Board approves wildlife services contract

In a regular meeting, on June 20, the Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners approved the renewal of the 2016-2017 contract with the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, (APHIS-WS.)

According to its website, APHIS-WS provides Federal leadership and expertise to resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist, conducting program delivery, research, and other activities through its regional and state offices, the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) and its field stations.

NWRC researches wildlife, assesses and finds solutions to wildlife damage management problems that are related to agriculture, natural resources, property, and human health and safety.

Researchers at the NWRC monitor human-wildlife conflicts, wildlife damage, nuisance and pest animals, wildlife disease, invasive species, overabundant wildlife, and overall ecosystem.

Wildlife Management Specialist, Matt Anderson has been managing wildlife problems in Nebraska for eight years, he said the main issues he sees in Cheyenne County and surrounding counties are coyotes prairie dogs.

As coyotes have become more common WS receives increasing numbers of calls,to address coyote related damage, said Anderson, often the damage is linked to human activity that attracts the animals, cattle farms are a prime example of this.

You will see an increase in coyote activity around calving season, said Anderson, we try to control the population as much as possible, at least until the calves have weight on them.

“Just by having coyotes around,” Anderson said, “you will see a 5 percent loss in calves.”

The loss, Anderson said, is not just from direct attacks from coyotes, stress and anxiety can also factor into that 5 percent calf loss.

Unique to Cheyenne and Kimball county is the available use of an airplane to aid in the management of the coyote population.

Anderson said there is Wildlife Management on hand at multiple airports as well, to monitor airways and protect the health and safety of the aircrafts and occupants.

Another common critter that cause potential damage is the prairie dog.

“Prairie dogs, eat grass intended for cattle,” Anderson said, “there are also risks, that cattle will step or fall in holes they create, causing damage to the cattle.”

Prairie dogs are baited into traps using oats, said Anderson, once the animals are accustomed to the oats a Zinc compound is added to oats, to humanly euthanize the animal.

Prairie dog control has a small window of time to be successful, Anderson said, he waits till mid-August to set the traps, because the prairie dogs prefer the green grass to the oats in the summer months.

Anderson sets traps till the snow fall, when the moisture washes the zinc off the oats making them useless to the cause.

“Our goal is not to eradicate any animal,” said Anderson. “all animals have their place in the eco-system, we are just trying to manage the populations.”

Working out of his home in Gering, Nebraska, Anderson provides wildlife management to five counties and is currently the only APHIS-WS employee in his field for those five counties. With the biggest area to cover in the state, Anderson said, he has to prioritize the incoming calls.

The contract approved on June 20, is between Cheyenne County and the USDA APHIS-WS and is reviewed every five years.

According to the contract it defines a plan of action, resources and budget for the wildlife damage management program, by adequately equipping the APHIS-WS employee(s) in the management of threats caused by wild and feral mammals to agriculture interests, public and private, for the protection of human heath and safety.

Jeanine Neskey, Writer with APHIS-WS said, the cost of the Wildlife Specialist and management in the area is split between the five counties of the Nebraska panhandle and the Federal Government.

“Cheyenne County, along with four surrounding counties, share fifty percent of the costs, the Federal Government covers the other fifty percent,” Neskey said, “in some cases where more expensive management tools may be required on private lands the landowner will take part of the cost, for example in prairie dog work the landowner will cover costs for prairie dog baits and pre-baits but the service of the Specialist would remain distributed over the counties and government.”

Neskey said, the financial agreements with each county are reviewed on a yearly basis, and the cooperative agreement as a whole is signed every five years.

but the service of the Specialist would remain distributed over the counties and government.”

Neskey said, the financial agreements with each county are reviewed on a yearly basis, and the cooperative agreement as a whole is signed every five years.