Wildlife Conservation
#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk
Over the past week I have learned about wildlife and ranching and how they affect each other, as well as how to fix a broken leg on a calf. This week was fairly calm because we were in Laramie for the Wyoming Cattlemen’s Convention. Once we got back though, we moved cows from their calving pasture to their summer pasture. In the process of moving them though a calf broke his leg, and he tried to turn back and run back to the calving pasture. He got hit on the county road and ended up with a broken leg, so I had the chance to watch and help with springing his leg in hopes of it healing. One of the committees I attended at the Cattlemen’s Convention was the wildlife committee. I found it really interesting just how big of a hand ranchers play in wildlife conservation.
I would challenge the concepts of how some wildlife interactions are handled by the government. I think that the government in someways doesn’t control enough, but in other ways there is too much control. While sitting in on the Wildlife committee at the convention I learned that there are a lot of regulations on certain species but not on others. There is also not a lot of government support for ranchers in many ways especially when it comes to predation.
I still have questions about things like handling predation and interactions between their livestock and wildlife. I think that there is a lot more that goes on with ranches and conservation and wildlife interactions than anyone knows. I also think that it is important to understand this because it has a huge effect on ranches and how they operate. Many ranches suffer from a lot of deportation from predators such as coyotes and though it is legal to kill them it isn’t legal to kill predators such as wolves or grizzly bears in most areas.
I plan to use what I’ve learned in my own operation someday. I think that understanding predation as well as how you work with the government on it is very important. A lot of ranching isn’t just dealing with livestock it is also dealing with wildlife. I also think that knowing how to doctor cows is extremely important. I am hoping that the calf will fully recover and will either be able to be sold or fed out and butchered by my host family. I think that not only understanding how to take care of injuries, but also honoring the animal no matter what the outcome is, is also important.
Submitted by: Chelsea Finch
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
