong> sheep lost to all causzs increased after the suspension <strong>of</strong> 1080
in Cal iiornia, ?{or-h Dakota, Montana, Nebraska and New ~Uexic~. In
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Arizona, Orsgon, Sou~h Dakozs and ;exas there was a s~aeisticaiiy
significant decr2asz in sheep losses and no ita~isticaliy sisnificant
change in losses in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, Utah and dyoming
45. As part af a sqecial- 1980 meaz anixals cost <strong>of</strong> production silrvey,
conducted in the spring <strong>of</strong> 1981 by personal inxrviews ;~ich 323 randomly
selected sheep ?roduc2rs, data on loss2s <strong>of</strong> lancs and sneeg by cause,
including przdators, were also collec~ed. The result <strong>of</strong> this
survey i ndi ca~ea thac predatcrs were r2spons i bi e for apprcxi mate1 y
61 percenz <strong>of</strong> the losses to all causes <strong>of</strong> post-docked lambs, while
coyotes werE responsible for approximately 43 percmt <strong>of</strong> such
losszs. Losses to a11 causes totaled 10.39 percznt <strong>of</strong> the lamb
crop, with coyotes being res?onsible for 4.35 perc2nt 3f loss2s to
all causes. Comparing such estimated losses with the 35 yercent <strong>of</strong>
estinatcd lamb losses to coyotes report2d by Gee, et a1 . for 1974,
Dr. Schaub concluded that the two surveys may indicate that the
percentage <strong>of</strong> lambs lost to coyotes has increased. The 1980 survey,
however, was confined to post docking losses and if, the comparison
is made using 1974 data on losses <strong>of</strong> post-docked lambs as reported