ORO GRANDE — A pack of hungry coyotes has been preying on an ostrich farm over the past two weeks, killing 22 baby ostriches and six adult breeders at the Oro Grande facility.
“I’ve got carcasses all around here, like in the cartoons,” said Douglas Osborne, owner of O.K. Corral Ostrich Farms. “You go out and you see the desert and all the bones are sticking up that the coyotes have attacked.”
Osborne said he had problems with coyotes in the past, but never so many at once. He said his neighbor reported seeing as many as 20 coyotes running in a pack.
Osborne placed a classified ad seeking coyote bounty hunters. He has had at least five responses.
two bounty hunters spent Tuesday clad in camouflage fatigues trying to hunt the coyotes. Osborne was hoping they would scare or kill most of the predators.
Osborne said the attacks started after the Christmas week rainstorms hit and water levels in the Mojave River elevated.
“When the river rose, I think it wiped out all their habitats, their dens and things,” he said. “The poor little coyotes are desperate to eat.”
Osborne spent nights shooting his 12-gauge shotgun out the window to scare off the coyotes near his farm. He released 800 young ostriches from their pens so they can hug the house, barn and lit areas for protection at night.
“What they do is the ostriches lean down to see what’s going on and the coyotes grab them by the throat and bite their heads off,” Osborne said.
H e s a i d h e f i rs t tried bringing in a San Bernardino County trapper by calling the Devore animal shelter but was told that a trapper was not available. the county has a contract with Animal Pest Management Services — a one-man operation — to trap and kill wildlife that threatens people or property.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, the county had filed a report with APMS to respond to Osborne’s situation as a “high priority,” county spokesman David Wert said. to see more of the Daily Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.vvdailypress.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Daily Press, Victorville, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. for more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com,e-mailservicesmctinfoservices.com, or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544)
<a href="http://www.montereyherald.com/state/ci_17023835tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.montereyherald.com/state/ci_17023835Thu, 06 Jan 2011 10:05:28 GMT 00:00″>Coyote attacks decimate ostrich-breeding farm
