In your photo gallery, you picture a llama guarding
sheep (HCN, 3/31/03: Springtime on the ranch). I have to offer an
alternative suggestion! All you cowmen and especially sheepmen,
facing losses from coyotes, consider placing a solitary burro in
your flock or herd. Burros cost about one-tenth the price of a
llama, if you were to adopt one from the Bureau of Land Management.
Not only do you get a good guard animal, but you are also helping
us keep our public rangelands healthier. That is, periodically BLM
must round up the increasing burro populations where they compete
with livestock and wildlife for precious forage.
For more
info, go to www.blm.gov and click on the wild horse and burro
icon.
Tom Taylor
Mesa, Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Adopt a burro!.
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